CAPE TOWN – Apple became the first US-based company with a market value of $1 trillion (R13.3 trln) after its shares went up 3 percent on Thursday.
The consumer technology giant briefly touched the milestone, buoyed by a stronger than expected earnings report for the second quarter on Tuesday, according to a report by Fortune.
Apple’s earnings for the second quarter revealed that the company was in good financial health.
On Wednesday, Apple’s shares closed up almost 6 percent and this was seen as its best one-day gain in 18 months, after reporting better-than-expected results on Tuesday night.
Apple announced its financial results for its fiscal 2018 third quarter stating that it was the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth for the iPhone and iPad maker.
Markets.com chief analyst Neil Wilson said that Apple's growth showed that they shifted away from relying on heavy iPhone sales.
"As ever the discussion we have around each quarterly Apple earnings is to what extent it can shift away from relying too heavily on iPhone sales and we saw yet more impressive progress again in the second quarter as services revenues rose sharply. Revenues from services climbed 31 percent to $9.19 billion, nearly a full $1bn ahead of expectations," Wilson said.
Wilson believes that services revenue growth is essential to helping to drive up the stock’s multiples.
"Apple remains predominantly a hardware manufacturer. Consensus suggests slowing in growth here to 27 percent for the quarter – a beat here is on the cards," Wilson said.