In less than four years, Apple's market capitalization has tripled.
In 2018, Apple's market value entered the trillion dollar club for the first time, becoming the world's first technology company with a market value of more than $1 trillion; in 2020, Apple's market value doubled, easily exceeding $2 trillion; at the beginning of 2022, Apple's market value once broke through the $3 trillion mark and then fell back. As of April 25, Apple's market capitalization was $2,658.1 billion.
Apple's market value increase can be described as "fierce", how fierce is it? You can compare the changes in the market value of Apple and China's major Internet companies in the past two years.
On April 27, 2020, Apple was "one against five". Alibaba, Tencent Holdings, Meituan, JD.com, and Pinduoduo can join forces to compete with Apple, and there are still a few.
On April 25, 2022, Apple was "one against fifty.". Tencent, Ali, Meituan, JD.com, NetEase, Pinduoduo, Baidu, Xiaomi, Kuaishou and other nearly 50 Chinese Internet companies have a combined market capitalization of $1 trillion less than Apple.
But in addition to Apple's huge aura, In the past two years, Chinese Internet companies have worked hard in their respective industries, and there is no lack of bright spots. For example, Tencent is moving forward at a speed of "1.8 times", surpassing Ali and becoming the most valuable technology company in China. At the end of February this year, Tencent also ranked among the 10 largest companies in the world with a market capitalization of $589.8 billion.
The Internet industry's "upstart" Meituan also performed well, being the third Internet company in China after Tencent and Ali to cross the threshold of 100 billion US dollars. Wang Xing, the founder of Meituan, once proposed the goal of "building a company with a market value of more than 100 billion US dollars", and now Meituan has achieved its goal and won the industry's first ladder glory mark.
Compared with April 2020, JD.com's market value has broken from "6" to "8" and continues to climb to 100 billion US dollars. In addition, Ali, Pinduoduo, and Station B, the top Chinese stock stars listed in the United States, are now becoming more and more bleak. According to statistics, since 2021, the market value of Chinese private companies listed in the United States has shrunk by $1 trillion, and the market value of Ali alone has evaporated by $620 billion.
Then again, in the context of the epidemic hitting the US economy, why can Apple's market value rise again and again, repeatedly reach new highs, and widen the gap with other technology companies?
First of all, the Chinese market "helped" to boost Apple's revenue to a new high. Although the innovation and surprise of the iPhone 13 series are not as good as market expectations, but during the epidemic period, home office stimulated the demand for electronic devices to increase significantly, and Apple still won the global "sales crown" with the iPhone 13 series in China.
According to Apple's fiscal first quarter of fiscal 2022, Apple's net revenue in the fiscal quarter was $123.945 billion, an increase of 11% year-on-year, a record high; net profit was $34.630 billion, an increase of 20% year-on-year. Among them, the revenue of Greater China was US$25.783 billion, an increase of 21% year-on-year.
More than that, Apple is "surplus food, not panic", its cash flow last year was about $100 billion, and its net cash reserves reached $267.2 billion, making more investors willing to bet chips on Apple.
Second, Apple opened up new tracks and looked for new revenue growth points. At present, the hottest meta-universe outlet, Apple has not missed, VR, AR wearable devices, etc. have been regarded as a new growth point for Apple's future performance. It is understood that in 2030, VR and AR devices will account for 4% of Apple's revenue, and by 2040 it will exceed 20%.
In addition, Apple's pace of car manufacturing has accelerated, and in November last year, it released news that it will accelerate the development of its first electric vehicle, which is expected to be released in 2025. The super high expectations of the outside world for Apple's layout of new tracks are also a catalyst for pushing up Apple's market value.
In addition, the Fed flooded, and the US stock market was "thriving". As of April 18, the Fed's balance sheet was $8.9 trillion, up from $4 trillion two years ago. From this point of view, the rate of increase in Apple's market value is still lagging behind the fed's printing speed.
The dollars are coming, and the final flow is nothing more than these two reservoirs: real estate and the stock market. In the past two years, the US S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Index, and the Nasdaq Index have risen sharply, all achieving double-digit returns. In addition to Apple, US technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Tesla have also followed suit.
Finally, Apple's market value, do you feel that it has reached the ceiling?