Apple stock closes above $3 trillion market value in public company first; Tech Revival paces Nasdaq's biggest first-half gain since 1983

Apple became the first publicly traded company to be valued at $3 trillion on Friday, leading a renaissance in the technology sector that helped the Nasdaq record its best opening half since 1983.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.5% on Friday to end the week at 13,787 .92. It is up 30% year-to-date, outpacing the 16% rise in the S&P 500 and the 4% rise in the Dow Jones.

Despite problems like inflation, interest rates, the war in Ukraine and other questions weighing on investors' minds, the Nasdaq managed to abruptly reverse direction after a dismal 2022. The index lost about a third of its value last year due to soft publicity and steady action by the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates several times in a bid to curb inflation. Even with all the gyrations, economic indicators like the still-robust real estate market have stubbornly resisted expectations of a waning recession. Once considered inevitable, the recession has still not officially materialized.

For the second time in 2023, Apple crossed the $3 trillion mark, its shares gaining 2% to $193.97 after setting a new 52-week high north of $194 earlier in the trading day. The tech giant now has 2 billion active devices in circulation and, despite a slowdown in total revenue in recent quarters, continued momentum in its iPhone business, which accounts for half of all its sales. Apple shares have fared even better than the Nasdaq in the first half of 2023, gaining 45%. They had briefly crossed the $3 trillion mark in January before supply chain issues in China caused a pullback.

Improvements in the emerging field of artificial intelligence have helped push many companies' stocks higher in recent months, with shares in Microsoft, Alphabet and chipmaker Nvidia doing particularly well.

Citigroup, which launched Apple coverage this week, estimates the stock is still 30 % upside potential. According to Citi's Atif Malik, the company is "navigating the macroeconomic slowdown and inflationary pressure on consumer spending by steadily gaining market share from Android phones." The analyst has a price target of $240 on Apple shares, the highest on Wall Street.

Apple's overall sentiment on Wall Street isn't quite at Malik's fevered level , according to a recent Bloomberg survey. The outlet said 68% of analysts recommend buying Apple stock. Microsoft and Alphabet have analyst buy ratings of over 85%, while 94% recommend buying Amazon stock.

Entertainment stocks, while rebounding somewhat from a lackluster fourth quarter, generally remain depressed. Disney ended the first half mostly flat, while Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox Corp. and Comcast managed gains of between 10% and 30% each. Shares of Paramount Global, whose financial condition and scale have come under scrutiny from many Wall Streeters lately, fell 14% in the first half.

Loading comments...