Apple stock (NASDAQ: AAPL) has once again topped a $3 trillion market cap. Photo Credit: Sumudu Mohottige
As it digs in amid a long-running regulatory showdown in the EU – while fending off lawmaker scrutiny in the U.S. – Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) certainly isn’t short on capital or investor support. When trading ended this afternoon, the Cupertino-headquartered company boasted a market cap in excess of $3 trillion.
Since 2023’s beginning, the value of Apple stock has hiked by a staggering 55.1 percent, to $193.97 per share as of today. Now the first publicly traded company to hit a $3 trillion market cap twice – early 2022 delivered the first such milestone, while Apple managed to maintain the distinction through closing for the first time today, per Yahoo Finance – the iPhone developer has recorded material stock-price growth against the backdrop of a rally throughout the broader tech space.
To be sure, Spotify stock (NYSE: SPOT), at $160.55 per share, is up 96.03 percent from 2023’s beginning – a figure that could potentially rise as the platform joins its competitors by raising the price of its individual subscription in the U.S.
And with other astonishing stock-value increases for Meta (up 130.06 percent notwithstanding its massive VR bet), Netflix (49.34 percent), and Snapchat (33.79 percent) on the year, it’ll be especially interesting to monitor market conditions and the price-related impacts thereof moving forward.
Of course, some financial professionals are forecasting a recession, and it wasn’t too long ago that Spotify stock plummeted to a record low. Moreover, the streaming giant, Meta, and a number of other companies yet have in recent months dramatically trimmed their workforces.
As it stands, though, it’ll be worth keeping Apple’s massive war chest front of mind as the business prepares to dig its heels in against EU antitrust regulators – as well as Spotify, Deezer, and other entities that have for some time been urging regulatory action against the Apple Music owner.
And needless to say, the byproducts of the ample capital at hand will extend well beyond this showdown in the EU. Specifically in the music space, the UnitedMasters and Gamma investor Apple is now competing heavily against Spotify with Apple Music (and against Universal Music’s classical streaming offering with Apple Music Classical), booking exclusive artist performances, and more.
It bears highlighting in conclusion that other music industry companies have also turned in substantial stock price growth on the week. SiriusXM (NASDAQ: SIRI), which is now poised to shut down Stitcher, has seen its stock price jump approximately 18 percent during the past five trading days, compared to a roughly eight percent boost for LiveOne (NASDAQ: LVO) during the same period and a 175 percent spike since 2023’s start.
