AAPL: Apple Stock Soars at Record High. Why Isn’t the Company Worth $3 Trillion as Before?

AAPL notched a new all-time closing high of $183.79 a share. The figure was about a dollar more than the stock’s previous record of $182.86 a share back in January 2022. That’s when Apple became the first company to be worth $3tn. Today, it’s a few billion shy at $2.9bn. Why is that?

Every year, Apple does something called share buyback. In fact, the iPhone maker has spent more than any other company on share buybacks – over $600bn. Last year alone, Apple repurchased about $90bn of its own stock. When that happens, the shares are taken out of circulation, thus reducing the overall market cap.

What can Apple do with those repurchased shares? It can store them in the treasury and reissue them at a later time, adding to the company’s value. It can distribute the shares across employees or outright cancel and retire them, deeming them worthless. Back to today, Apple stock must rise to $190.73 a share to regain a $3tn valuation.