Apple has come a long way this century alone. In 2001, Apple had yet to release the iPod, iTunes, the iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch. While the turnaround under Steve Jobs was underway, it was still in its earliest stages.
What has Apple’s ascension in the years since done to AAPL’s share price? On January 28, 2001, Apple — adjusted for splits and dividends — was trading at 30 cents a share. On January 28, 2021, Apple closed at $137.09. That’s an astonishing 45,697.7% increase!
Today, Apple is valued at $2.3 trillion, making it the biggest tech company in the world.
Of course, this week’s Reddit versus Wall Street skirmish has shown that share prices aren’t always indicative of solid fundamentals for a business. But Apple — with its enormous cash pile, multiple revenue sources, superstar once-in-a-generation product, and recent record quarter — most certainly does have a good underlying business. That’s evidenced by the fact that Apple’s share price has pretty consistently climbed since 2001, without too many major dips along the way.
There have been three Apple stock splits over the past 20 years. There was a 2-for-1 split in February 2005. This was followed by a 7-to-1 split in June 2014. The most recent, a 4-to-1 split, took place in August 2020.
Splits — in which companies divide up their shares into multiples trading at a lower price — make stocks more accessible to investors. It also increases liquidity, meaning how quickly shares of a stock can be bought and sold without it having a big impact on the share price.
Were you one of the lucky (and, to be perfectly honest, smart) ones who invested in Apple back when it was trading for a fraction of its current value? Let us know your envy-inducing story in the comments below.
