- Market cap: $3.96 trillion (as of Feb. 2)
- Revenue (TTM): $435.6 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $206.2 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 15.08%
- Year founded: 1976
Tech giant Apple is proof of how far high-quality products and strong brand loyalty can go. It first became the world's most valuable company on Aug. 9, 2011, 15 days before Steve Jobs resigned as CEO, and has spent quite a bit of time at the top since then. It also holds the distinction of being the first company to hit market caps of $1 trillion, $2 trillion, and $3 trillion.
Apple built its success on sales of its wildly popular products, including the iPhone, MacBook, and AirPods. It has branched out into services, including its Apple TV+ streaming service. It's also developing Apple Intelligence, an AI technology. It should be noted that as of 2025, Apple will be outsourcing some of its Apple Intelligence to be handled by Google.
On a negative note, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in March 2024. It alleges that Apple maintains an illegal monopoly over smartphones through contractual restrictions on developers. The Trump administration's import tariffs have also added to Apple's costs, although it has managed to reduce this burden through a U.S. investment of $100 billion.
4. Microsoft