Apple has become the world's first $3 trillion company

Apple CEO Tim Cook greets fans outside the Apple Store on Fifth Ave in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York, U.S., September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Apple has taken another important step. The iPhone maker surpassed a market value of $ 3 trillion on Monday - the first publicly traded company to be worth that much.

Apple shares (AAPL) briefly rose about 3% to a new all-time high of $ 182.88, surpassing the $ 182.85 per share it needed to be worth $ 3 trillion. The title then retired from that level.

Apple's market value first crossed the $ 1 trillion mark in August 2018 and topped $ 2 trillion in August 2020.

Apple shares rose nearly 35% in 2021. The company benefited from booming demand for its new iPhone 13 and other previous models, as well as subscription services such as Apple Music. , Apple TV +, iCloud and its popular App Store.

Sales rose nearly 30% to over $ 83 billion in Apple's fall quarter, which ended in September. The company also has a whopping $ 191 billion in cash.

But before long, Apple may have some company in the $3 trillion club. Microsoft (MSFT) is now worth about $2.5 trillion and Google owner Alphabet's (GOOGL( market value is right around $2 trillion. Still giant but further behind are Amazon (AMZN), which has a market cap of $1.7 trillion, and Elon Musk Tesla (TSLA), worth about $1.2 trillion.