Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was a standout performer in the September quarter even as several of its tech peers struggled, and it is considered as a recession-proof name.
What Happened: Apple’s fundamental performance has helped its stock perform relatively better than other big techs. Apple shares did pull back this year amid the macro uncertainties. The stock is down about 18% year-to-date compared to the nearly 33% slump each by the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index and the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ).
See Also: Apple's AR Headset Will Be An Industry Game-Changer, Says Analyst
The relative outperformance has helped Apple’s market capitalization push past the combined valuations of Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Amazon Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG). This was first mentioned by financial YouTuber Joseph Carlson.
At Wednesday’s close, Apple’s market cap stood at $2.307 trillion. The market caps of Meta, Amazon and Alphabet were at $240.071 billion, $939.781 billion and $1.126 trillion, respectively, with a cumulative valuation of $2.035852 billion.
A comparison with the valuations at the start of the year shows that Apple had a market cap of $2.973 trillion compared to Meta’s $927.94 trillion, Amazon’s $1.735 trillion and Alphabet’s $1.921 trillion. The latter three had a combined valuation of $4.58 trillion at the start of 2022, which was nearly double that of Apple at that point in time.
What Makes Apple Tick: Apple’s ability to deliver quarter after quarter is a direct function of its rising installed devices user base. Apple’s sticky ecosystem is able to retain customers as well as grow its user base.
CEO Tim Cook said on the fiscal year, fourth-quarter earnings call that the company hit another record on its installed base of active devices, thanks to a quarterly record of upgraders and a double-digit growth in switchers on iPhone. Cook noted particularly strong performances in emerging markets, including India, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The company now has a thriving Services business, which includes revenue from App Store, Apple Music, AppleCare, Apple Pay and Apple TV+, among other things. The company said it now has 900 million paid subscriptions across services on its platform.
Loup Funds’ Gene Munster aptly summarized what Apple offers its investors — “With Apple, the beauty is that investors are buying both performance and potential.” The company, according to the venture capitalist, has growth optionality within three potential addressable markets — health, AR and auto.
“One of these three opportunities will likely come to fruition and set up the company for another decade of solid performance,” Munster added.
Price Action: Apple closed Wednesday’s session down 3.73% at $145.03, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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