Apple is the first U.S. public company to be worth $2 trillion

Apple Inc. has become the first publicly traded U.S. company in history to be worth $2 trillion.

The iPhone maker's shares reached the multi-trillions on Wednesday, when its stock neared $468 for the first time. Shares of Apple are now up a remarkable 60% this year, despite the coronavirus outbreak.

In the second quarter of this year, Apple had sales of nearly $60 billion, making $11.2 billion in profit — a more than 10% increase from the same period a year ago. The numbers show Apple's hugely loyal customer base remains devoted to its pricey products even while stuck at home.

An upcoming four-for-one stock split that will make Apple's shares more affordable to more investors also sparked a rally after it was announced three weeks ago, The Associated Press reports.

The tech giant is even worth more than Saudi Aramco, which was the first company to reach a market value of $2 trillion shortly after it became public in December 2019. The Saudi energy producer's shares have since fallen amid a drop in oil prices, and its market value is now about $1.82 trillion.

Apple's $2 trillion market cap makes it the most valuable publicly traded company, followed by Amazon Inc., which is worth $1.7 trillion. Computer software maker Microsoft, which is negotiating a purchase of video-streaming service TikTok, is worth $1.6 trillion.

Apple has been at the vanguard of a group of Big Tech companies that are increasingly taking over people's lives — and the stock market.  The group of five, which also includes Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Google parent Alphabet, accounts for nearly a quarter of the S&P 500's entire value.

Apple also was the first company to cross the $1 trillion market value mark, in early August 2018. In the past two years, the company's market value has doubled, making CEO Tim Cook a billionaire.