Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the world’s most valuable company as of 2023. A $10,000 investment during the Apple IPO in 1980 would be worth $17,716,460 today.
A brief history of Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in Jobs’ parents’ garage back in 1976. The company was started to bring Wozniak’s personal computer design to the market, hitting $1.5 billion in sales during the first 8 years for the company’s flagship products, Apple I and Apple II.
The company went public in December 1980 and released the first Macintosh in 1985. Jobs left the company in 1986, however, following a boardroom row with CEO John Sculley who was hired by Jobs following a stint at Pepsi (NASDAQ:PEP).
The evolution of the Macintosh, showing a clear design shift after Jobs rejoined Apple in 1997, source
There were no new product releases or major design changes to Macintosh after Jobs left in 1986, which culminated in declining market share and Apple’s worst ever financial quarter in Q2 1997. Jobs, after selling his new computer company NeXT to Apple towards the end of 1996, rejoined Apple as interim CEO to help stabilize the decline and locate new leadership.
Jobs’ new role as interim CEO was shortened to iCEO — marking the beginning of a new era for the company. NeXT had been developing a UNIX-based operating system for its computers which formed the foundation of iOS, which is still used today.
Apple’s new products, with a streamlined user experience and their trademark iProduct branding, were able to kickstart rapid growth for the company. The release of the iPod in the early 2000s was shortly followed by the launch of the iPhone, which shot Apple’s revenue generation into the stratosphere. Today, Apple is the most valuable company in the world with a market cap of $2.724 trillion.
Apple revenue growth since 1977, via Statista
AAPL’s current stock performance: up 33.72% YTD and hitting new all-time high in 2023
Apple has exceeded earnings expectations for 6 consecutive quarters, reporting an earnings per share figure of $1.26 in Q3 2023. Q3’s earnings report showed that Apple remains highly profitable, posting $81.79 billion in revenue and a 5% increase to profits YoY.
The new Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are set to be released on September 22nd 2023, with Wall Street analyst Dan Ives predicting that Apple will ship between 235 million and 240 million units before the end of the year.
AAPL stock has enjoyed a positive year of price action so far in 2023, climbing 33.72% YTD. This has marked a new all-time high for AAPL stock at the $196.45 price level, with the current price being $174.21 after a recent retrace.
All-time AAPL price chart, via CoinCodex
How much would $10,000 invested during the Apple IPO be worth today?
A $10,000 investment in AAPL stock during the 1980 IPO would have granted the owner 454 shares at the IPO price of $22. Since then, there have been stock splits on five separate occasions — adjusted for the splits, those 454 shares will have become 101,696 shares.
With that in mind, a $10,000 investment would now be worth $17.72 million at the current price of $174.21. This would be a 177,164% investment return. Not bad at all for Apple’s earliest backers!
You can check out how profitable an IPO investment would have been for other major companies by reading the following articles:
Source: https://coincodex.com/article/32356/heres-how-much-a-10000-investment-in-apple-stock-nasdaqaapl-in-1980-is-worth-today/