Markets
Every U.S. Valuation Milestone Since 1781, Including Apple’s Ascent to $1 Trillion
Apple’s Ascent to $1 Trillion, and Other Market Cap Milestones
The market has been buzzing about Apple’s $1 trillion market valuation.
It’s an incredible amount of wealth creation in any context – but getting to 12 zeros is especially impressive when you consider that Apple was just 90 days from declaring bankruptcy in 1997.
Today’s chart shows this milestone – as well as many of the ones before it – through a period of over 200 years of U.S. market history. It was inspired by this interesting post by Global Financial Data, which is worth reading in its own right.
Market Cap Milestones
Over the last couple of centuries, and with the exception of brief moments in time such as the Japanese stock bubble of 1989, the largest company in the world has almost always been based in the United States.
Here are the major market cap milestones in the U.S. that preceded Apple’s recent $1 trillion valuation, achieved August 2nd, 2018:
Bank of North America (1781)
The first company to hit $1 million in market capitalization. It was the first ever IPO in the United States.
Bank of the United States (1791)
The first company to hit $10 million in market capitalization had a 20 year charter to start, and was championed by Alexander Hamilton.
New York Central Railroad (1878)
The first company to hit $100 million in market capitalization was a crucial railroad that connected New York City, Chicago, Boston, and St. Louis.
AT&T (1924)
The first company to hit $1 billion in market capitalization – this was far before the breakup of AT&T into the “Baby Bells”, which occurred in 1982.
General Motors (1955)
The first company to hit $10 billion in market capitalization. The 1950s were the golden years of growth for U.S. auto companies like GM and Ford, taking place well before the mass entry of foreign companies like Toyota into the domestic automobile market.
General Electric (1995)
The first company to hit $100 billion in market capitalization was only able to do so 23 years ago.
The Other Trillion Dollar Company
Interestingly, Apple is not the first company globally to ever hit $1 trillion in market capitalization.
The feat was achieved momentarily by PetroChina in 2007, after a successful debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange that same year.
The stock price tripled that day to hit the mark, but then the company eventually lost more than $800 billion in valuation as oil prices collapsed and the Financial Crisis set in.
Markets
Graphene: An Investor’s Guide to the Emerging Market
The market value of graphene could reach $3.75 billion by 2030. As the emerging industry shows fast growth, it also faces obstacles.
Graphene: An Investor’s Guide to the Emerging Market
Graphene is an atomic-scale “honeycomb” that is revolutionizing the world of materials and capturing investor attention.
Experts predict that its market value could reach the billion-dollar threshold by 2027 and soar to a staggering $3.75 billion by 2030.
In this infographic sponsored by HydroGraph, we dive into everything investors need to know about this exciting industry and where it’s headed.
Promising Properties
Graphene possesses several unique physical properties which contribute to its wide range of potential applications.
- 200 times stronger than steel
- Harder than diamonds
- 1,000 times lighter than paper
- 98% transparent
- Higher electrical conductivity than copper
- Heat conductivity: 5 times that of copper
- 2,630 m² of surface area per gram
Since its first successful isolation in 2004, graphene’s properties have opened the doors to a multitude of commercial applications and products.
Applications of Graphene
Graphene has permeated numerous sectors like electronics, energy, and healthcare because of its impressive array of end uses.
| Industry | Revenue CAGR of Graphene Across Industries, 2022-2027 |
|---|---|
| Biomedical and Healthcare | 52% |
| Electronics and Telecommunications | 34% |
| Energy | 25% |
| Aerospace and Defense | 16% |
| Other End-User Industries | 17% |
Graphene’s antibacterial properties make it highly suitable for medical instruments and implants. Furthermore, it has shown remarkable potential in helping treat diseases such as cancer.
Another one of the material’s applications is its ability to emit high-speed light pulses, or to combine graphene’s thinness and high-conductivity to create the tiniest possible light sources.
All in all, it’s difficult to sum up graphene’s properties and potential applications in one place. The supermaterial has been covered and cited in thousands of academic journals, and comes up with over 2 million search results on Google Scholar.
Graphene Commercialization
Graphene has evolved from a scientific breakthrough to a commercial reality in less than two decades, putting it firmly on the radar of many future-focused investors.
But despite the strides the industry is making, it is still in its infancy, and therefore challenges exist on the path to widespread adoption. Here are the top five commercialization obstacles perceived by industry players.
| Obstacle | % of survey respondents |
|---|---|
| Cost | 31% |
| Production Methods, Scaling, and Distribution | 21% |
| Material Quality/Consistency | 17% |
| Lack of Knowledge/Awareness | 15% |
| Dispersion/Handling | 14% |
When transitioning cutting-edge materials from the laboratory to consumer products, challenges like these can be expected. But one company is tackling them head-on.
By producing 99.8% pure graphene, and ensuring batch-to-batch consistency, HydroGraph is helping meet the growing demand for graphene products across industries while addressing challenges like cost, scale, and quality.
Interested in learning more? Explore investment opportunities with HydroGraph now.
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