Here’s what it will take for Apple to get to $3 trillion

With Apple’s stock rally cementing its place as the first U.S. company to reach a $2 trillion value, some investors are already wondering about whether the iPhone maker’s market capitalization can trek to $3 trillion.

At the current level of outstanding shares, Apple’s stock price would have to soar to $701.65 per share for the company to reach a market value of $3 trillion.

That may seem unlikely in the near term based on Wednesday’s trading around $468 per share. But analysts point out that it took only two years for the consumer tech company to rally from a $1 trillion value to $2 trillion.

“It’s absolutely remarkable. It’s unprecedented,” Stephen Weiss, founder of Short Hills Capital, said of Apple’s $1 trillion ascent in only two years. Weiss, who owns Apple stock, said he recently added to his holdings after the company announced a 4-for-1 stock split.

Weiss said the advent of 5G technology and Apple’s forthcoming 5G phone will be key to its next trillion in market cap. He forecasted on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” that Apple’s “5G phone is going to be the biggest product launch they’ve ever had around the world.”

Apple announced the 4-for-1 split on July 30, meaning each stakeholder will receive three additional shares later this month. Stock splits — especially in the modern era of trading fractions of shares — are cosmetic and do not change or hint at a fundamental change in the underlying business.

It simply makes single shares of Apple more affordable to buy without changing the market cap of the company or the distribution of ownership in the company. After the split goes into effect on Aug. 31, the post-split price that would mark Apple’s $3 trillion market cap will be $175.41 per share.

—With reporting by Peter Schacknow