Apple crossed the $3 trillion market capitalization mark earlier this year, but when will it reach $5 trillion?
Next stop, $5 trillion.
Apple may no longer be a $3 trillion company after reaching that milestone earlier this year, but it is in lead to become the first company with a $5 trillion valuation.
A record high stock market has made possible market capitalizations that were once thought to be impossible.
Japan, the world's third biggest economy has a gross domestic product of $4.872 trillion, meaning a handful of American companies could one day be worth more that the entire output of economic powerhouses like Japan and Germany.
In this environment, Apple, which currently has a $2.82 billion valuation, isn't the only company within shooting distance of the $5 trillion mark.
A new research report by XTB.com predicts when the world's biggest companies might hit the milestone using historical market cap data and new research.
Standings In the Race to $5 Trillion
After beating everyone else to $3 trillion, Apple is also the leading candidate to get to $5 trillion, with an estimated year of 2028 for the company to cross that threshold.
Rival tech company Microsoft ($2.25 trillion) and Amazon ($1.59 trillion) are both projected to reach the mark in 2035.
Carmaker Tesla ($953.34 billion) and chipmaker Nvidia ($660 billion) are both estimated to reach $5 trillion in 2066.
Fellow semiconductor company Taiwan Semiconductor(TSM) ($645.76 billion) is scheduled to move next in 2078. It would be the first company based outside the U.S. to reach the goal.
Tencent Holdings ($596 billion) will become a $5 trillion company getting on the board in 2083, according XTB.com.
The study does not mention Alphabet, parent company of Google, whose valuation is currently close to $1.81 trillion.
Growth Prospects That Get You to $5 Trillion
It will take some serious work for Apple, already the world's most valuable company, to double its market cap over the next six years.
The most accessible growth opportunity for the company is already being produced by Apple, according to a recent Wells Fargo analyst note on the company.
"While Apple's Mac revenue only accounts for about 10% of total revenue, we have seen Apple become increasingly vocal about the adoption of Macs in the enterprise space," analyst Aaron Rakers said.
"When this productivity increase is scaled across a large enterprise/organization with hundreds of developers, the savings could justify upgrading entire fleets of Macs, perhaps sooner than dictated by the typical three-to-four-year upgrade cycle."
Meanwhile Microsoft is making big bets on gaming as a growth driver in the near-term.
Microsoft paid $75 billion, including debt, to buyvideo game studio Activision last month.
"Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Amazon has its fingers in everything. It's mainstay package delivery business continues to expand as the company saw its net income nearly double from last year to $14.3 billion.
But its Amazon Web Services business could be the biggest factor in getting the company to $5 trillion.
AWS saw its operating income rise 48.5% year over year to $5.3 billion.
Additionally, the company raised the price of its Prime delivery service to $14.99 from $12.99 per month with the new price slated to go into effect this week.
