Apple Surpasses $2 Trillion Market Cap Amid Record Growth

Apple has become the world's most valuable company after surpassing NVIDIA. This milestone is built on several factors, including an unprecedented $100 billion buyback program and eight consecutive earnings-per-share (EPS) beats. Apple's Services revenue reached a record high of $30.98 billion in the March quarter, with a 76.7% gross margin.

The company's growth has been fueled by the iPhone 17 launch, which saw iPhone revenue jump 22%. Greater China revenue also hit a record $21 billion in the March quarter, up 28%, with Apple holding the top-selling position in urban China.

Management guided for 14-17% revenue growth and a gross margin of 47.5-48.5% in the June quarter. Prediction markets assign an 81% probability to iPhone revenue clearing $52 billion in this quarter. However, one analyst has named Apple's AI stocks as his top 10 picks, with AAPL not making the cut.

Apple has a significant advantage over Alphabet, with negative free cash flow and suspended buybacks for Alphabet due to massive capital expenditures of $44.92 billion. In contrast, Apple continues to retire shares through its buyback program.