Apple’s stock hit a 2016 high on Wednesday, with its market value peaking above $600 billion for the first time since April as Wall Street bet the technology company’s newest iPhone would help shore up falling sales.
Fueled by US wireless carriers’ reports of strong early orders for the iPhone 7 as well as arch-rival Samsung Electronics’ widely-publicised recall of potentially exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, shares of Apple rose as much as 4.7 per cent to $113.03 for a gain of 10 per cent in the past three days.
Its market capitalization reached nearly US$607 billion, compared to $535 billion for Alphabet and $440 billion for Microsoft. The stock closed on Wednesday at $111.77, up $3.82 or 3.54 per cent on the day.
After sinking to a two-year low in July that had portfolio managers describing Apple as a value stock and no longer a growth play, shares of the world’s most valuable listed company have since rebounded 25 per cent.
On Tuesday, Sprint said pre-orders for the iPhone 7 were up nearly four times compared to last year’s iPhone. T-Mobile said pre-orders rose nearly four times compared with its next most popular iPhone.