Apple CEO Lauds Staffers For Trillion-Dollar Value

Taking a modest victory lap, Tim Cook is praising Apple employees for helping the company’s value surpass $1 trillion, this week.

“Apple passed a significant milestone,” the company’s CEO crowed in an internal memo.

“Financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first, and always staying true to our values,” Cook noted. “It’s not the most important measure of our success.”

Along with Apple’s more than 120,000 employees, Cook attributed Apple’s current success to its customers, developer community, suppliers, business partners, “and all those who came before us.”

In terms of market capitalization, Apple briefly became the first trillion-dollar publicly traded company, this week, when its stock price surpassed $207 in intraday trading.

The new high came after Apple reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings. It predicted earnings to continue to outperform heading into the second half of the year.

Along with strong iPhone sales, Cook credited Apple’s continued success on its healthy services business and robust “wearable” sales. Analysts attribute Apple’s achievement to a number of factors working in its favor.

“The combination of a strong macro environment and an increasingly engaged customer base led to double-digit growth in all regions on a sell-in basis during the June quarter,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a research note to investors. 

Looking ahead, however, some analysts suggest that Apple investors will have less to celebrate. 

“With 80% of the company’s sales exposed to secularly challenged businesses, we believe the long-term growth outlook remains limited,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note to investors.

One issue appears& amp; amp; nbsp;to be slowing global smartphone sales.

Indeed, smartphone makers shipped a total of 342 million units in the second quarter -- representing a 1.8% annual decline, the International Data Corporation reported this week.

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