Apple, Inc. stock IPO created 300 millionaires 33 years ago today

Posted:
in AAPL Investors edited January 2014
Apple's initial public offering on December 12, 1980 sold 4.6 million shares at $22 each, generating more capital than any other iPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and instantly creating 300 millionaires.



By the end of the day, Apple's market capitalization had reached $1.778 billion. Thirty three years later, the company has appreciated by over 15,497 percent, reaching a market cap of more than $504 billion.

AAPL in the 1980s

With capital from its 1980 public investment, Apple funded the creation of Lisa and the Macintosh, ending the decade with a 199 percent increase in stock valuation while paying quarterly dividends.

AAPL in the 1990s

In the 1990s, a court decision transferred the value of Apple's work and intellectual property related to the Macintosh to Microsoft.

The company's stock sank, it stopped paying dividends, and the media began describing Apple as "beleaguered." The company did however initiate handheld computing and created the ARM mobile processor architecture that would subsequently help to fund Apple's turnaround.

At Apple's lowest point, Steve Jobs returned to the company with the acquisition of NeXT, Inc., sparking a renewed mission targeting innovation and growth. By the end of the 1990s, Apple had again recovered to the point where, across the decade, its stock had increased by 191.67 percent.

AAPL in the 2000s

In the 2000s, Apple's recovery was initially blunted by the dotcom bust. However, years of investment in mobile devices like the iPod and mobile technologies related to battery life and software features incorporated in its notebook products set the company up for renewed expansion.

Apple split its stock twice, and after rough 2006 where doubts plagued the future of its iPod and Mac businesses, it launched iPhone, which would quickly become a worldwide phenomenon and the world's most successful technology product to ever launch.

In 2008 the company's future was again doubted by analysts voicing concerns that "global macroeconomic indicators" were suggesting that nobody would be able to afford an iPhone, iPod or Macintosh.

That turned out to be rubbish. By the end of the 2000s, Apple turned in stock performance for the decade featuring an increase of 660.33 percent.

AAPL in the 2010s

Over the last four years of the 2010s, Apple reached new highs and began paying dividends and buying back its shares.

This year, Apple experienced a new "2006/2008" when chatter of the ascent of Samsung created mass hysteria that drove the company's stock down to its levels from 2011.



Over the past few months however, the company led by Tim Cook has recovered to the point of generating a 186.82 percent return over just four years.

Today Apple is continuing to invest in the future with its Campus 2 expansion focused on research and development. It owns the world's most successful mobile platform and is working on new silicon designs, new assembly methods, new material manufacturing and other technologies aimed at building the next generation of computing products.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    Nothing like the long view of history to let the air out of analysts' tires...
  • Reply 2 of 14
    Only 15497%?
    Less than half compared to mstf and took longer to do so
    MSTF 36824%
  • Reply 3 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Just_Me View Post



    Only 15497%?

    Less than half compared to mstf and took longer to do so

    MSTF 36824%

     

    Yes, MSFT benefitted tremendously from the wholesale appropriation of Apple’s IP. Since Steve Jobs’ return in 1997, however, Microsoft hasn’t performed well relative to Apple.

  • Reply 4 of 14

    504 billion over 1.8 billion is 28,000%, not 15,xxx%.

  • Reply 5 of 14
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rajaram View Post

     

    504 billion over 1.8 billion is 28,000%, not 15,xxx%.


     

    Stock performance goes by share valuation, not market cap. 

     

    Over the past 33 years Apple has issued lots of new shares (such as for employee options/grants) and bought back shares, so calculations based on market cap would be nearly meaningless.

     

    Note IPO involved 4.6 million shares. Split three times you'd get 36.8M shares, but now there's now nearly 900M shares, even after Apple bought back ~47M this year.

  • Reply 6 of 14
    kibitzerkibitzer Posts: 1,114member

    [Sigh.] Having bought in mid-October 2008 and sold in early June 2012, I only managed a 449% gain over three years and eight months. But who's bragging or being greedy?

  • Reply 7 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

    Apple, Inc. stock IPO created 300 millionaires 33 years ago today

    I'd be interested in knowing how many investor millionaires were created since then. Count me as one of them, having invested $17,500 for 1000 shares back in 1999, thereafter splitting twice to 4000. And what a great ride it's been…

     

    Getting ready for the next one!

  • Reply 8 of 14
    dnimreven
  • Reply 9 of 14
    This morning is a perfect example of Google's corrupt bias toward AAPL. The stock is up in pre market almost $4; but Goog is still showing last night at up a few cents.
    They hide the truth, or delay it, regularly.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    I remember talking to the owner of the company I worked for back in 1997 and discussing the news that Apple had acquired NeXT and Steve Jobs. I suggested that now would be a good time to invest in Apple. He poo-pooed the idea and said "I'll stick with my Xerox stock".

    I wasn't able to buy Apple stock till the early 2000's and even then it was only a few hundred dollars. But that molehill became a mountain and I was able to use it as a down payment for my first home.

    Thank you Apple!
  • Reply 11 of 14
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Corrections View Post

     

     

    Stock performance goes by share valuation, not market cap. 

     

    Over the past 33 years Apple has issued lots of new shares (such as for employee options/grants) and bought back shares, so calculations based on market cap would be nearly meaningless.

     

    Note IPO involved 4.6 million shares. Split three times you'd get 36.8M shares, but now there's now nearly 900M shares, even after Apple bought back ~47M this year.


     

     

    This is something that people do not understand where did all the extra share coming form, they issued them internally to employees. and eventually they get sold into the market. This is why Wall Street hate companies giving stock option to employees it has the tendency to devalue the company over time.

  • Reply 12 of 14
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post



    I remember talking to the owner of the company I worked for back in 1997 and discussing the news that Apple had acquired NeXT and Steve Jobs. I suggested that now would be a good time to invest in Apple. He poo-pooed the idea and said "I'll stick with my Xerox stock".



    I wasn't able to buy Apple stock till the early 2000's and even then it was only a few hundred dollars. But that molehill became a mountain and I was able to use it as a down payment for my first home.



    Thank you Apple!

    My story mirrors yours, except the manager held Cisco. He was a former 3COM guy so that business made sense to him. For a while there, he was right as Cisco and Sun blew the doors off everyone.  But there were a lot of Macs being installed at the end of those cable runs.

  • Reply 13 of 14
    No Apple did not "create the ARM" architecture. That was an entirely different company beginning with a, although they were involved in design many versions later.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    dudley wrote: »
    No Apple did not "create the ARM" architecture. That was an entirely different company beginning with a, although they were involved in design many versions later.

    The article says Apple created the ARM mobile architecture. Prior to that, ARM existed as a desktop CPU chip that never became popular.

    Apple's contribution to mobile computing really took off when Nokia adopted ARM's Newton chip, after it was scaled down to use very little memory. After that, Apple had a cheap chip to use in iPods and AirPort
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