Apple market cap rises to $3.53 trillion on US court ruling that spares search deal with Google

Apple Inc. shares closed at $238.12 on Thursday (September 4, 2025), after having gained $7.32, or 3.17%, over the past five days, reflecting positive investor sentiment amid strong company performance and market conditions.

The stock opened at $238.45, reaching an intraday high of $239.89 and a low of $236.74.

The tech giant's market capitalisation stands robust at approximately $3.53 trillion, underscoring Apple's giant stature in the tech and markets sectors.

The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is currently at 36.20, indicating a relatively higher valuation reflecting growth expectations. Dividend yield is 0.44%, with a quarterly dividend payment of $0.26 per share.

Apple is trading near its 52-week high of $260.09 but substantially above its 52-week low of $169.21, demonstrating strong recovery and growth over the year.

The company's stock has appreciated about 17.5% in the past month, driven by solid Q3 fiscal results with notable growth in iPhone (13.5%), Mac (14.8%), and Services (13.3%), including expanding adoption of Apple Intelligence across devices and services.

Despite competing in a fierce market landscape with challenges such as tariffs impacting revenue by an estimated $1.1 billion in the upcoming quarter, Apple’s outlook remains "stable".

The firm expects mid to high-single digit growth in net sales for the next quarter and a gross margin between 46% and 47%. Investors have responded favorably to these earnings and outlooks, pushing the stock into a bullish trend, trading above key moving averages.

Apple Inc. shares also got a shot in the arm after US District Judge Amit Mehta stopped short of barring its lucrative search arrangement with Google, a deal that has generated roughly $20 billion in revenue a year for the iPhone maker. 

Though Judge Mehta ruled in an antitrust case that Google can’t enter exclusive contracts for internet search, deals that make the search provider a default option in internet browsers are still allowed.

“Google is permitted to pay browser developers, like Apple,” he said in the decision. However, the partner company must promote other search engines, offer a different option in various operating systems or in privacy mode, and are allowed to make changes to the default search settings annually, Mehta wrote.

“Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial — in some cases, crippling — downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban,” he stated.

Apple currently favours the Google search engine by giving it the best placement in Safari search bar on computer and mobile devices.

Users can opt to switch to Microsoft Corp.’s Bing, DuckDuckGo and other options.

Apple also changed its iOS software two years ago to allow the use of a different search engine in private mode.

Apple’s search partnership was a central piece of the US Department of Justice’s landmark case against Google. The ruling, delivered Tuesday, also allows Google to avoid selling its popular Chrome web browser.

Mehta had ruled last year that Google illegally monopolised the markets for online search and search advertisements. He then held a three-week hearing in April to determine a fix.