Apple shares break $500 for first time

© Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters / REUTERS

Customers visit the Apple Store in New York's Grand Central Station.

By msnbc.com staff

Shares of Apple Inc have moved above the $500 level for the first time ever.

The technology darling’s stock price has been soaring since early December amid record sales of the iPhone and iPad.

The company’s stock price crossed the $400 level in December, having first closed above that level on July 26, 2011. It first closed above $300 on Oct. 13, 2010.

In fact, Apple’s shares have risen steadily over the past three years amid a revitalization under the leadership of the late Steve Jobs.

Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Holdings, said the rally in Apple’s share price reflects the growing importance of technology to the economy.

“Apple has the kind of innovation that speaks to the structural changes we have seen in technology over the last few years,” he told CNBC, adding that the stock is “still very important and continues to be important in the [technology] sector.”

Scott Sutherland, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said Apple’s stock price has the potential to move higher.

The company still has low market share in many of its markets, and that “sets the table for more growth,” he told CNBC, noting that the Apple iPhone still only accounts for 5 to 6 percent of the overall cell phone market, while new product categories, such as the expected launch of Apple TV, could be drivers of further growth.

Click here to check Apple’s stock price.

How high can Apple go? Discuss this story on our Facebook page.