Is Apple Stock Your Ticket to Becoming a Millionaire?

By Neil Patel – Mar 20, 2026 at 4:25AM ESTKey PointsApple is an outstanding business, thanks to its elite innovation and design capabilities, strong financials, and ecosystem. The stock's current valuation isn't cheap, so investors shouldn't bet on this being a tailwind. In this scenario, Apple's scale is an impediment to achieving monster long-term returns. Apple's (AAPL 0.32%) market cap is more than $3.7 trillion, making it the second most valuable business on the planet. On its ascent, it has made early investors lots of money. Shares have skyrocketed nearly 11,000% in the past two decades (as of March 16). All it took was $9,500 in starting capital to reach $1 million today. Perhaps you're thinking about what Apple can do in the future. Is this consumer discretionary stock your ticket to becoming a millionaire? Image source: The Motley Fool. This is one of the best companies on Earth If you're looking at Apple as a possible investment candidate, you're in the right place. That's because this is an extremely high-quality business. Apple has built arguably the world's strongest consumer brand. Its focus on innovation, beautiful designs, and exceptional user experience have won the hearts and minds of people around the globe. This gives it pricing power, which is a fantastic trait for a company. That pricing power directly influences Apple's financial performance. It posted a fantastic 29% net profit margin in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 (ended Dec. 27, 2025). Its balance sheet is robust. And it uses excess cash to buy back shares and pay dividends. Even at its current scale, Apple isn't done growing. Revenue totaled $143.8 billion in the latest fiscal quarter, up 16% year over year. Demand for the iPhone 17 family has been strong. The company's competitive position is unmatched. There are more than 2.5 billion active Apple devices worldwide, massive distribution and adoption supporting the success of its budding services division. The ecosystem, which is created by the invaluable combination of hardware and software, drives customer stickiness. The fact that this is such a superb business means it should be on every investor's watch list. ExpandNASDAQ: AAPLAppleToday's Change(-0.32%) $-0.80Current Price$249.14Key Data PointsMarket Cap$3.7TDay's Range$247.33 - $251.8252wk Range$169.21 - $288.62Volume1.7MAvg Vol45MGross Margin47.33%Dividend Yield0.42% Investors should think about the returns they can achieve Apple's monster success and dominant standing are key traits that don't automatically make this a millionaire-making opportunity. Just because a company is outstanding doesn't always translate to high returns. This stock isn't cheap. It trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 32. As a result, investors shouldn't bet on valuation expansion providing a meaningful tailwind to returns. Additionally, Apple is a colossal organization. Analysts expect revenue of $465 billion in fiscal 2026. And as mentioned, the market cap is measured in the trillions of dollars. Size is an impediment here. It's unrealistic to expect Apple's shares to skyrocket 50-fold or 100-fold in the future, which is probably the gain investors need to become millionaires.Read NextMar 12, 2026 •By Motley Fool StaffDoes Apple Have a New Hit on Its Hands?Mar 12, 2026 •By Keithen DruryIs Apple Stock Back to Being a Market Leader?Mar 10, 2026 •By Timothy GreenThe PC Collapse Has a Winner -- and It's Not Who You ThinkMar 9, 2026 •By Justin PopeIs Apple Stock a Buy Now?Mar 9, 2026 •By David Jagielski, CPAApple's Latest Move Is a Brilliant One, and It Could Be a Game Changer for the StockMar 9, 2026 •By Sean WilliamsApple Could Have Purchased Any of 488 S&P 500 Companies -- Instead, It's Made an Aggressive $841 Billion InvestmentAbout the AuthorNeil Patel is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering consumer staples, consumer discretionary, financials, information technology, and communication services. Prior to The Motley Fool, Neil worked in corporate finance roles at JPMorgan Chase and Capital One. He also has experience working on a start-up in the cryptocurrency space. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in finance from Ohio State University.TMFNeilPatelStocks MentionedAppleNASDAQ: AAPL$249.14(-0.32%)-$0.80*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.