Technology giant Apple went public exactly 38 years ago, and one thing is clear: If you had bet on the company in its early days, your gamble would have paid off, big time. A $1,000 investment in Apple on the day of its initial public offering, or IPO, on December 12, 1980, would be worth around $430,000 today, according to CNBC calculations. That includes price appreciation and dividends. While Apple's stock has performed well, any individual stock can over- or under-perform and past returns do not predict future results. Apple's stock price has been falling lately, primarily due to fear that iPhone sales have peaked and the brewing trade war with China.

Apple's stock prices as of December 12, 2018 at 1 p.m. ET. Click to enlarge. Although the iPhone remains one of Apple's most popular products and generates the bulk of its revenue, sales have been relatively flat for the last several quarters. The product is just as profitable as ever, but it's no longer propelling the same level of growth for Apple. "The company has to tell a new, compelling story that's not directly tied to how many people run out and buy a new iPhone every quarter," CNBC's Steve Kovach reports. The trade war also complicated matters for Apple, which has benefited from cheap labor and a strong overseas market in China. Simply put, "trade wars are bad for tech stocks," a Citi analyst said in a note to investors after slashing its Apple price target on Monday.

Apple's early days

The Apple legacy