It could have been any one of those companies but it was Apple. This was over the past 4 years. Since Apple released the first iPod it was a hit and the stock price has risen on that success since 2006 or whenever it first came out. It is not random that sales of the thing exploded and kept growing over time and Apple created a branded image to maintain its advantage. You may not be able to pick the start of the trend but randomness goes to the wayside as buying activity, increased revenues, higher forecasts/realizations lead to the expected behavior of continued buying.
Of course I over simplified it greatly, but the point is the move from $80 at the start of 2007 to $251 right now over the past 3.5 years was not a random drift during a recession, it was an explosive trend that still shows little sign of slowdown. Again over simplification so forgive me but the point is nothing like this is random, Apple spends hundreds of millions to ensure its brand identity is secure and leads to growth.