Apple becomes world’s most valuable company

Apple Inc

By Taiwo Okanlawon

American tech company, Apple has become the most valuable company in the world on Friday after posting blockbuster quarterly earnings that sent shares of the technology company up as much as 7%.

Shares of Apple reached $412 at Friday’s intraday high, putting the company’s market value at $1.762 trillion, dethroning the oil giant Saudi Aramco as the most valuable company in the world with market value, worth $1.759 trillion at Friday’s intraday high.

According to Bloomberg, it’s the first time the company’s valuation has surpassed that of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco. Before that, Apple had vied with Microsoft Corp. for the title of the U.S.’s largest public company.The dethroning of Aramco comes after a tumultuous period for the Saudi company. Its initial public offering fell short of Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman’s expectations. The kingdom’s de facto ruler initially wanted a valuation of $2 trillion and to raise $100 billion. But after foreign investors balked at the pricing, the government settled on a smaller domestic offering and raised about $30 billion, still the largest IPO ever.

Then came this year’s plunge in crude prices as energy demand crashed with the spread of the virus. Aramco’s second-quarter revenue probably dropped to about $37 billion from $76 billion a year earlier, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That’s less than the $59.7 billion in sales that Apple reported for its most recent period.

Aramco’s stock is down 6.4% since the end of December, though that’s far less than the fall of other oil majors. Exxon Mobil Corp. has declined 40% and Royal Dutch Shell Plc has dropped 50%.

Apple, meanwhile, has benefited as the pandemic has strengthened the market positions of the world’s biggest technology companies, which boast strong balance sheets and fast-growing businesses thanks to an acceleration in the shift to digital services. The iPhone maker’s shares have gained 45% so far this year.