Oil giant Saudi Aramco surpassed Apple to become the world’s most valuable company on Wednesday, May 11.
Aramco’s market valuation settled at around $2.43 trillion on Wednesday. More than 5% of Apple shares fell on the same day, bringing the cap to $2.37 trillion.
Energy prices and stocks continue to rise as investors sell off equities in many industries, including technology, on qualms of a deteriorating economic environment. Apple has now fallen almost 20% since its $182.94 peak on January 4.
Aramco stock has risen to more than 27% so far this year. In March, the oil giant reported that its full-year profit in 2021 had more than doubled because of skyrocketing oil prices.
GlobalData analyst Parth Vala said, “Apple posted better-than-expected results in the quarter ended March 2022. However, amid the increasing supply chain constraints on account of the rapidly changing global geopolitical scenarios, silicon shortages and intense lockdowns in China, the company anticipates that the June quarter could take a revenue hit between the range of $4bn and $8bn.”
Vala added, “The Russia-Ukraine conflict has sent the global energy prices soaring, which resulted in the energy companies booking substantial top-line and bottom-line growth.”
The Ukraine invasion caused oil prices soaring to 13-year highs of around $130 per barrel. Even if the prices have eased, Brent crude is still trading at $105 a barrel this week, up from $77 at the beginning of the year.
The significant increase in energy and food prices this year shall leave consumers with less money to spend on non-essential things including technology products.
Apple first surpassed Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company back in 2022.