Saudi Aramco has overtaken Apple as the world’s most valuable company.
The change in fortune was sparked by surging oil prices that sent shares of the Saudi oil giant higher, while a sell-off in tech shares hurt the iPhone maker.
Aramco’s market valuation was just under $2.43bn (£1.99bn) on Wednesday, according to FactSet, which converted its market capitalization to dollars. Apple is now worth $2.37 trillion (£1.94 trillion).
In January, Apple became the first company to reach a $3 trillion market capitalization, but its shares have suffered in recent months, with investors wary of the huge valuations seen in the tech sector, along with concern that rising inflation affects demand.
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Apple has fallen almost 20% from its peak of $182.94 (£149.86) on January 4, according to NBC, and fell more than 5% on Wednesday to the lowest point since October last year.
Apple and Saudi Aramco are two very different companies.
Publicly traded Apple was founded in a California garage in 1976, while Saudi Aramco is 94% owned by the Saudi government and listed 1.5% of its shares in 2019 in what was then the world’s largest initial public offering.
Shares of Riyadh-listed Saudi Aramco have risen 27% this year on the back of record oil price rises.
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