Saudi Aramco loses status as most valuable publicly listed company to Apple as Amazon closes in

Saudi Aramco could fall further down the list of the world’s most valuable companies, after losing the crown of the world’s most valuable publicly listed firm on Friday to Apple.

As of Friday’s close, Apple had a market cap to $1.82 trillion, surpassing Saudi Aramco’s $1.76 trillion, a modest 0.15 per cent expansion at last close. Saudi Aramco has held the number one rank since going public last year.

On Aramco’s heels is Amazon, whose shares rallied on Friday after blockbuster second-quarter results. The shares were up 3.7 per cent, to $3,165.59, giving the company a valuation of $1.58 trillion. Analysts on Wall Street widely believe that there are better days still ahead for the e-commerce and cloud-computing giant. Several major banks have set price targets at $4,000 or higher, implying a valuation target of $2 trillion or more.

Sales were $88.9 bn, up 40 per cent from a year ago, and well ahead of the company’s guidance range of $75bn to $81bn.

Amazon’s robust performance is the result of an e-commerce boom due to shelter-in-place conditions imposed by Covid-19. Meanwhile, businesses are spending more on cloud computing to support workers stuck at home.

Oil prices on the other hand remain subdued as coronavirus restricts travel. International benchmark Brent Crude is currently trading at around $43 per barrel. In contrast, oil was trading at $63.72 per barrel on December 11 2019, the day Saudi Aramco shares started trading on the Saudi stock exchange.