Why Apple lost most valuable tag to Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco has dethroned Apple to become the most valuable company in the world as oil prices remain inflated and tech stock slumped. Apple, at the end of Wednesday's trading session, was valued at $2.37 trillion, while Saudi Aramco had a market valuation of 9.10 trillion Saudi riyal ($2.43 trillion).

Apple shares have been in red for the past week despite the Cupertino tech giant reporting better-than-expected profit for the March quarter. The company was the top loser on Wednesday as Nasadaq fell over 3%.

The Tim Cook-led tech giant reported all-time revenue record for its services vertical and March quarter revenue records for iPhone, Mac, and Wearables, Home and accessories businesses. However, Apple did not provide any revenue guidance given the global uncertainties in near-term.

In a post-result analyst call, Apple’s chief financial officer Luca Maestri had stated that supply constraints due to pandemic-driven disruptions and industry-wide silicon shortages have impacted supply, leading to an impact of $4 billion to $8 billion.

Covid-19-related disruptions have also impacted customer demand in China and Apple has already halted all sales in Russia, Maestri added. While the former is expected to impact the year-on-year growth rate by 300 basis points, the latter is likely to lessen growth by 150 points.

During the call, Apple CEO Tim Cook also agreed that the impact of inflation has become evident in their monitoring of daily sales. However, the main focus remains on resolving supply side constraints.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco saw its net income more than double in 2021 to $110 billion on-year, compared to $49 billion in 2020. The 124% jump in net income came as oil demand returned with the journey to recovery underway around the world.

Skyrocketing oil prices on the back of Russia-Ukraine war have helped the Tadawul-listed Saudi Aramco stock, which ended the last session in green. The recent rise came as traders expected the Saudi Arabian oil producer to hike output amid stymied oil exports from Russia. The stock started the day today in the red after an attack on its facilities by Yemeni rebels.

“We recognize that energy security is paramount for billions of people around the world, which is why we continue to make progress on increasing our crude oil production capacity, executing our gas expansion program and increasing our liquids to chemicals capacity,” Aramco president and CEO Amin H. Nasser had stated in the company’s results for 2021.

However, it remains to be seen how long Aramco holds the pole position among world’s most valued companies. Like Apple, the biggest oil producer in the world too has expressed concerns over the state of affairs around the world.

“Although economic conditions have improved considerably, the outlook remains uncertain due to various macro-economic and geopolitical factors,” Nasser had said.