Apple Tops Oil Giant Saudi Aramco as World's Most Valuable Company
Apple took a brief takeover of the oil giant Saudi Aramco as the most valuable company in the world this Friday after it had blockbuster quarterly earnings. The higher earnings sent the tech company's shares up as much as 7%.
Last Friday, Apple's shares reached $412 during an intraday high. This made the company's market value reached $1.762 trillion. On the other hand, Saudi Aramco has a $1.759 trillion market value last Friday, just slightly less than the Apple record, Business Insider reported.
Overtaking Aramco was better than what the tech giant expected from its earnings, reported Bloomberg. But recently, shares were up about 39% year-to-date.
Apple also jumped 10% on Friday; this gave them a record market capitalization of $1.817 trillion by the end of the day. This is the first time Apple overtook the oil company's value.
Saudi Aramco first came to the market in Riyadh in December. Before that, Apple was in a tight competition with Microsoft Corp. for the most prominent public company in the U.S.
The company also announced on Thursday a 4-1 stock split. They said it would help them appeal to a broader range of investors.
The split is set to happen on August 24, and it means that investors holding one $400 share will have four $100 shares. So stocks for Apple are priced lower now, said The Verge.
Apple's total revenue for the third quarter of 2020 hit $59.7 billion. This is higher by 11 percent from last year.
The company saw a strong Mac and iPad sales boost, something that they also highlighted. There is a good chance this is due to people sheltering in place in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google all announce earnings yesterday too. For the most part, they also see good quarters.
Amazon's profits have doubled during the pandemic, and Facebook saw a daily user increase of 12% year over year.
Aramco Sees Revenue Drop
For the second quarter of this year, Aramco had dropped revenues from $76 billion last year to $37 billion now, according to Bloomberg's analyst estimates.
Its stock is also down 6.4% since the end of December, though it is far less than the fall of other oil companies. Take Exxon Mobil Corp. that saw a 40% decline and Royal Dutch Shell Plc that dropped 50%.
This can explain the stark difference in revenue for the two companies. One is not used as it should be because of the pandemic, while the other is seeing more and more users with each day.
Tech is 'Raking It'
The Verge's Liz Lopatto called the pandemic a time for tech companies to 'rake it in.'
Amidst the antitrust hearing that tech companies face, people are still in the more frequent use of gadgets and social media apps.
The hearing was about how the tech giants come together, and the coronavirus pandemic is doing just that for them.
People are looking for ways to amuse themselves amid the pandemic, so it is no surprise that they did so well for the first quarter with the coronavirus.
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