Riyadh: Saudi oil giant Aramco has displaced American technology giant Microsoft to become the world’s second-largest company by market value at 7.92 trillion Saudi Riyals (2.11 trillion dollars) as the company’s stock prices hit 36 Saudi Riyals (9.60 dollars) on Wednesday, local media reported.
Apple still holds the top of the ranking, with a market value of approximately 2.6 trillion dollars, followed by Aramco at 2.11 trillion dollars, then Microsoft at 2.05 trillion dollars.
According to Arabic daily Al-Arabiya.net, the rise in Saudi Aramco’s shares came after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced, this month, the transfer of 4 per cent of its shares to Sanabel Investment Company, which is wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Aramco achieved, in 2022, the highest profits since the listing, up by 46.5 per cent, to reach 604 billion Saudi riyals, compared to 412.4 billion Saudi Riyals in 2021.
It is noteworthy that “Aramco” is the most profitable company in the world, as its profits for the year 2022 exceed the profits of “Apple”, “Microsoft” and “ExxonMobil” combined, according to the classification of the “companies market cap” website.
The rise of Aramco’s shares also coincided with the rise in crude oil prices, the increase in the company’s sales volumes, the significant increase in profit margins from the refining and chemicals business, as well as the decline in US crude stocks, despite the pessimistic global economic outlook.
