Apple has lost its status as the most expensive company in the world — amid a massive sale of its shares. From now on, Saudi Arabiaʼs oil and gas producer Aramco is in first place.
This was reported by the BBC.
Investors are selling stocks of technology firms as they move to assets they consider less risky (bitcoin, other major cryptocurrencies and digital assets also continue to fall sharply). Shares of Apple fell more than 5% in New York on Wednesday, May 11, and by the end of the trading day their market value was $2,37 trillion. This means that it lost the place of the most expensive company in the world to the oil and gas company Aramco, which was valued at $2,42 trillion. Since the beginning of the year, Apple shares have fallen by 20%.
In January, Apple became the first company with a market value of $3 trillion. This was one of the biggest gains from the pandemic, as gadget sales have skyrocketed due to quarantine. The record meant that Appleʼs value exceeded the size of the UK economy, which is $2.76 trillion. Oil giant Saudi Aramco has benefited from rising energy prices. Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producer in the OPEC oil cartel, and Aramco doubled its net profit to $ 110 billion in 2021 ($ 49 billion in 2020).