Shares of Saudi Aramco achieved record levels during the last week’s transactions in the Saudi financial market, placing it in second place globally, with a market value of $2.2 trillion.
This came at a time when stock markets in Gulf countries were recording losses, with oil prices exceeding $105 following the Russian attack on Ukraine, which alarmed investors about the disruption of energy supplies.
Despite the decline in Saudi Tadawul, the share of Saudi Aramco touched 42.25 riyals ($11.26), its highest price since listing, before closing at the record level of 41.35 riyals.
The stock’s transactions included trading about 45.5 million shares of “Aramco” with a total value of 1.9 billion riyals ($506 million), which showcased a number of special deals.
Aramco intends to announce its most prominent financial results for 2021 along with dividends, before the opening of trading on Sunday, the 20th of next March.
The Saudi Crown Prince and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Prince Muhammad bin Salman, announced about two weeks ago that Aramco transferred 4 percent of its shares to the Public Investment Fund.
Why did Aramco’s stock record these levels?
A number of factors contributed to Aramco’s shares reaching record levels, the most prominent of which remains oil prices and the company’s announcement of the completion of a natural gas pipeline deal worth $15.5 billion.
On Wednesday, Aramco and a consortium of international investors, led by two affiliates of BlackRock and Hassana Investment, announced the successful closing of the lease and leaseback deal previously announced on December 6. The consortium acquired a 49 percent stake in Aramco’s gas supply company, which is affiliated with Aramco, for $15.5 billion.
Aramco replaces Microsoft
These results contributed to raising Aramco’s market value to $2.2 trillion (8.27 trillion riyals), which enabled it to displace the American “Microsoft” as the second-largest company in the world after Apple.
Apple has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, while Microsoft came in third with $2.1 trillion.
The ten largest companies currently listed on global stock exchanges are, in order: Apple, Saudi Aramco, Microsoft, Alphabet Google, Amazon, Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), Nvidia, and Facebook (Meta).
