In its Riyadh stock market debut on Wednesday, Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) shares surged the maximum permitted 10% above the IPO price.
The shares leapt to 35.2 riyals ($9.39) each, up from the initial public offering (IPO) price of 32 riyals and at the daily limit of price moves allowed by the Tadawul exchange.
That gives Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) a market value of about $1.88 trillion, comfortably making it the world’s most valuable listed company and closing in on the $2 trillion price tag long coveted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Aramco raised a record $25.6 billion in its IPO last week, the culmination of a years-long effort by the Crown Prince to open up the energy giant to outside investors and raise funds to help diversify the economy away from oil.
The early share price gain values Aramco at more than six times U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp; more than twice Saudi Arabia’s annual gross domestic product; and far ahead of U.S. tech giant Apple’s $1.2 trillion price tag.
Aramco stock will become part of Tadawul index by next week and global benchmarks such as MSCI and FTSE later this month, which analysts said should fuel demand, particularly from investors who track such indexes.
MacDailyNews Take: Now Apple has something to shoot for on their way to $2 trillion!