Apple overtakes Saudi Aramco to become world's most valuable company

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Following the company's earnings report Thursday, Apple's stock price surged as high as 10.5% in intraday trading. Ultimately, shares of AAPL closed at $425.18 at end of trading on Friday.

Altogether, that give Apple a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, based on share price and number of outstanding shares. That allowed Apple to close with a market valuation higher than Saudi Arabian oil juggernaut Saudi Aramco, which has held the number-one spot since it went public last year.

The Cupertino tech giant reported earnings on Thursday that smashed Wall expectations, with revenue clocking in at $59.7 billion even during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Apple also announced a four-for-one stock split that could make AAPL more accessible to a broader range of investors.

Following the earnings report, Apple's share price passed the $400 price-per-share milestone.

Apple is already in the top spot when it comes to U.S.-based publicly traded companies. Earlier in 2020, the company also became the first U.S. firm to pass the $1.5 trillion market valuation milestone.

Shares of Apple have proven themselves resilient, even during COVID-19. In the June quarter, Apple's iPhone segment actually grew 2% year-over-year even as smartphone sales are on the decline. Other product categories, including iPad, Mac and Services, also showed rock-solid growth.

Apple's stock price is up 84.74% since a pandemic-caused low point on March 23 that rocked the entire market. Apple recovered to pre-coronavirus levels in May, and has continued growing roughly 30% since then.