Saudi Aramco has beaten tech giant, Apple, as the world's most valuable company at $2.42 trillion based on the price of its shares at close of market. The gain is being attributed to a combination of the rise in oil prices and slumping of tech stocks.

Meanwhile, Apple has seen its share price drop over the past month, and was valued at $2.37 trillion despite the company reporting better-than-expected profits in the first three months of this year amid strong consumer demand.

Apple has projected that China’s Covid-19 lockdowns and ongoing supply chain woes would dent June quarter results by $4 to $8 billion. "Supply constraints caused by Covid-related disruptions and industry-wide silicon shortages are impacting our ability to meet customer demand for our products," chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, has stated.

Conversely, Apple has officially announced to phase out production of its iconic iPod Touch product line which ran for two decades before the launch of the iPhone.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco recently reported a 124% net profit surge for 2021, hours after Yemeni rebels attacked its facilities causing a "temporary" drop in production.

As the most prominent member of the OPEC, Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to boost output to meet the global energy demand which has been disrupted as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against Moscow.

Aramco president and CEO, Amin Nasser, cautioned that the company's outlook remained uncertain due in part to "geopolitical factors."

"We continue to make progress on increasing our crude oil production capacity, executing our gas expansion program and increasing our liquids to chemicals capacity," Nasser commented.

A strong rebound last year saw demands for oil increase and prices recover from their 2020 lows. The looming inflation is likely to restrict consumption, reducing demand for oil, while tech shares could continue to be negatively impacted by investor concerns over company costs, interest rate rises, and supply chain woes.