As Saudi Aramco gears up for a blockbuster IPO, the state-owned oil giant is revealing (pdf) more details about its earnings so far this year.
While the specifics of its long-delayed IPO—the size of the stake on offer, the extent to which foreign buyers are allowed to participate, and the all-important valuation of the firm—remain fuzzy, what’s not in doubt is the company’s unparalleled profit-making power.
Aramco earned $68 billion in nine months, amassing in three quarters more profit than other companies can generate in years. The eye-opening numbers released to date will be bolstered by an IPO prospectus expected on Nov. 9, which will probably feature additional gaudy financial figures.
Most blue-chip companies look like minnows in relation to Aramco. It took Apple $AAPL, the most profitable listed company (for now), 15 months to make as much as Aramco did in nine. The past four-and-a-half years at Exxon generated as much profit as Aramco’s first three quarters this year. Since it was founded in 1994, Amazon $AMZN has made about 40% of the profit in total that Aramco has generated since just the start of 2019.
And most remarkable, perhaps, is that Aramco’s bumper profit so far this year is nearly 20% less than what it made in the same period last year.
