Apple has toppled Saudi Aramco as the world’s most valuable company after its stock hit a record high on Friday, smashing Wall Street’s expectations.

Apple stock went up $412.22 a share, to put its market capitalization at $1.762 trillion to trump Saudi Aramco’s record.

According to data from Refinitiv, Saudi Aramco has held the position of most valuable public company since last year, and had a market capitalization of $1.760 trillion as of its last close.

Analysts had expected revenue to drop 2% to $52.6 billion on average. And earnings per share of $2.58, up 18%, crushed the average forecast of $2.07. But Apple’s 11% growth put its earnings at $59.7 billion for the second quarter.

Apple along other big US tech companies has shown resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought economies to staggering point, including many publicly listed companies.

Reuters reported that Apple’s filing last up 6.2% at $408.78 in midday trading, the company’s market capitalization stood at $1.748 trillion. And after it bought back $16 billion worth of shares in the June quarter, it had 4,275,634,000 outstanding shares.

Apple announced a four-four-one stock split, with a trading on a split-adjusted basis that started in August, in its quarterly report, marking its first share split since 2014.

The Q2 report of the big four; Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple indicated that the companies enjoyed immunity as COVID-19 ravages continue.

Saudi Aramco is among the worst hit by the economic turmoil that put oil economies on severe loss. As industries shut down, the oil supply chain was disrupted that oil price plunged below $1, while tech companies witnessed a surge due to online activities.

As Apple keeps introducing new devices, investors believe it will continue to witness more gain. The release of iPhone SE in the wake of the pandemic speaks of a company that sees profit in crisis.

North American Research Director, Jeff Fieldhack said the launch of iphone SE in April helped Apple’s growth.

“Apple volumes grew through the quarter and were especially helped by iphone SE volumes… the device has been successful and selling above expectations in both postpaid and prepaid channels. Since the iPhone SE launched, carrier stores and national retail have been re-opening. Some channels saw large promos to draw shoppers back to store,” he said

Other devices such as the ipad have also witnessed great sales as people seek devices for virtual engagements.

The growth was also spurred by other services from Apple’s platform, such as Apple TV+ and Apple News, which come with monthly subscription fees. While the coronavirus necessitated lockdowns kept people at home, Apple was raking in revenue. Services from revenue jumped 15% to $13.2 billion.

Goldman analyst Rod Hall last week called the prior 2020 big gain “unsustainable” and urged investors to avoid Apple stock which he predicted would fall $299 in a year.

But the rally to an all-time high stock price came on Thursday, when Apple shares closed at $384.76 with 31% gain in the year, defying analysts’ prediction. Dell gained 15% and Hewlett Packard’s stock went off 16%. The S&P 500 Index is up just 1% on the year.

Surprisingly, the growth happened when the US smartphone market was witnessing 25% contraction, according to Counterpoint Research. Apple and Samsung switched to online stores to sustain their supply chain.

Senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, Hanish Bhata said all OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) were down in Q2, but online sales recorded a spike.

“All OEMs were down in Q2 year-over-year. Due to lockdowns, the share of online sales grew to 31% from 14% last year. However, because of strong online presence, Samsung and Apple volumes fared better than the overall market aided by a higher percentage of online sales,” he said.

Apple has been smartly engaging consumers, minding how the global health crisis affects smartphone markets. The company’s CFO Luca Maestri told analysts on a call that this year’s iphones would likely be delayed due to challenges in the supply chain.

CEO Tim Cook told analysts on call that Apple is focused on growing the pie even in time of economic adversity.

“We’re conscious of the fact that these results stand in stark relief during a time of real economic adversity. We do not have a zero sum approach to prosperity and especially in times like this we’re focused on growing the pie, making sure our success isn’t just our success,” he said.

Defying the COVID-19 pandemic, Huawei has taken for the first time in a single quarter, the top spot in the smartphones field to become the biggest player.

Smartphones shipment witnessed 27% decline year-on-year in the second quarter. But the Chinese company beat the South Korean Samsung to assume the top position owing to sales in China.

The US sanctions have limited Huawei’s international business, forcing it to depend more on the Chinese market for its smartphones sales.

Huawei sold over 70% of its smartphones in mainland China in the second quarter. Outside China, the company shipped 55.8 million devices compared to Samsung’s 53.7 million, according to data from research firm Canalys. However, the figures indicate a 30% plunge compared to the same period in 2019.

The decline in sales affected the European market where Huawei has a stronghold. It is the third-largest smartphone maker in Europe after Samsung and Apple. But the market’s fall to 16% from 22% compared to the same period last year plummeted Huawei sales in the region, making China its major market in the April to June quarter.

But Huawei’s troubles emanating from US sanctions cast doubt on its long term growth. Analysts believe it that the security concerns have put a spotlight on its devices and consumers outside China are wary of it.

“It will be hard for Huawei to maintain its lead in the long term. Its major channel partners in key regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on a fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk. Strength in China alone will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy start to recover,” Mo Jia, analyst at Canalys said.

The major reason for this forecast is Huawei’s ouster from the Android operating system. Last year, the US government had ordered Google to remove Huawei from the Android store, as part of its clampdown on the Chinese company. That means, Huawei users outside China don’t have access to the Android store on its latest devices.

To solve that problem, Huawei developed the HarmonyOS operating system which is yet to sell in the international market. With the dominance of the Android operating system, the HarmonyOS appears to have little chance of selling outside China. In addition, the recent US rule requiring foreign companies to get licenses in order to access the US chip market compounded Huawei’s woes.

The rule has involved the Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC, which is a major supplier of chips to Huawei.

Other smartphone makers record low sales as economies struggle to reopen. Samsung said on Thursday it expects demand to pick up as economies open in the second half of the year. Many believe that opening economies will help competitors in the international smartphone market as Huawei’s lack of Android operating system will increase their advantage.

Reuters reported that S&P Global Ratings said on Wednesday that the latest restriction on Huawei could wipe out $25 billion from several Asia-based firms. India is gearing up to take advantage of Huawei’s ordeal with its recent affront on tech, especially smartphones. Jio’s partnership with Google means there’s going to be a disruption of Chinese dominance in India’s smartphone market – and Huawei among other Chinese smartphone makers will pay the price.

Huawei’s way out of this bleak future would lie on its 5G devices, but that too has been stymied by US’ ban of chip supply to Chinese tech companies and HarmonyOS, which has yet to win a profitable number of users outside China.

With the growing apathy toward Huawei from Europe to Asia, where it has key markets, its survival’s play seems to lie in China and its booming population. The embattled company may likely cash in on the wide gap in available 5G devices. With the help of the Chinese government that has been pushing chipmakers in the country to fill the gap the US’ recent rule created, there may be enough chips for enough 5G smartphones for the Chinese people.