The world’s biggest companies by market cap functions within a range of different market sectors, including technology, communication services, energy, consumer cyclicals, luxury, oil and financial services.
A company’s market cap or market value is calculated by multiplying the total number of its shares outstanding by the current market price of a single share.
The majority of the companies making up the top 10 market cap ranking generate hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue. However, there are a few that generate less than $100 billion in annual revenue, suggesting that investors are optimistic about the potential growth of these companies compared to the others on the list.
Apple is the largest company in the world, with a market cap of $2.54 trillion. It’s followed by Microsoft ($2.09 trillion), Saudi Arabian Oil ($1.88 trillion), Alphabet ($1.35 trillion), and Amazon ($1.01 trillion).
In 2018, Apple became the first company to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion. Although the top spot has changed frequently, Apple has spent the most time there and is currently the most valuable company in the world.
Read on to see the biggest companies by market cap ranking and where they stand as of March 2023.
Listed below are the top companies by market cap Trailing Twelve Months Revenue and gross profit
Apple
Market cap: $2.54 trillion
Revenue: $387.54 billion
Gross profit: $166.87 billion
Five-year annualized return: 31.15%
Year founded: 1976
Tech giant Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is proof of how far high-quality products and strong brand loyalty can go. It also holds the distinction of being the first company to hit market caps of $1 trillion, $2 trillion, and $3 trillion.
Microsoft
Market cap: $2.09 trillion
Revenue: $204.09 billion
Gross profit: $139.11 billion
Five-year annualized return: 26.30%
Year founded: 1975
Considering the popularity of the Windows operating system, it’s no surprise that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has consistently ranked as one of the largest companies in the world. “More than 70% of computers use Windows”, according to Statcounter.
Microsoft has been the world’s largest company before, and it briefly passed rival Apple for the biggest market cap in 2021. However, Apple reclaimed the top spot a month later.
Saudi Arabian Oil
Market cap: $1.88 trillion*
Revenue: $604.36 billion*
Gross profit: $354.09 billion*
Year founded: 1933
Saudi Arabian Oil, also known as Saudi Aramco, is an energy and chemicals company. Owned by the Saudi Arabian government, it has the largest daily oil production and the second-largest proven crude oil reserves of all oil companies.
Alphabet (Google)
Market cap: $1.35 trillion
Revenue: $280.88 billion
Gross profit: $154.67 billion
Five-year annualized return: 15.47%
Year founded: 1998 (Google), 2015 (Alphabet)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is the holding company created through a restructuring of Google in 2015. Of course, Google is most well-known as a search engine, becoming so famous that the name alone is synonymous with online searches. That’s just one of its many widely used products, which also include email service Gmail, video site YouTube, navigation apps Waze and Maps, and Pixel smartphones.
Amazon
Market cap: $1.01 trillion
Revenue: $513.98 billion
Gross profit: $225.15 billion
Five-year annualized return: 5.58%
Year founded: 1994
E-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) started out as an online bookstore. It’s now the site where you can buy practically anything, and it’s the largest online retailer in the world. Its Amazon Prime service has more than 200 million users worldwide. It’s also the largest cloud provider in the world with Amazon Web Services. Amazon also owns the Whole Foods Market grocery chain.
Berkshire Hathaway
Market cap: $663.66 billion
Revenue: $302.09 billion
Gross profit: $59.32 billion
Five-year annualized return: 9.42%
Year founded: 1839
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) is a textile company now known for its ties to legendary investor Warren Buffett. He began investing in Berkshire in 1962, and, in 1965, he took majority control. Buffett has acted as chairman and CEO since then and converted Berkshire to a holding company in 1970. While its main business is insurance, Berkshire has also invested in companies across a range of industries.
Nvidia
Market cap: $661.44 billion
Revenue: $26.97 billion
Gross profit: $15.36 billion
Five-year annualized return: 35.63%
Year founded: 1993
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is a tech company that develops and manufactures graphics processing units originally used for PC graphics and video games. In past years, Nvidia’s GPUs have become widely used for mining cryptocurrency. Nvidia has also branched out into AI hardware and software.
Tesla
Market cap: $602.48 billion
Revenue: $81.46 billion
Gross profit: $20.85 billion
Five-year annualized return: 56.70%
Year founded: 2003
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is the most popular electric automaker in the county. In less than two decades, it has become the most valuable automaker in the world and the manufacturer of the most sold electric car, the Model 3.
Meta
Market cap: $534.13 billion
Revenue: $116.61 billion
Gross profit: $92.82 billion
Five-year annualized return: 5.26%
Year founded: 2004
Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) products are its social networks, Facebook, and Instagram. It also owns WhatsApp and Messenger, and it has expanded into virtual reality with its Meta Quest 2 and its acquisition of Oculus. Meta makes the vast majority of its money from advertising, which accounted for a whopping 97.5% of its revenue in 2022.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Market cap: $481.26 billion
Revenue: $75.78 billion
Gross profit: $44.00 billion
Five-year annualized return: 16.84%
Year founded: 1987
A leader in semiconductor manufacturing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) is Taiwan’s most valuable company. It works with many of the leading global technology companies, including Apple and Nvidia.
Tencent
Market cap: $457.30 billion
Revenue: $82.42 billion
Gross profit: $34.39 billion
Five-year annualized return: -1.79%
Year founded: 1998
Tencent (OTC:TCEHY) is an internet and technology company, and it’s the most valuable publicly traded company in China. It’s known for its communication services, including the WeChat app, as well as for publishing video games and other digital content.
Visa
Market cap: $455.22 billion
Revenue: $30.19 billion
Gross profit: $23.36 billion
Five-year annualized return: 13.55%
Year founded: 1958
Visa (NYSE:V) is the most widespread payment network in the world, and it processes transactions for prepaid cards, debit cards, and credit cards. It processed 192.5 billion transactions in 2022 across 160 currencies, for a total of $11.6 trillion in payments volume.
LVMH
Market cap: $444.88 billion
Revenue: $83.14 billion
Gross profit: $56.91 billion
Five-year annualized return: 24.32%
Year founded: 1987
LVMH (OTC:LVMHF), a holding company whose headquarter is in Paris, focuses on luxury goods across various industries, including wine and spirits, fashion, perfume and jewelry. It owns many high-end brands, with some big names including Tiffany, Dior, Moët & Chandon, Louis Vuitton, and Bulgari.
UnitedHealth Group
Market cap: $444.03 billion
Revenue: $324.16 billion
Gross profit: $79.62 billion
Five-year annualized return: 17.48%
Year founded: 1977
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is a healthcare and insurance company. It’s main businesses being UnitedHealthcare and Optum.
