Markets

The Top 100 Companies: Revenue vs. Profit

Published

7 years ago

June 12, 2017

Jeff Desjardins

Top 100 Companies Revenue vs. Profit

The Top 100 Companies: Revenue vs. Profit

Just over a month ago, we published a very tidy data visualization that summed up the top 50 companies in the world by revenue, based on data from Forbes.

But, just looking at revenue numbers doesn’t give a full picture on how these companies compare – and many investors care much more about a different performance metric: profit.

Thankfully, today’s data visualization from Ishtyaq Habib shows the top 100 biggest companies by market value, but uses circles to represent both the revenue and profit for each company. There’s also an interactive version of the same chart here as well, which highlights the specific numbers for each company highlighted.

Apple = A Money-Making Machine

The first noticeable difference in this version?

It’s that Apple is unparalleled in its ability to make money. In fact, Apple’s 2016 profit of $45 billion is far bigger than any other company, including Berkshire Hathaway ($24 billion), JPMorgan Chase ($24 billion), Wells Fargo ($22 billion), Alphabet ($19 billion), Samsung ($19 billion), Toyota ($17 billion), Johnson & Johnson ($16 billion), or Walmart ($14 billion).

The only companies that can compare with Apple were Chinese banks like ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, or China Construction Bank, but in many ways these state-owned enterprises are on an entirely different playing field, anyways.

Also impressive: Apple’s profits are bigger than the revenues of massive companies like Coca-Cola ($41.5 billion) or Facebook ($27.6 billion).

Margins, Schmargins

Unfortunately, not every company can make a 21% profit margin on $217 billion of revenue like Apple.

Other organizations need to rely on razor-thin margins and volume to make things work. Walmart only brought in $14 billion of profit off of a whopping $485 billion of revenue – a margin of just 2.8%. Meanwhile, fast-growing Amazon was in a similar boat with margins of 1.7%, largely provided by its wildly successful AWS service.

Lastly, it is also worth noting that some on the list did not make a margin at all. These are mostly companies that are suffering from the challenges of down cycles in natural resources. Chevron and mining giant Glencore, for example, were two of the Top 100 Companies that both lost money in 2016, while BP essentially broke even.

Related Topics:apple forbes revenue profit top 100 companies

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Markets

The European Stock Market: Attractive Valuations Offer Opportunities

On average, the European stock market has valuations that are nearly 50% lower than U.S. valuations. But how can you access the market?

Graphics & Design

Alejandra Dander

An infographic showing that compared to North American and Asian stocks, the European stock market has lower or comparable valuations and low-to-moderate correlation.

European Stock Market: Attractive Valuations Offer Opportunities

Europe is known for some established brands, from L’Oréal to Louis Vuitton. However, the European stock market offers additional opportunities that may be lesser known.

The above infographic, sponsored by STOXX, outlines why investors may want to consider European stocks.

Attractive Valuations

Compared to most North American and Asian markets, European stocks offer lower or comparable valuations.

Index	Price-to-Earnings Ratio	Price-to-Book Ratio
EURO STOXX 50	14.9	2.2
STOXX Europe 600	14.4	2
U.S.	25.9	4.7
Canada	16.1	1.8
Japan	15.4	1.6
Asia Pacific ex. China	17.1	1.8

Data as of February 29, 2024. See graphic for full index names. Ratios based on trailing 12 month financials. The price to earnings ratio excludes companies with negative earnings.

On average, European valuations are nearly 50% lower than U.S. valuations, potentially offering an affordable entry point for investors.

Research also shows that lower price ratios have historically led to higher long-term returns.

Market Movements Not Closely Connected

Over the last decade, the European stock market had low-to-moderate correlation with North American and Asian equities.

The below chart shows correlations from February 2014 to February 2024. A value closer to zero indicates low correlation, while a value of one would indicate that two regions are moving in perfect unison.

	EURO STOXX 50	STOXX EUROPE 600	U.S.	Canada	Japan	Asia Pacific ex. China
EURO STOXX 50	1.00	0.97	0.55	0.67	0.24	0.43
STOXX EUROPE 600		1.00	0.56	0.71	0.28	0.48
U.S.			1.00	0.73	0.12	0.25
Canada				1.00	0.22	0.40
Japan					1.00	0.88
Asia Pacific ex. China						1.00

Data is based on daily USD returns.

European equities had relatively independent market movements from North American and Asian markets. One contributing factor could be the differing sector weights in each market. For instance, technology makes up a quarter of the U.S. market, but health care and industrials dominate the broader European market.

Ultimately, European equities can enhance portfolio diversification and have the potential to mitigate risk for investors.

Tracking the Market

For investors interested in European equities, STOXX offers a variety of flagship indices:

Index	Description	Market Cap
STOXX Europe 600	Pan-regional, broad market	€10.5T
STOXX Developed Europe	Pan-regional, broad-market	€9.9T
STOXX Europe 600 ESG-X	Pan-regional, broad market, sustainability focus	€9.7T
STOXX Europe 50	Pan-regional, blue-chip	€5.1T
EURO STOXX 50	Eurozone, blue-chip	€3.5T

Data is as of February 29, 2024. Market cap is free float, which represents the shares that are readily available for public trading on stock exchanges.

The EURO STOXX 50 tracks the Eurozone’s biggest and most traded companies. It also underlies one of the world’s largest ranges of ETFs and mutual funds. As of November 2023, there were €27.3 billion in ETFs and €23.5B in mutual fund assets under management tracking the index.

“For the past 25 years, the EURO STOXX 50 has served as an accurate, reliable and tradable representation of the Eurozone equity market.”
— Axel Lomholt, General Manager at STOXX

Partnering with STOXX to Track the European Stock Market

Are you interested in European equities? STOXX can be a valuable partner:

Comprehensive, liquid and investable ecosystem
European heritage, global reach
Highly sophisticated customization capabilities
Open architecture approach to using data
Close partnerships with clients
Part of ISS STOXX and Deutsche Börse Group

With a full suite of indices, STOXX can help you benchmark against the European stock market.

Learn how STOXX’s European indices offer liquid and effective market access.

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