What are the different types of stock companies can issue?

Common stock is the main type of stock issued by publicly traded companies. It gives everyday people and institutional investors the opportunity to own a piece of a business and a proportional share of its future profits. There is also preferred stock, which generally pays a fixed dividend but does not entitle the investor to any ownership of the company's profits.

Do stock market companies always make profits?

No, companies that trade on public stock markets are not always profitable. This is quite common among fast-growing technology companies, and many report negative income in any given period.

How do stocks get listed on exchanges?

To be listed on a major exchange, a company typically needs to meet several size-related requirements and comply with regulatory requirements.

Biggest Stock Market Companies in 2026

The Largest Stock Market Companies in 2026

By Matthew Frankel, CFP – Updated Sep 15, 2026 at 12:38 PM EST | Fact-checked by Robin Hartill, CFP

Key Points

Nvidia leads Nasdaq as 1st $5 trillion company by market cap in 2025.
NYSE's largest firm, Taiwan Semiconductor, is valued at $2.2 trillion in 2026.
OTC market giants include Samsung and Roche, focusing on electronics and healthcare.

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American flags flying on a Wall Street building. — Image source: Getty Images.

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The five largest Nasdaq companies

The Nasdaq-100 index is a tech-heavy index that includes several of the world's largest companies. In fact, the five largest Nasdaq companies were also the five largest companies trading on U.S. stock exchanges as of September 2026, by a wide margin. Note that market caps fluctuate constantly, so it's entirely possible the market values (and even the rank order) may have changed by the time you're reading this.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA): Nvidia became the first $5 trillion market-cap company in 2025 and had a valuation of about $5.3 trillion as of September 2026. It literally invented the graphics processing unit (GPU), and it remains the dominant leader in the space. Its chips have use cases across the most compelling technology trends, including data centers, autonomous vehicles, mobile gaming, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): With a market cap of about $4.9 trillion, Apple was the second-largest company in the stock market in September 2026. This is a business that needs no introduction, as Apple is the company behind some of the world's most popular consumer electronics, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and more.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL): Alphabet isn't a household name itself, but its main subsidiary, Google, certainly is. The company has a $4.2 trillion market cap with two main divisions, Google Services and Google Cloud. Google Services include the dominant internet search business, Gmail, Google Maps, Android, Google Chrome, and more. Google Cloud is one of the big three cloud services platforms, with Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure being the other two.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft has a market cap of $3.7 trillion as of September 2026. The company is a designer and manufacturer of both hardware and software, and provides services to customers. It is the company behind the Windows operating system, the Microsoft Office suite of productivity tools, the Azure cloud infrastructure platform, and much more.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN): Amazon has a $2.8 trillion-dollar market cap, and while it is best known for its dominant e-commerce platform, it is also the clear leader in cloud services through its Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has a commanding market share lead over rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet.

The five largest NYSE companies

The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, lists thousands of companies as well. Here are the five largest as of Summer 2026.

Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM): A chipmaker that produces components for personal computers, mobile devices, servers, data centers, and more. It has a market cap of $1.9 trillion and is emerging as one of the biggest winners of the surge in AI investment.
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B): Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate with more than 60 subsidiary businesses, including GEICO, Duracell, Dairy Queen, Pilot Travel Centers, and dozens more. It also owns a massive portfolio of common stocks worth more than $340 billion and has a staggering $365 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet as of the second quarter of 2025. Berkshire was the first non-technology company in the U.S. stock market to reach a trillion-dollar market cap.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY): With an approximately $1 trillion market cap, Eli Lilly is a pharmaceutical manufacturer with a long list of products to treat a variety of conditions. The company's major drugs are used to treat diabetes, obesity, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience, among other conditions.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM): JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States by asset size, with a $930 billion market cap as of September 2026. It has $2.4 trillion in deposits and $1.3 trillion in loans, and it operates more than 4,000 banking branches under the Chase brand.
Visa (V +0.45%): The world's largest payment network, connecting consumers, merchants, and financial institutions across more than 200 countries and territories. With a $690 billion market cap as of September 2026, Visa has generated $44.5 billion in revenue over the past 12 months.

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The five largest OTC companies

Many of the largest companies that trade on the over-the-counter (OTC) markets are foreign and also listed on other major stock exchanges worldwide. In fact, all of the top five are in this category.

Samsung (SSNLF +0.00%): Samsung is a company that needs no introduction to most people, as one of the world's largest electronics manufactures. Samsung is best known for its Galaxy smartphones, tablets, and wearables, but also makes televisions, home appliances, memory chips, and more.
Tencent Holdings (TCEHY +3.62%): Tencent is China's largest internet company, operating WeChat, the dominant messaging, social, and payments platform in the country. It also ranks as the world's biggest video game publisher. With a $490 billion market cap as of September 2026, Tencent has generated roughly $113 billion in revenue over the past 12 months.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (IDCBY +1.15%): ICBC is the world's largest bank by total assets, and it remains majority-owned by the Chinese government. With a market cap of roughly $340 billion as of September 2026, ICBC carries more than $7.4 trillion in assets on its balance sheet.
Roche Holding AG (OTC:RHHBY): Roche is a Swiss healthcare company that makes pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics. It is the world's largest producer of cancer treatments and has a massive portfolio of pharmaceutical products.
Agricultural Bank of China (ACGBY +3.75%): Agricultural Bank of China is the world's second-largest bank by total assets. It has a branch network historically focused on rural and agricultural lending. With a market cap of roughly $320 billion as of September 2026, it holds close to $7 trillion in assets.

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The bottom line

There are thousands of companies listed on the U.S. stock market's various exchanges. As of 2026, there were about 3,450 different stocks listed on the Nasdaq (including cases where the same company has more than one class of stock), about 2,200 on the NYSE, and almost 6,500 on the OTC markets. The companies mentioned here, although the largest, make up only a tiny fraction of all publicly traded companies.

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Largest companies FAQ

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About the Author

Matt Frankel, CFP®, is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst specializing in the real estate and financial sectors. Prior to The Motley Fool, Matt taught high school and college mathematics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of South Carolina, a master’s degree in mathematics from Nova Southeastern University, and a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University. He won a SABEW award for coverage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He is also regularly interviewed by Cheddar, Globe St, The National Desk, and other TV networks and publications for his real estate, financial, stock market, and investing expertise.

TMFMattFrankel

@MattFrankelUSC

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA): Nvidia became the first $5 trillion market-cap company in 2025 and had a valuation of about $5.3 trillion as of September 2026. It literally invented the graphics processing unit (GPU), and it remains the dominant leader in the space. Its chips have use cases across the most compelling technology trends, including data centers, autonomous vehicles, mobile gaming, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): With a market cap of about $4.9 trillion, Apple was the second-largest company in the stock market in September 2026. This is a business that needs no introduction, as Apple is the company behind some of the world's most popular consumer electronics, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and more.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL): Alphabet isn't a household name itself, but its main subsidiary, Google, certainly is. The company has a $4.2 trillion market cap with two main divisions, Google Services and Google Cloud. Google Services include the dominant internet search business, Gmail, Google Maps, Android, Google Chrome, and more. Google Cloud is one of the big three cloud services platforms, with Amazon's AWS and Microsoft's Azure being the other two.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): Microsoft has a market cap of $3.7 trillion as of September 2026. The company is a designer and manufacturer of both hardware and software, and provides services to customers. It is the company behind the Windows operating system, the Microsoft Office suite of productivity tools, the Azure cloud infrastructure platform, and much more.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN): Amazon has a $2.8 trillion-dollar market cap, and while it is best known for its dominant e-commerce platform, it is also the clear leader in cloud services through its Amazon Web Services (AWS), which has a commanding market share lead over rivals such as Microsoft and Alphabet.

The five largest NYSE companies

The New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, lists thousands of companies as well. Here are the five largest as of Summer 2026.

Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM): A chipmaker that produces components for personal computers, mobile devices, servers, data centers, and more. It has a market cap of $1.9 trillion and is emerging as one of the biggest winners of the surge in AI investment.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B): Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate with more than 60 subsidiary businesses, including GEICO, Duracell, Dairy Queen, Pilot Travel Centers, and dozens more. It also owns a massive portfolio of common stocks worth more than $340 billion and has a staggering $365 billion in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet as of the second quarter of 2025. Berkshire was the first non-technology company in the U.S. stock market to reach a trillion-dollar market cap.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY): With an approximately $1 trillion market cap, Eli Lilly is a pharmaceutical manufacturer with a long list of products to treat a variety of conditions. The company's major drugs are used to treat diabetes, obesity, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience, among other conditions.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM): JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States by asset size, with a $930 billion market cap as of September 2026. It has $2.4 trillion in deposits and $1.3 trillion in loans, and it operates more than 4,000 banking branches under the Chase brand.

Visa (V +0.45%): The world's largest payment network, connecting consumers, merchants, and financial institutions across more than 200 countries and territories. With a $690 billion market cap as of September 2026, Visa has generated $44.5 billion in revenue over the past 12 months.

The Largest Stock Market Companies in 2026

Key Points

The five largest Nasdaq companies

The five largest NYSE companies

The five largest OTC companies

The bottom line

Largest companies FAQ

About the Author

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Largest companies FAQ

What are the different types of stock companies can issue?

Do stock market companies always make profits?

How do stocks get listed on exchanges?

The bottom line

The five largest Nasdaq companies

The five largest NYSE companies

The five largest OTC companies