Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is the largest consumer staples company, with Costco (NASDAQ:COST) ranking second and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) coming in third. The top of this market sector also includes popular household brands and some of the biggest tobacco companies.
Largest by market cap
Largest companies by market cap in the consumer staples sector
(Editor's note: Rankings are as of Oct. 3, 2025.)
| Name and ticker | Market cap | Current price | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart (NYSE:WMT) | $811 billion | $103.20 | Food and Staples Retailing |
| Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) | $418 billion | $937.46 | Food and Staples Retailing |
| Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) | $352 billion | $151.36 | Household Products |
| Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) | $286 billion | $66.74 | Beverages |
| Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) | $244 billion | $158.47 | Tobacco |
| L'Oréal (OTC:LRLCY) | $231 billion | $86.84 | Personal Products |
| PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) | $198 billion | $148.90 | Beverages |
| Unilever (NYSE:UL) | $144 billion | $59.89 | Personal Products |
| British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) | $112 billion | $50.92 | Tobacco |
| Altria Group (NYSE:MO) | $110 billion | $66.29 | Tobacco |
Companies 1 - 3
1. Walmart
- Market cap: $810.84 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $693.2 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $172.6 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 18.40%
- Year founded: 1962
TTM = trailing 12 months.
Retail giant Walmart is the No. 1 company in the world in terms of revenue and the world's largest family-owned business. The Walton family owns about 45% of the total shares.
Founder Sam Walton also launched Sam's Club, a popular warehouse club owned by Walmart. Across both brands, Walmart operates a total of more than 10,750 retail locations in 19 countries and employs more than 2 million associates worldwide.
Walmart is known for offering low prices on a massive selection of products, including general merchandise, groceries, and health products, with the selection varying by store. The retailer has needed to hike its prices due to the Trump administration's import tariffs, although a federal appeals court ruled that many of these tariffs are illegal in September 2025, so their status is in flux.
2. Costco Wholesale
- Market cap: $406.57 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $275.2 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $35.3 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 22.87%
- Year founded: 1983
Costco is the most popular warehouse club in the U.S., boasting more than 135 million members. It has a unique business model, generating enough money from membership fees to cover most of its operating expenses. This allows it to offer lower prices on the products it carries.
The product selection at Costco warehouses and its website includes groceries, electronics, appliances, and clothing. Warehouses also have food courts, and Costco offers several other services, including a pharmacy and a travel booking service.
3. Procter & Gamble
- Market cap: $355.87 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $84.3 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $43.1 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 4.49%
- Year founded: 1837
Procter & Gamble is the company behind many of the most well-known household products. Its portfolio comprises dozens of popular brands, including Ariel laundry products, Pampers diapers, Bounty paper towels, Gillette razors, and various skincare products.
This company has established strong retail partnerships worldwide, and its products are available in more than 180 countries. It employs about 109,000 people.
Procter & Gamble has announced plans to cut about 7,000 jobs over the next two years. While it's part of a restructuring plan, economic uncertainty from tariffs has led to an acceleration of that plan. Procter & Gamble has also announced that it's raising prices on about a quarter of its U.S. products due to tariffs.
Companies 4 - 6
4. Coca-Cola
- Market cap: $284.47 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $47.1 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $28.9 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 9.26%
- Year founded: 1892
Coca-Cola gets its name from its flagship product, the iconic Coca-Cola soft drink. Coca-Cola is now one of the beverage company's more than 500 brands, a list that also includes Minute Maid, Sprite, Dasani, and Powerade.
Coca-Cola products are sold in more than 200 countries. Worldwide, more than 2.2 billion servings of Coca-Cola beverage products are consumed every day.
5. Philip Morris International
- Market cap: $245.80 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $39.1 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $26.0 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 21.87%
- Year founded: 1847
Philip Morris International is the world's biggest tobacco company. Its leading brand is Marlboro, the best-selling international cigarette, and its portfolio includes L&M, Chesterfield, Philip Morris, and Parliament.
It's worth noting that this company doesn't operate in the U.S. In 2008, Philip Morris was split into two companies: Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA, the latter of which is now a completely separate entity as part of Altria Group.
Tobacco companies have faced criticism as the dangers of smoking have become widely recognized. In 2014, Philip Morris started offering smoke-free products, and it now sells nicotine pouches, heated tobacco devices, and e-vapor products.
6. L'Oréal
- Market cap: $233.03 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $51.5 billion*
- Gross profit (TTM): $38.1 billion*
- Five-year annualized return: 7.65%
- Year founded: 1909
*Converted from euros.
French beauty company L'Oréal began as a manufacturer and seller of hair dye formulas. It's now the largest cosmetics company in the world, with 37 brands and operations in more than 150 countries. It has four divisions: L'Oréal Luxe, Consumer Products, Dermatological Beauty, and Professional Products.
In January 2025, L'Oréal and IBM (NYSE:IBM) announced a collaboration to advance the development of sustainable cosmetics. The two companies will use IBM's generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology to analyze cosmetic formulation data and improve sustainability.
Companies 7 - 10
7. PepsiCo
- Market cap: $194.83 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $91.7 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $49.9 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 3.70%
- Year founded: 1898 (Pepsi-Cola Company), 1965 (PepsiCo)
A leading food and beverage company, PepsiCo began with the soft drink Pepsi, which is still its flagship product. It merged with Frito-Lay in 1965 and has acquired quite a few brands since then, resulting in a large portfolio of products.
PepsiCo has a market presence in more than 200 countries and territories and has more than 20 brands that generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Some of its major brands include Doritos, Gatorade, Quaker Oats, and Rockstar.
8. Unilever
- Market cap: $144.51 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $70.2 billion*
- Gross profit (TTM): $31.0 billion*
- Five-year annualized return: 2.36%
- Year founded: 1929
*Converted from British pounds.
Unilever is a British consumer goods company with beauty and wellness, personal care, home care, and food products. Its brands include Dove, Axe, and Vaseline. Unilever also has ice cream brands, most notably Ben & Jerry's (although it plans to spin off that segment by the end of 2025). However, its relationship with Ben & Jerry's has been rocky recently. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield left the ice cream maker in September 2025, claiming that Unilever put a halt to the brand's social activism.
In 2024, Unilever announced plans to restructure and cut 7,500 jobs as part of a plan to improve performance. It had already cut about 6,000 by the first quarter of 2025. Unilever also went through a leadership change earlier this year, replacing CEO Hein Schumacher with Fernando Fernandez.
9. British American Tobacco
- Market cap: $114.18 billion (as of Oct. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $34.5 billion*
- Gross profit (TTM): $28.8 billion*
- Five-year annualized return: 16.57%
- Year founded: 1902
*Converted from British pounds.
British American Tobacco owns the Lucky Strike, Dunhill, Camel, and Newport brands of cigarettes, among others. It also owns the Grizzly brand of dipping tobacco.
With the declining popularity of tobacco and the regulatory issues surrounding it, British American Tobacco has invested in what it calls "reduced-risk" alternatives. The tobacco company launched its first vaping product in 2013 with the Vuse line of electronic cigarettes. Vuse is now the top global vaping brand.
10. Altria Group
- Market cap: $110.45 billion (as of Oct. 2)
- Revenue (TTM): $20.3 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $14.5 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 20.06%
- Year founded: 1985 (Philip Morris Companies), 2003 (name change to Altria Group)
Altria Group is a tobacco company that owns Philip Morris USA, as well as U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, John Middleton, Helix Innovations, and NJOY (which it acquired in 2023). Products include Marlboro cigarettes, the most popular in the U.S., machine-made cigars, tobacco pouches, and nicotine pouches.
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Key takeaways
Consumer staples sector takeaways for investors
The largest consumer staples companies are all widely recognized brands or have well-known brands in their portfolios. Overall, this is one of the safer and more resilient market sectors. Top consumer staples companies are profitable businesses that see continued demand for their products, even during economic downturns. Many of them also pay high dividends.
Not all of those companies are safe picks, though. This sector also includes tobacco companies, and while they're often great for dividends, the tobacco business is a risky one. But there are many other types of businesses in this market sector, giving investors plenty of options.
