The Largest Companies by Market Cap in 2024

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) currently tops the list of the largest companies in the world. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the hottest company of 2024, isn't far behind after seeing its value skyrocket this year.

Nine of the largest companies have a market cap of at least $1 trillion. While tech companies dominate the top of the stock market, there are other sectors represented, including oil, insurance, medical companies, and financial services. Read on to see the 20 most valuable companies and where they stand as of December 2024.

Largest companies by market cap

Largest companies by market cap

Companies 1-5

1. Apple

• Market cap: $3.59 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $391.04 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $180.68 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 29.62%
• Year founded: 1976

Tech giant Apple is proof of how far high-quality products and strong brand loyalty can go. It first became the world's most valuable company on Aug. 9, 2011, just 15 days before Steve Jobs resigned as CEO. It also holds the distinction of being the first company to hit market caps of $1 trillion, $2 trillion, and $3 trillion.

Apple built its success off sales of its wildly popular products, including the iPhone, MacBook, and AirPods. Its latest major development is Apple Intelligence, its artificial intelligence (AI) technology. It has also branched out into services, including its Apple TV+ streaming service.

On a negative note, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in March of this year. It alleges that Apple illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones through contractual restrictions on developers. Apple has filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.

2. Nvidia

• Market cap: $3.39 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $113.27 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $85.93 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 91.16%
• Year founded: 1993

Tech company Nvidia develops and manufactures graphics processing units (GPUs) originally used for PC graphics and video games. Its GPUs are in high demand because they play a key role in training and operating AI applications. They've also been used for mining cryptocurrency (using computer processing power to validate crypto transactions and earn rewards)

Because of the AI boom, Nvidia has been unstoppable in 2024. It set the record for the largest single-day market cap gain in Wall Street's history multiple times this year. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world's biggest company. While that didn't last, it passed Microsoft again in October, and it's now hot on Apple's heels.

3. Microsoft

• Market cap: $3.15 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $254.19 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $176.28 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 23.91%
• 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. Over 70% of computers use Windows, according to Statcounter. While it's most famous for Windows, Microsoft also has a diverse selection of products and services that has helped to build on its success, including:

• Office Suite software
• Azure cloud platform
• Xbox video game consoles
• Surface computer and tablets

Microsoft has been making a big push into AI technology. It launched an AI-powered digital assistance, Microsoft Copilot. It has also reportedly invested $13 million into OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, although it now also lists that company as one of its competitors.

4. Amazon

• Market cap: $2.19 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $620.13 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $300.18 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 18.20%
• Year founded: 1994

E-commerce leader Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) started out as an online bookstore, which goes to show just how much its reach has expanded. It's now the site where you can buy practically anything, and it’s the largest online retailer in the world.

The company’s Amazon Prime service has more than 200 million users worldwide. It's also the largest cloud provider in the world with Amazon Web Services (AWS). And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Amazon also has its Amazon Prime Video streaming service and video game streaming through Twitch, plus it owns the Whole Foods Market grocery chain.

Yet it isn't all good news. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon in September 2023 alleging that Amazon is a monopoly that uses anti-competitive practices to maintain its position. While the lawsuit is ongoing, Amazon won a partial dismissal in a September 2024 ruling.

5. Alphabet (Google)

• Market cap: $2.09 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $339.69 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $196.72 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 21.21%
• Year founded: 1998 (Google), 2015 (Alphabet)

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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 is synonymous with online searches. That's just one of Alphabet’s many widely used products, which also include:

• Email service Gmail
• Video site YouTube
• Navigation apps Waze and Maps
• Pixel smartphones

On a negative note, Alphabet has been embroiled in antitrust lawsuits. In August 2024, a judge found that Google acted illegally to monopolize online search and advertising. The court hasn't decided on penalties yet, and Alphabet plans to appeal the ruling.

Companies 6-10

6. Saudi Arabian Oil

• Market cap: $1.77 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $487.73 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $300.60 billion
• Year founded: 1933

*Converted from Saudi riyals.

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.

Since Saudi Aramco is largely dependent on oil prices, it can go through significant ups and downs. Heavy oil demand helped it claim the top spot in terms of market cap early in May of 2022, but when demand fell, it was surpassed again. To diversify its portfolio, Saudi Aramco invested $500 million in a liquified natural gas (LNG) company, MidOcean Energy, in September 2023.

7. Meta Platforms

• Market cap: $1.45 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $156.23 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $127.21 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 23.33%
• Year founded: 2004

The company formerly known as Facebook rebranded in 2021 and announced a new focus on building the metaverse. It's also investing heavily into AI. For now, Meta Platform's (NASDAQ:META) biggest products are its social networks, Facebook, and Instagram.

It also owns WhatsApp and Messenger, and it expanded into virtual reality with its Meta Quest 3 and its acquisition of Oculus. Meta makes the vast majority of its money from advertising, which accounts for over 98% of its revenue.

8. Tesla

• Market cap: $1.11 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $97.15 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $17.71 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 73.33%
• Year founded: 2003

Electric vehicles (EVs) are growing in popularity, and no company has been riding that wave more than Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). It's the most valuable automaker in the world, and its Model Y was the world's best-selling car last year. It also released the Cybertruck in 2023, which has become one of the most popular EVs in the country.

Tesla is most famous for its vehicles, and it's second only to China's BYD Company (OTC:BYDDY) among the largest EV companies in terms of manufacturing. That's not all it has to offer, though. In addition to EVs, Tesla also manufactures solar roofs, solar panels, and Powerwall, an integrated battery system that stores solar energy.

9. Berkshire Hathaway

• Market cap: $1.04 trillion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $315.76 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $66.19 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 16.96%
• Year founded: 1839

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) is the first U.S. company outside of the tech sector to have a $1 trillion market cap. It started out as a textile company and remained in that business for more than a century, but it's now known for its ties to legendary investor Warren Buffett. He began investing in Berkshire in 1962, and he took majority control in 1965.

Buffett has acted as chairman and CEO since then and converted Berkshire to a holding company in 1970. Charlie Munger served as vice chairman from 1978 until his passing in late 2023. While Berkshire's main business is insurance (it owns one of the largest insurance companies, GEICO), Berkshire has also invested in companies across a range of industries.

10. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Market cap: $957.63 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $81.65 billion*
• Gross profit (TTM): $44.37 billion*
• Five-year annualized return: 30.87%
• Year founded: 1987

*Converted from New Taiwan dollars.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM), also known as TSMC, is a leader in semiconductor production and is Taiwan's most valuable company. As such, it works with many of the leading global technology companies, including Apple and Nvidia. It could also stand to benefit from the growth of AI. It's the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world, and the growing demand for AI chips should mean even more sales for TSMC.

Companies 11-15

11. Broadcom

Market cap: $757.01 billion (as of Dec. 2)

• Revenue (TTM): $46.81 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $28.44 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 42.79%
• Year founded: 1961 (HP Associates), 2005 (Avago Technologies), 2016 (Broadcom Limited)

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) started out as HP Associates, the semiconductor division of HP (NYSE:HPQ). It's now one of the largest semiconductor companies. Broadcom has also expanded into software with an acquisition of VMware that was completed in November 2023.

12. Eli Lilly

• Market cap: $755.04 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $40.86 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $33.33 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 48.48%
• Year founded: 1876

Founded by a chemist and Union Army veteran of the same name, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Its main revenue drivers are diabetes drugs, and it was the first company to mass-produce insulin and the polio vaccine. Eli Lilly also manufactures antidepressants, most notably Prozac, along with weight-loss drugs. And it's developing a drug (donanemab) to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Eli Lilly has rocketed up the ranks of the biggest companies. Less than a year ago, it was outside the top 20. But the company has recently hit record highs, in part thanks to the August 2023 acquisitions of Sigilon Therapeutics, Versanis Bio, and DICE Therapeutics.

13. Walmart

• Market cap: $743.54 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $673.82 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $166.41 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 20.25%
• Year founded: 1962

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) may not have the largest market cap, but it is No. 1 in terms of revenue, and it’s the largest retailer in the world. With more than $600 billion in annual revenue, it earns more than most of the other companies on this list by a wide margin.

14. JPMorgan Chase

• Market cap: $703.05 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $170.11 billion
• Gross Profit (TTM): $169.51 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 16.95%
• Year founded: 1799 (Bank of the Manhattan Company), 2000 (merger of JPMorgan and Chase)

While there are several big banks in the U.S., JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) is the biggest. It managed $3.90 trillion in assets as of the third quarter of 2024, more than any other U.S. bank and the fifth-highest in the world.

15. Visa

• Market cap: $617.47 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $35.93 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $28.88 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 12.07%
• 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's accepted in over 130-million merchant locations across more than 200 countries and territories, and it reported $12.3 trillion in payments volume in 2023.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa in September 2024. It alleges that Visa operates an illegal monopoly over the debit card payments market. Visa is contesting the lawsuit.

Companies 16-20

16. UnitedHealth Group

• Market cap: $561.56 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $390.71 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $86.91 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 18.58%
• Year founded: 1977

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is a healthcare and insurance company. It operates two main businesses: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. UnitedHealthcare offers employer and individual, Medicare and retirement, community and state, and global health insurance. Optum provides healthcare services, analytics, and pharmacy care services.

In February 2024, UnitedHealth Group disclosed that its subsidiary, Change Healthcare, was the victim of a cyberattack. The attack caused issues throughout the healthcare sector. CEO Andrew Witty later confirmed that UnitedHealth Group paid a ransom of $22 million in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) to try to protect patient data, but the breach still resulted in compromised data on at least 100 million people, making it the largest reported healthcare data breach in history.

17. ExxonMobil

• Market cap: $518.44 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $342.95 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $85.46 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 17.13%
• Year founded: 1882 (Standard Oil of New Jersey), 1999 (merger of Exxon and Mobil)

As recently as 2013, ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) was the largest company by market cap. However, environmental disasters and a long history of climate change denial led to heavy criticism of the oil company. Although ExxonMobil is still a leader in terms of revenue, its market cap has been stuck in neutral for the past decade.

18. Oracle

• Market cap: $512.20 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $53.81 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $37.63 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 28.85%
• Year founded: 1977

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is an information technology company founded by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates. It focuses on business hardware and software products, including cloud infrastructure and applications. Thanks to demand for cloud-based AI services, 2024 has been Oracle's best year in decades.

19. Mastercard

• Market cap: $489.15 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $27.23 billion
• Gross profit (TTM): $23.36 billion
• Five-year annualized return: 13.39%
• Year founded: 1966

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has long been Visa's closest competitor among payment networks. In 2023, it processed over 143 billion transactions for a gross dollar volume of $9 trillion.

20. Tencent

• Market cap: $471.56 billion (as of Dec. 2)
• Revenue (TTM): $88.79 billion*
• Gross profit (TTM): $46.42 billion*
• Five-year annualized return: 5.92%
• Year founded: 1998

*Converted from Chinese yuan.

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.

Takeaways

Takeaways for investors

Large-cap stocks like these are an important part of every investor's portfolio. They generally provide more safety and stability than smaller stocks since most of them are established companies with strong brands.

They can be highly profitable as well; 17 of the stocks on this list outperformed the S&P 500 over the past five years. Tech companies, in particular, can often be profitable investments. They make up the top five -- and seven of the top 10 -- largest companies by market cap.

Yet even with the biggest companies in the world, no investment is a sure thing. A diversified portfolio is still a must so that you're not overly reliant on any single company or market sector.