Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.43%)(BRK.B -0.07%) is the top company in the financial sector, far ahead of JPMorgan Chase (JPM +1.27%) and Visa (V -0.76%). Big banks in the U.S. and China make up most of the largest financial companies by market cap.
Largest companies by market cap in the financial sector
(Editor's note: Rankings are as of Dec. 3, 2025.)
1. Berkshire Hathaway
NYSE: BRK.A
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $1.09 trillion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $400.5 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 16.91%
- Year founded: 1839
TTM = trailing 12 months.
Originally in the textile business, Berkshire Hathaway is now a holding company with subsidiaries across a number of industries, including insurance, freight rail transportation, and utilities.
Warren Buffett became CEO and chairman of Berkshire after taking majority control of the company in 1965. The legendary investor has announced that he'll be retiring at the end of the year. Greg Abel, the company's vice chairman, is expected to assume the role.
Berkshire Hathaway is highly regarded for its financial performance and investment choices. Under the leadership of Buffett (and business partner Charlie Munger, until his death in 2023), Berkshire has grown significantly. It was the first (and so far the only) U.S. financial company to reach a $1 trillion market cap.
2. JPMorgan Chase
NYSE: JPM
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $858.28 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $178.8 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 23.66%
- Year founded: 1799 (Bank of the Manhattan Company), 2000 (merger of JPMorgan and Chase)
JPMorgan Chase is the biggest bank in the U.S. It had $4.6 trillion in assets under management (AUM) as of the third quarter of 2025.
As one of the Big Four U.S. banks -- alongside Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup -- JPMorgan Chase offers a wide range of financial products and services. These include bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, and wealth management. The bank has been making a push to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) tools recently, with the goal of being a fully AI-connected enterprise.
3. Visa
NYSE: V
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $639.75 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $40.0 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $32.1 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 10.44%
- Year founded: 1958
Visa is a payment network that processes transactions for prepaid, debit, and credit cards. It's accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, making it one of the most widespread payment networks in the world. During the company's 2025 fiscal year, it processed 258 billion transactions.
This payments company is consistently at the forefront of technological innovations. It was the first major payments network to settle a cryptocurrency transaction, and it has invested heavily in AI fraud detection.
4. Mastercard
NYSE: MA
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $500.58 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $31.5 billion
- Gross profit (TTM): $24.4 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 10.59%
- Year founded: 1966
Mastercard is a payment network and Visa's closest competitor. It's accepted in more than 210 countries.
In February 2025, Mastercard announced it would remove the 16-digit card numbers from its credit and debit cards by 2030. It will replace them with tokenization, where each card has a unique encrypted token instead of a number. The change is expected to make payment card fraud more difficult.
5. Bank of America
NYSE: BAC
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $400.64 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $107.3 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 15.61%
- Year founded: 1904 (Bank of Italy), 1998 (merger of NationsBank and Bank of America)
Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the U.S., offering banking services, loans, and credit cards. During the Great Recession, Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch for approximately $50 billion, expanding its investment banking and wealth management segments.
This big bank has prioritized expansion over the last decade. Between 2014 and 2024, it invested more than $5 billion in financial center expansion to enter new markets nationwide.
6. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
- Market cap: $292.25 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $117.5 billion*
- Five-year annualized return: 12.57%
- Year founded: 1984
*Converted from Chinese yuan.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, was the largest bank in the world by total assets, with about $7.4 trillion in AUM as of the third quarter of 2025. The Chinese government owns a majority stake in ICBC.
Chinese banks, including ICBC, have had a challenging 2025. To support the country's economy, they've needed to provide cheap lending and loan subsidies, cutting into their profitability.
7. Wells Fargo
NYSE: WFC
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $286.23 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $82.8 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 27.14%
- Year founded: 1852
Wells Fargo is the fourth-largest bank in the U.S. by total assets, after JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup (C +1.04%). It had approximately $2 trillion in AUM as of the third quarter of 2025. Products include bank accounts, credit cards, and home, auto, and personal loans. It also offers investing and wealth management services.
This bank has been involved in some high-profile issues. One of the most widely reported cases was an account fraud scandal discovered in late 2016, where employees opened fraudulent accounts for clients without their knowledge.
Due to the scandal, the Federal Reserve imposed an asset cap of $1.95 trillion in early 2018, and Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $3 billion fine in 2020. In June 2025, the Federal Reserve removed the asset cap on Wells Fargo after determining that the bank had met all of the required conditions.
8. Morgan Stanley
NYSE: MS
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $277.32 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $64.2 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 25.36%
- Year founded: 1935
Morgan Stanley is an investment bank operating in over 40 countries with more than 80,000 employees. Its three business segments are institutional securities, wealth management, and investment management.
This bank was originally part of JPMorgan Chase until the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited a single entity from having both commercial and investment banking businesses. JPMorgan Chase took the commercial banking business, while some employees left to form Morgan Stanley and provide investment banking services.
9. China Construction Bank
- Market cap: $266.83 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $106.8 billion
- Five-year annualized return: 15.15%
- Year founded: 1954
*Converted from Chinese yuan.
China Construction Bank is the third-largest bank in China and the world. Like the other biggest Chinese banks, it's partially owned by the state.
Bank of America previously owned a portion of China Construction Bank, purchasing a 9% stake in 2005 for $3 billion. It later began selling its stake, and it had sold the last of its shares in 2013.
10. Agricultural Bank of China
OTC: ACGBF
Key Data Points
- Market cap: $249.29 billion (as of Dec. 3)
- Revenue (TTM): $102.0 billion*
- Five-year annualized return: 23.21%
- Year founded: 1905 (Da-Qing Bank), 1912 (Bank of China), 1979 (re-established)
*Converted from Chinese yuan.
The Agricultural Bank of China is the world's second-largest bank after ICBC. As of the third quarter of 2025, it had about $6.8 trillion in AUM. It's partially state-owned, with the Chinese government having about a 40% stake through an investment company.
Related investing topics
Financial sector takeaways for investors
Bank stocks may be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the financial sector. They comprise six of the 10 largest financial companies, but the sector also encompasses other types of businesses, such as insurance companies and payment networks.
Economic downturns often hit financial stocks hard, banks in particular. During periods of high unemployment, financial companies may be saddled with large amounts of bad debt that they need to write off.
The Trump administration's tariffs and resulting economic uncertainty could pose a significant challenge to the banking sector. Chinese bank stocks may be hit especially hard. However, a federal court ruled that most of these tariffs are illegal. For now, the tariffs are still in place, pending an appeal.
Despite the risk of a potential downturn, the top companies in this sector are massive businesses with long track records of success. For patient investors, financial stocks can be a valuable addition to a portfolio.
About the Author
Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Citigroup is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Lyle Daly has positions in Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
