Editor’s note: This article was first published in March 2019. Every market capitalisation, P/E ratio, ranking position and the Inditex figure (€83.43 billion) date from early March 2019 and have changed a lot since. Facebook has since become Meta Platforms, and the predictions are the author’s 2019 opinions.
Technology companies have taken over the ranking of the most valuable companies by market capitalisation, ahead of the consumer goods industry and financial firms. And this trend will only grow over the coming years. As was bound to happen, the United States tops the ranking and is home to most of the companies with the highest market value.
To give you an idea, according to Bloomberg data, a ranking by industry would put technology companies at 34% of the total weight of the 100 most valuable companies. They would be followed by the financial sector with 18% of the total, and the pharmaceutical and chemical industry with 12%.
Energy (7.8%), food (5%), telecommunications (4.3%) and consumer goods (3%) would complete the ranking.
To put it in perspective, US companies would account for close to 65% of global market capitalisation, and European companies for 16%. And as a curiosity, only one Spanish company would make it into the top 100 companies by market capitalisation: Inditex, worth €83.43 billion.
The 10 companies with the highest market value in the world
1. Microsoft
Microsoft has regained first place. Many people had forgotten that this company’s management knows how to generate revenue and how to come back to the market much stronger. Microsoft currently has a record value of $853 billion and a P/E ratio of 25.
2. Apple
This company was the first in history to pass the trillion-dollar mark in market capitalisation. Although it has been hit hard by its latest earnings report, it is still fighting to become the most valuable company on the planet, with a market capitalisation of $819.94 billion, and it is still battling its biggest rival, Microsoft.
It has a P/E ratio of 26.
3. Amazon
Today I dare to say that in a few years Amazon will be the most valuable company on the planet, and I’ll set out my reasons soon. Jeff Bezos’s company has a market capitalisation of $809.53 billion and a P/E ratio of 81, which in this case, in my personal opinion, reflects the growth that investors expect from this company.
4. Alphabet (Google)
With a market capitalisation of $800.21 billion and a P/E ratio of 26, Google stands as the third most valuable company in the world, although in my opinion this company will fight Amazon for first place in the very near future.
5. Berkshire Hathaway
In fifth place we have the company of our much-admired Warren Buffett, with shares that now cost almost $300,000 each. Berkshire Hathaway has a market capitalisation of $490.1 billion and a P/E ratio of 132.
6. Facebook
Quite a dream for a social network that, through its acquisitions (WhatsApp, Instagram), is present in our lives in one way or another in the way we communicate. It is worth $485.27 billion in market capitalisation and has a P/E ratio of 22.
7. Alibaba Group
Amazon’s biggest competitor has now reached seventh place among the most valuable companies, with a market capitalisation of $462.21 billion and a P/E ratio of 45. Its founder, Jack Ma, seems to be going all in.
8. Tencent Holdings
One of the fastest-growing companies in history. What started out as a social messaging company has ended up becoming a conglomerate of businesses in the video game sector. Its current market capitalisation is $430 billion, although it once reached $570 billion. It has a P/E ratio of 40.
9. Johnson & Johnson
With a market capitalisation of $368.7 billion and a P/E ratio of 24, this company keeps showing that it knows how to stay in the market and make money for its shareholders over time.
10. JPMorgan
A company from the financial sector couldn’t be missing from the top 10. In this case it is JPMorgan, with a market capitalisation of $337.35 billion and a P/E ratio of 11.
See also: The future of business: the main technology trends
Featured image: Jiaqian AirplaneFan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
