Changes in Market Cap for Biggest U.S. Companies

Below we highlight some interesting tables on the recent changes in market caps of the largest companies in the US.  In the first chart below, we highlight the 25 biggest companies in the US, along with where they stood at the S&P 500's peak just before the credit crisis began last July 19th. 

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is still the largest company in the US even though it has lost about $93 billion in market cap since last July.  GE, MSFT and WMT rank a distant 2nd, 3rd and 4th, but they are the only other US companies worth more than $200 billion. 

In the table, blue shading means the company's size rank hasn't changed, red means it has declined, and green means it has increased. 

JNJ, IBM, BRK.A, AAPL and DNA are top 25 companies that saw some of the biggest increases in rank since last year, but the eye-openers are the declines in ranks. 

The biggest fall from grace has been Citi (C), who has lost about $158 billion in market cap (from about $250 to $95 billion) and gone from a #4 rank to #27.  In dollar terms, C, GE, AIG, XOM and BAC have lost the most, while in rank terms, FRE, WM and NCC top the list.  Other noteworthy falls are LEH, who went from the 89th biggest S&P 500 company to #246, and MER, who has now lost more market cap than it is now worth since last July.

Instead of going into more detail, we'll let the tables do the talking:

click to enlarge

    

Comments

[Tom B:]

Oh, cool: Apple's about 12 months away from passing MSFT!

2008 Jul 29 01:28 PM

[MarvinMBA:]

What would you expect in a recessionary invironment with energy/commodity prices surging and and housing/financials going down the tubes. I think the group responses would be just what you would expect. Of course there are some discontinuities. As we pull out of this (if we ever do) companies like GE will be in a position to profit greatly from their green energy assets such as windmill and
green electrical power components. GE's alliance with Saudi Arabia will provide the capital for expansion in these green areas.

2008 Jul 29 01:50 PM

[MarvinMBA:]

As long as I'm raving about GE in my last comment, I failed to mention that GE is also a leader in nuclear energy with many new systems and future ones coming on line going forward. As I understand it the newer nuclear power generating stations are very efficiant, safe and green.

2008 Jul 29 02:15 PM

[mollytjm:]

nuclear power is great, except in geologically unstable areas. as China learned with hydroelectric power, you better build these things away from population centers. they're all safe by themselves. one bad earthquake and one meltdown near a big population will hurt investors, a lot, so they better do what they can to reassure us that they're PRIMARILY safe, then green and efficient. i'd like to see them use some of the Japanese earthquake resistant construction on everything like this, built here, even in places where it seems safe. i think that would be reassuring to investors who are savvy about this stuff.

2008 Jul 30 10:53 AM

[granger:]

It would nice to see this overlayed wth some historical comparisions by industry group. For example, what isthe current weighting of each sector in the S&P, what was it last year, then what was it a decade ago and finally what is the historical average.

2008 Jul 30 11:20 AM

[dick black:]

how about a percentage change column for change in market cap and alternating colors for the rows or at least some lines....

2008 Jul 30 11:54 AM

[brewer:]

Go Apple, taking MSFT market away from them, both companies deserve this turn of events, and with iPhone, iPod, iTablet? (september?) where MSFT has absolutely nothing, it's only a matter of time.

2008 Jul 30 12:31 PM

[yousaidwhat:]

Yes indeed the handwriting is on the wall for Apple. This firm will be nearing the top of the largest market cap list in just a few years. The ultra-portable hand held computer market is going to explode and be absolutely HUGE, and AAPL will have a dominate market share not to mention an even much larger piece of the laptop and desktop PC markets. And keep in mind that Apple is also cornering the audio and video download entertainment markets as well. Talk about an outstanding business model.... WOW!!

2008 Jul 30 05:00 PM