These companies made the biggest jumps on this year’s Fortune Global 500

COVID-19 has helped prompt yet another massive shake-up in the Fortune Global 500. Airlines fell off the list entirely, as business and leisure travel came to a near standstill. Car manufacturers included in the rankings saw their total revenues fall 11%. And all 500 companies saw their collective profits slide 20% from last year.

Not everything was bad news, though.

For a select breed of company, the pandemic proved to be a boon to business as consumers were stuck indoors, business shifted to work from home, and the housing craze took shape. Here’s a look at where some of the biggest jumps came from in this year’s Global 500:

Tech

Perhaps no industry came out better in this year’s rankings than tech.

Tech companies have gradually become the face of many of Fortune‘s rankings over the past decade, as the FAANG names continue to consolidate power. And the pandemic did little to slow their progress, both inside and outside the U.S.

E-commerce colossus Amazon, continued its growth, securing its place as the third-largest company in the rankings thanks to an influx of online shopping over the past year. Amazon recorded the second-highest revenue growth on a year-over-year basis in this year’s rankings. Trailing Amazon was Apple at No. 6, Google-parent Alphabet at No. 21, and Microsoft at No. 33 — all of which still represented the highest rankings each of the companies had ever hit. Meanwhile, Facebook saw the biggest jump of the group of U.S. tech giants, having risen 58 spots to break into the top 100 for the first time at No. 86.

In China, which again was home to more of the Fortune Global 500 than the U.S. this year, JD.com and Alibaba broke into the top 100 for the first time in this year’s rankings at Nos. 59 and 63, respectively. Jack Ma’s Alibaba climbed 69 spots from a year ago, while JD.com had risen 43 positions.

China

Of the 20 companies that rose the most in this year’s Global 500, half of them are based in China.

The tech industry was not the only source behind the jumps, either. In fact, two Chinese-controlled energy companies—Jinneng Holding Group and Shandong Energy Group—saw the list’s biggest jumps from last year.

Jinneng posted the largest gain, rising 325 spots to No. 138. Its rise comes after the company underwent a restructuring, fueled in part by its 2019 purchase of Shanxi Jincheng Anthracite Coal Mining Group and subsequent renaming from the Datong Coal Mining Group. Shadong climbed 225 spots on this year’s list to No. 70 after registering nearly $100 billion in revenues. And like Jinneng, the company recently underwent a change after being known as the Yankuang Group and acquiring Shadong Energy in 2019.

Pharma

No company based outside of China posted a larger gain in this year’s rankings than pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb.

With its $74 billion deal for Celgene helping lift the load, the New York-based company recorded the highest revenue growth of any of the Fortune Global 500. Bristol-Myers Squibb, as a result, jumped 209 spots on this year’s list to No. 278. Even with that, though, the company’s profits for the past year ranked toward the list’s bottom.

Chicago-based AbbVie, the pharmaceutical company behind Humira and other drugs, also saw one of the larger jumps of the Fortune Global 500, rising 131 spots this year to the No. 247 position.

Discount

At No. 361 on this year’s Fortune Global 500 was Dollar General, up 99 spots from a year ago.

The dollar-store retailer saw its profitability in that span grow by more than 50%, while revenues jumped more than 20%. Dollar stores more broadly have seen an influx of interest throughout the course of pandemic, as bargain shopping has come into vogue and it has pushed into fresh food.

Retail

And then there was Lowe’s.

With Americans flocking to upgrade their backyards, spare-bedrooms-turned-offices, and the rest of their homes, the home improvement retailer saw its revenues grow year over year by more than 20%—helping lift the company 57 spots to No. 80 in the latest Fortune Global 500.

Or as prominent investor Bill Ackman explained in his latest shareholder letter, which detailed the rationale behind why the company was one of Pershing Square’s top holdings in the first quarter: “In 2020, Lowe’s experienced unprecedented demand driven by consumers nesting at home, higher home asset utilization, and a reallocation of discretionary spend. … The company’s long-term outlook implies significant opportunity for continued earnings appreciation and margin expansion as it executes its multiyear business transformation.”