How the profits of Fortune 500 companies stack up in one chart
A graphic breakdown of the companies—led by Berkshire Hathaway and Apple—that earned the most. Plus, the top performers in sales growth, stock returns, and more.
Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., speaks during the virtual Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting seen on a laptop computer in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Buffett, hosting the annual meeting virtually, has largely stayed in the shadows as the coronavirus pandemic hammered the global economy and stock markets. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg via Getty Images
It was another very profitable year for Warren Buffett. His Berkshire Hathaway led the Fortune 500 with $81.4 billion in profits, though that figure comes with a footnote: U.S. accounting rules forced Berkshire to count some $54 billion in gains from its stock holdings as net income. Overall, the Fortune 500 earned $14.2 trillion last year—an all-time record. The graphic below shows the size of the profit (or loss) for every company on this year’s 500. And in the tables that follow we break down the fastest-growing companies on the list, those that use their capital most efficiently, and the ones that have provided the best returns to investors.
Fast growers of the 500
While auto safety supplier Autoliv is technically a U.S. company, the 10-year profit champion seatbelt and airbag maker is based in Stockholm. Salesforce.com continues to ride the growth of the cloud-computing market, which is set to hit $330 billion in 2020. Electric-car leader Tesla, meanwhile, has yet to make an annual profit, but its sales have risen sevenfold in five years to $25 billion.
Growth in profits, 1 year
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 % growth in EPS
1
CISCO SYSTEMS
63
12,950.0
2
ALLEGHANY
351
2,166.8
3
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
1,937.1
4
NRG ENERGY
324
1,832.2
5
NETAPP
478
1,510.7
6
ALTICE USA
327
600.0
7
CINCINNATI FINANCIAL
400
591.4
8
BECTON DICKINSON
187
556.7
9
NEWMONT
328
495.3
10
DAVITA
230
472.8
11
CARDINAL HEALTH
16
459.3
12
JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP
206
419.7
13
MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
249
379.0
14
XEROX HOLDINGS
347
320.3
15
JABIL
121
269.4
16
DISCOVERY
287
234.9
17
ORACLE
82
230.0
18
JETBLUE AIRWAYS
394
218.3
19
ELI LILLY
145
184.0
20
OLD REPUBLIC INTERNATIONAL
427
183.1
The 500 median
5.1
Growth in profits, 5 years
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2014–19 % annual growth in EPS
1
HD SUPPLY HOLDINGS
478
166.9
2
NRG ENERGY
324
135.9
3
EBAY
295
120.6
4
ADOBE
285
62.5
5
BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE
425
60.2
6
DELTA AIR LINES
68
56.4
7
MOLINA HEALTHCARE
193
54.8
8
BURLINGTON STORES
424
51.4
9
BANK OF AMERICA CORP.
25
50.2
10
NETFLIX
164
46.3
11
BROADCOM
138
45.4
12
REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS
405
44.0
13
BERRY GLOBAL GROUP
358
42.5
14
FACEBOOK
46
42.4
15
MARKEL
335
42.1
16
ABBVIE
99
36.9
17
STEEL DYNAMICS
299
35.3
18
INTL FCSTONE
100
35.0
19
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
32.7
20
STRYKER
214
32.5
The 500 median
9.9
Growth in profits, 10 years
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2009–19 % annual growth in EPS
1
AUTOLIV
369
46.0
2
KROGER
23
43.5
3
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
141
41.8
4
CBRE GROUP
128
41.2
5
BORGWARNER
312
41.2
6
LITHIA MOTORS
252
39.7
7
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES
250
39.6
8
HOLLYFRONTIER
184
37.2
9
RUSH ENTERPRISES
492
37.2
10
ASBURY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP
428
37.0
11
PACCAR
118
36.3
12
ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
463
36.0
13
ULTA BEAUTY
418
33.8
14
XPO LOGISTICS
196
33.4
15
CARMAX
173
33.3
16
NETAPP
478
33.0
17
ROBERT HALF INTERNATIONAL
482
32.2
18
VIACOMCBS
111
32.1
19
FOOT LOCKER
397
31.1
20
CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL
97
31.0
The 500 median
10.5
Growth in revenues, 1 year
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 % growth in revenues
1
CIGNA
13
215.7
2
ANDERSONS
390
168.3
3
UNITED NATURAL FOODS
133
129.6
4
L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES
250
108.0
5
VIACOMCBS
111
91.6
6
WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE TECH.
388
87.9
7
COMMSCOPE HOLDING
381
82.7
8
FISERV
311
74.9
9
KKR
349
74.6
10
KEURIG DR PEPPER
288
49.4
11
TENNECO
185
48.3
12
CINCINNATI FINANCIAL
400
46.5
13
NGL ENERGY PARTNERS
127
39.4
14
MARKEL
335
39.2
15
SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL
466
36.9
16
WAYFAIR
348
34.6
17
NEWMONT
328
34.3
18
CVS HEALTH
5
32.0
19
ALLEGHANY
351
31.3
20
VISTRA ENERGY
270
29.1
The 500 median
2.9
Growth in revenues, 5 years
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2014–19 % annual growth in revenues
1
TESLA
124
50.4
2
XPO LOGISTICS
196
47.9
3
WAYFAIR
348
47.2
4
FACEBOOK
46
41.5
5
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
71
38.1
6
BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE
425
35.3
7
CENTENE
42
35.1
8
CIGNA
13
34.5
9
NETFLIX
164
29.6
10
UNITED NATURAL FOODS
133
28.2
11
JONES LANG LASALLE
179
27.1
12
SALESFORCE.COM
190
26.1
13
AMAZON.COM
2
25.8
14
BEACON ROOFING SUPPLY
434
25.0
15
LENNAR
147
23.4
16
REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS
405
22.8
17
DOLLAR TREE
131
22.4
18
OLIN
481
22.2
19
ADOBE
285
21.9
20
WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE TECH.
388
21.9
The 500 median
4.0
Growth in revenues, 10 years
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2009–19 % annual growth in revenues
1
CENTENE
42
33.2
2
SALESFORCE.COM
190
29.3
3
NETFLIX
164
28.3
4
AMAZON.COM
2
27.6
5
ENERGY TRANSFER
59
25.9
6
LAM RESEARCH
331
24.1
7
CIGNA
13
23.6
8
ALLEGHANY
351
22.5
9
JONES LANG LASALLE
179
21.9
10
LENNAR
147
21.7
11
APPLE
4
21.7
12
ALPHABET
11
21.2
13
UNITED NATURAL FOODS
133
21.1
14
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
71
21.1
15
LITHIA MOTORS
252
21.0
16
WESTROCK
177
20.6
17
BOOKING HOLDINGS
210
20.5
18
LKQ
257
19.7
19
CBRE GROUP
128
19.1
20
THOR INDUSTRIES
404
17.9
The 500 median
5.3
Bringing in the bucks
Apple was knocked out of the top spot in profits after a five-year reign, but the iPhone maker earned more than $50 billion in net income for the third time in five years, for a total of $262 billion over that span. Elsewhere, Visa and Mastercard charged to the top in profit efficiency. And NGL Energy Partners racked up the most revenues per employee.
Profits
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 $ millions
1
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
81,417.0
2
APPLE
4
55,256.0
3
MICROSOFT
21
39,240.0
4
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
17
36,431.0
5
ALPHABET
11
34,343.0
6
BANK OF AMERICA CORP.
25
27,430.0
7
INTEL
45
21,048.0
8
WELLS FARGO
30
19,549.0
9
CITIGROUP
31
19,401.0
10
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS
20
19,265.0
11
FACEBOOK
46
18,485.0
12
PFIZER
64
16,273.0
13
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
35
15,119.0
14
WALMART
1
14,881.0
15
EXXON MOBIL
3
14,340.0
16
FANNIE MAE
24
14,160.0
17
AT&T
9
13,903.0
18
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
7
13,839.0
19
COMCAST
28
13,057.0
20
VISA
137
12,080.0
The 500 median
889.5
Return on revenues
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 profits as % of revenues
1
VISA
137
52.6
2
MASTERCARD
191
48.1
3
NRG ENERGY
324
45.0
4
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
296
43.8
5
CONSTELLATION BRANDS
392
42.3
6
BIOGEN
223
41.0
7
ELI LILLY
145
37.3
8
FM GLOBAL
447
36.8
9
TD AMERITRADE HOLDING
486
36.7
10
SIMON PROPERTY GROUP
497
36.5
11
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
222
34.9
12
AMGEN
135
33.6
13
BOOKING HOLDINGS
210
32.3
14
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
32.0
15
S&P GLOBAL
451
31.7
16
PFIZER
64
31.4
17
CHARLES SCHWAB
271
31.4
18
MICROSOFT
21
31.2
19
BLACKROCK
219
30.8
20
INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE
459
29.5
The 500 median
6.7
Return on shareholders’ equity
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 profits as % of equity
1
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE
203
2,023.1
2
S&P GLOBAL
451
443.2
3
O’REILLY AUTOMOTIVE
314
350.1
4
ELI LILLY
145
319.1
5
NRG ENERGY
324
267.7
6
LOWE’S
44
217.1
7
LOCKHEED MARTIN
57
199.2
8
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
157
181.1
9
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
452
172.1
10
CLOROX
474
146.7
11
MASTERCARD
191
137.8
12
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
43
135.9
13
NETAPP
478
107.2
14
FANNIE MAE
24
96.9
15
QUALCOMM
126
89.3
16
BURLINGTON STORES
424
88.1
17
ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS
229
83.3
18
SIMON PROPERTY GROUP
497
83.2
19
BOOKING HOLDINGS
210
82.0
20
AMGEN
135
81.1
The 500 median
13.2
Revenues per dollar of assets
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 $
1
CORE-MARK HOLDING
240
7.0
2
WORLD FUEL SERVICES
91
6.1
3
GLOBAL PARTNERS
246
4.7
4
AMERISOURCEBERGEN
10
4.6
5
MURPHY USA
262
4.5
6
PERFORMANCE FOOD GROUP
168
4.2
7
NGL ENERGY PARTNERS
127
4.1
8
SPARTANNASH
370
3.8
9
MCKESSON
8
3.6
10
CARDINAL HEALTH
16
3.6
11
COSTCO WHOLESALE
14
3.4
12
SYSCO
56
3.3
13
INTL FCSTONE
100
3.3
14
C.H. ROBINSON WORLDWIDE
208
3.3
15
DEAN FOODS
421
3.3
16
UNITED NATURAL FOODS
133
3.3
17
WAYFAIR
348
3.1
18
VERITIV
412
3.1
19
GRAYBAR ELECTRIC
415
3.0
20
ALBERTSONS COS.
55
2.9
The 500 median
0.7
Revenues per dollar of equity
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 $
1
COLGATE-PALMOLIVE
203
134.1
2
AMERISOURCEBERGEN
10
62.4
3
INTL FCSTONE
100
55.4
4
AK STEEL HOLDING
467
42.0
5
ALBERTSONS COS.
55
41.7
6
ASCENA RETAIL GROUP
473
41.3
7
LOWE’S
44
36.6
8
MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
157
29.8
9
GLOBAL PARTNERS
246
28.6
10
MCKESSON
8
26.5
11
O’REILLY AUTOMOTIVE
314
25.5
12
SYSCO
56
24.0
13
CARDINAL HEALTH
16
23.0
14
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
43
22.7
15
CORE-MARK HOLDING
240
22.5
16
OWENS & MINOR
332
20.9
17
WORLD FUEL SERVICES
91
19.5
18
LOCKHEED MARTIN
57
19.1
19
CDW
178
18.8
20
RITE AID
150
18.3
The 500 median
2.3
Revenues per employee
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 $ millions
1
NGL ENERGY PARTNERS
127
18.5
2
INTL FCSTONE
100
16.4
3
FANNIE MAE
24
16.0
4
FREDDIE MAC
41
10.9
5
VALERO ENERGY
32
10.1
6
AMERISOURCEBERGEN
10
8.4
7
PHILLIPS 66
27
7.6
8
PBF ENERGY
125
7.1
9
PLAINS GP HOLDINGS
98
6.7
10
WORLD FUEL SERVICES
91
6.7
11
KKR
349
6.6
12
CHENIERE ENERGY
329
6.4
13
EOG RESOURCES
186
6.0
14
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
102
5.4
15
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
457
4.9
16
ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS
101
4.5
17
REINSURANCE GROUP
225
4.5
18
ENLINK MIDSTREAM
483
4.5
19
CALPINE
319
4.5
20
HOLLYFRONTIER
184
4.3
The 500 median
0.6
Shareholders win big with Big Tech
Microsoft wasn’t the first technology behemoth to surge past $1 trillion in market value over the past couple of years. (Apple and Amazon each got there first.) But the software and cloud giant landed on top in market capitalization for a second straight year, wowing investors with its $39 billion profits, while Facebook jumped into the top five. Also, for a second year in a row, Netflix took the crown for best 10-year stock return in the Fortune 500.
Biggest companies by market value
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
3/31/20 $ millions
1
MICROSOFT
21
1,199,549.7
2
APPLE
4
1,112,640.8
3
AMAZON.COM
2
970,680.1
4
ALPHABET
11
798,905.3
5
FACEBOOK
46
475,455.2
6
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
442,897.1
7
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
35
345,704.9
8
WALMART
1
321,803.3
9
VISA
137
316,199.1
10
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
17
276,750.1
11
PROCTER & GAMBLE
50
271,639.8
12
MASTERCARD
191
242,794.1
13
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
7
236,555.2
14
INTEL
45
231,661.9
15
VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS
20
222,220.0
16
AT&T
9
209,387.5
17
HOME DEPOT
26
200,665.0
18
MERCK
69
195,140.5
19
COCA-COLA
88
189,983.0
20
BANK OF AMERICA CORP.
25
185,226.9
The 500 median
12,483.1
Biggest companies by equity
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 $ millions
1
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
424,791.0
2
BANK OF AMERICA CORP.
25
264,810.0
3
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.
17
261,330.0
4
ALPHABET
11
201,442.0
5
CITIGROUP
31
193,242.0
6
EXXON MOBIL
3
191,650.0
7
WELLS FARGO
30
187,146.0
8
AT&T
9
184,221.0
9
CHEVRON
15
144,213.0
10
STATE FARM INSURANCE COS.
36
116,231.9
11
MICROSOFT
21
102,330.0
12
FACEBOOK
46
101,054.0
13
APPLE
4
90,488.0
14
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP
60
90,265.0
15
WALT DISNEY
49
88,877.0
16
COMCAST
28
82,726.0
17
MORGAN STANLEY
61
81,549.0
18
INTEL
45
77,504.0
19
WALMART
1
74,669.0
20
TRUIST FINANCIAL
217
66,384.0
The 500 median
6,128.4
Biggest companies by employees
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 number of employees
1
WALMART
1
2,200,000
2
AMAZON.COM
2
798,000
3
YUM CHINA HOLDINGS
361
450,000
4
KROGER
23
435,000
5
HOME DEPOT
26
415,700
6
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
6
391,500
7
FEDEX
47
389,500
8
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
38
383,800
9
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
43
377,640
10
TARGET
37
368,000
11
STARBUCKS
114
346,000
12
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
7
325,000
13
COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY
194
292,500
14
CVS HEALTH
5
290,000
15
WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE
19
287,000
16
TJX
80
286,000
17
ALBERTSONS COS.
55
267,000
18
PEPSICO
51
267,000
19
LOWE’S
44
260,000
20
WELLS FARGO
30
259,800
The 500 median
26,190
Total return to shareholders, 1 year
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2019 %
1
FANNIE MAE
24
194.3
2
FREDDIE MAC
41
183.4
3
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES
448
148.4
4
BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE
425
132.9
5
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE
301
129.4
6
TENET HEALTHCARE
174
121.9
7
LAM RESEARCH
331
118.3
8
WORLD FUEL SERVICES
91
104.8
9
CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT
363
100.3
10
TARGET
37
99.3
11
BLACKSTONE GROUP
420
96.6
12
LITHIA MOTORS
252
94.6
13
XEROX HOLDINGS
347
92.5
14
GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE
264
92.3
15
APPLIED MATERIALS
218
89.8
16
APPLE
4
89.0
17
LEIDOS HOLDINGS
289
88.7
18
HOWMET AEROSPACE
226
83.5
19
COTY
366
79.2
20
WESTERN DIGITAL
198
78.7
The 500 median
28.9
Total return to shareholders, 5 years
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2014–19 annual rate %
1
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES
448
76.6
2
NVIDIA
292
64.8
3
NETFLIX
164
46.0
4
AMAZON.COM
2
42.9
5
BURLINGTON STORES
424
37.0
6
WAYFAIR
348
35.4
7
ADOBE
285
35.3
8
CDW
178
33.7
9
LAM RESEARCH
331
32.1
10
MICROSOFT
21
30.4
11
BUILDERS FIRSTSOURCE
425
29.9
12
CINTAS
441
29.4
13
MASTERCARD
191
29.1
14
BROADCOM
138
28.7
15
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
296
27.8
16
LEIDOS HOLDINGS
289
27.7
17
FISERV
311
26.7
18
S&P GLOBAL
451
26.6
19
ZOETIS
472
26.0
20
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
7
25.7
The 500 median
8.0
Total return to shareholders, 10 years
Rank
Company
500 revenues rank
2009–19 annual rate %
1
NETFLIX
164
45.0
2
CHENIERE ENERGY
329
38.1
3
BROADCOM
138
35.5
4
LITHIA MOTORS
252
34.9
5
UNITED RENTALS
340
32.8
6
XPO LOGISTICS
196
31.6
7
REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS
405
31.6
8
ULTA BEAUTY
418
30.3
9
AMAZON.COM
2
30.0
10
NVIDIA
292
29.9
11
CONSTELLATION BRANDS
392
28.8
12
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
71
28.6
13
MASTERCARD
191
28.5
14
CINTAS
441
28.3
15
ROSS STORES
202
28.3
16
CENTENE
42
28.1
17
O’REILLY AUTOMOTIVE
314
27.7
18
APPLE
4
27.3
19
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
7
27.3
20
SHERWIN-WILLIAMS
180
26.7
The 500 median
12.8
A version of this article appears in the June/July 2020 issue of Fortune with the headline “How the companies stack up.”