The business world is certainly not a static one.
In the past, we’ve shown that the market leaders in the most stable industries are unlikely to keep their leadership positions over long periods of time.
But limit your window to just the dynamic world of tech and you’ll see an even more extreme example of this inherent volatility. Sometimes companies are able to separate from the rest of the pack for days or months, but it’s never an advantage that lasts for long.
Biggest Tech Companies by Market Cap
Today’s animation was originally posted to Reddit by /r/TheNerdistRedditor and captures the crazy world of tech valuations for public companies.
Watch the intense 1 minute animation below:
Note: the data here only lists companies traded on U.S. exchanges, and does not show every single valuation point.
Over just 23 years, the company topping the list flips eight separate times – and if you were to get more granular with the numbers (looking at daily valuations, for example), you’d see it happen far more often.
Today’s Market Cap Leaders
As we noted above, company valuations are constantly changing – and back in early September 2018, both Apple and Amazon even topped the $1 trillion milestone for a short period of time.
Using the same criteria as the above animation, which is based on U.S. listed companies, here are the top 10 tech companies based on data at time of publication:
| Rank | Company | Ticker(s) | Market Cap (March 18, 2019) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Microsoft | MSFT | $902 billion |
| #2 | Apple | AAPL | $887 billion |
| #3 | Amazon | AMZN | $856 billion |
| #4 | Alphabet | GOOG, GOOGL | $824 billion |
| #5 | Alibaba | BABA | $471 billion |
| #6 | FB | $458 billion | |
| #7 | Intel | INTC | $243 billion |
| #8 | Cisco | CSCO | $236 billion |
| #9 | Oracle | ORCL | $192 billion |
| #10 | Netflix | NFLX | $159 billion |
Based on March 18, 2019 data
This is not a comprehensive list globally, as it misses companies like Tencent which are listed on other exchanges such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Based on recent HKD/USD conversion rates, it’s estimated that Tencent would be roughly worth $450 billion today – good enough for 7th on the list.
Regardless, since change is the only constant in the tech world, it’s fair to say that the above list of the biggest tech companies will likely be much different in just a few months time.
