Biggest US companies: your guide to the largest American businesses

What are the biggest companies in the US by market cap?

As of August 2023, the most valuable publicly traded companies listed in the United States are as follows:

The biggest company in the US: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

The biggest company by market cap in the US is Apple. The company’s main business lines include mobile phones, desktop and personal computers, services, wearables, home technologies and other accessories.

Apple was the first US-based company to reach $1 trillion in market capitalisation in 2018. The company has since tripled that figure to be the highest-valued company in the world.

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Together the Steves created leading personal electronics popular for their sleek design and user-friendly interfaces. It wasn’t until 2007 with the launch of the iPhone that Apple became a household name, popularizing smartphones and music streaming devices across the globe.

Apple has acquired more than 110 companies. Some of them for the technological innovations now used in many Apple products such as FaceID, and others as separate technology products like Beats Electronics audio devices. Read the full list of Apple acquisitions here.

The rest of the US’s biggest companies

2. Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT)

Another major technology company, Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. It’s since played a pivotal role in shaping the digital landscape. The company revolutionised personal computing when it launched Microsoft Windows, a user-friendly graphical interface that remains the most popular computer operating system today.

Other popular Microsoft products include the Microsoft Office suite, a toolkit of software systems used for business and individuals alike. Microsoft’s web browser, Internet Explorer, was the dominant browser for more than a decade as internet usage and personal computers became ubiquitous. It’s since been replaced with Microsoft Edge.

Presently, Microsoft is focusing its attention on new technologies including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and more with its cloud computing platform Azure.

3. Alphabet (NYSE:GOOG)

Alphabet, formerly known as Google, is another tech conglomerate at the forefront of the industry. The company’s most popular software includes its search engine, Google, video streaming platform, YouTube, mapping system, Google Maps, plus its email service and suite of office products, Google Suite.

Alphabet also develops Android, a mobile operating software with an open-source project that runs on over 70% of smartphones worldwide. It is the main competitor to Apple’s iPhone.

The pervasiveness of Google’s search engine also drives its powerful digital advertisement service. Because of Google’s web search dominance, Google controls access to more than 85% of the digital ad-serving market according to 6Sense. Advertising is the main revenue-generating segment of the company. In 2022, 80% of Google’s revenue came from advertising through Google’s search engine and on YouTube.

4. Amazon (NYSE:AMZN)

Amazon is an e-commerce company that reshaped the retail landscape with Amazon.com. The company has more recently focused on expanding into cloud computing, smart home devices and entertainment media with more than 100 acquisitions.

Amazon has been growing its cloud service provisions, mainly Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of its initiative to invest in new technologies. AWS provides computing power, cloud storage and databases to online businesses as one of the largest web hosting providers.

5. NVIDIA (NYSE:NVDA)

NVIDIA is a microprocessor manufacturing company creating graphic cards and other advanced computing hardware. Founded in 1993, NVIDIA has emerged as a key player in the fields of gaming, data centres, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles with the use of its graphic processing units (GPUs).

NVIDIA has made significant strides in the AI and data centre domain. Its semiconductors are widely adopted in machine learning and deep learning applications, accelerating complex computations and data processing. This strong foothold in AI has bolstered NVIDIA's presence in data centres and autonomous vehicles, two sectors currently experiencing tremendous growth.

6: Tesla (NYSE:TSLA)

Tesla is an American electric vehicle (EV) developer and the largest automaker in the world. The company primarily generates revenue through services provided to its EV customers and energy generation and storage systems.

Tesla was founded in 2003 and acquired by Elon Musk one year after. Musk has since become a polarising business figure whose reputation notably can boost or lower Tesla’s share price. The company went public in June 2010.

As one of the most recognisable EV brands, Tesla has recently faced competition from growing EV companies like NIO Inc and traditional automakers like Ford and General Motors.

7. Meta Platforms (NYSE:META)

Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) operates the world’s largest social network connecting billions of users on multiple platforms. Meta’s major products include:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• WhatsApp

Most of Meta’s revenue comes from advertisements on its platforms, mainly Facebook and Instagram. Meta has faced numerous lawsuits presented by federal agencies for antitrust and privacy infringements.

8. Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B)

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company run by famous investor Warren Buffett. It’s grown from a small textile company acquired by Buffett in the 1960s to one of the largest companies in the world. Berkshire Hathaway owns dozens of private companies including insurance provider GEICO and clothing brand Fruit of the Loom. The conglomerate also owns significant amounts of public companies like Coca-Cola, Apple, General Motors and American Express.

9. Visa (NYSE:V)

Visa is a global financial services company that provides infrastructure for banking services in over 200 countries around the world.

The company does not issue cards or extend credit. Instead, it provides financial institutions with banking-related products such as Visa-branded cards and payment processing systems. The company operates four data centres in the US, England and Singapore that process over 100 billion transactions a year.

10. UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH)

UnitedHealth Group is a multinational healthcare and insurance provider founded in 1974 and currently headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It is the largest healthcare company in the world by market cap.

UnitedHealth is structured into two subsidiaries that are further divided into several divisions:

1. Optum provides healthcare services and is divided into three business units.

• OptumHealth, providing primary and secondary care
• OptumInsight providing data analytics and other operational technologies
• OptumRX providing pharmacy services

2. UnitedHeathcare is the larger section accounting for a majority of the company’s revenue. It provides insurance and is divided into four business units based on customer coverage:

• Employer and individual
• Medicare and retirement
• Community and state
• Global

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The US’s biggest companies by revenue

Market cap isn’t the only measure of a company’s size. Here are the top US companies by revenue in the most recent fiscal year, according to the Global Fortune 500:

As you can see, revenue doesn’t always stack up against market cap. While Amazon and Apple are at the top of both lists, there are some notable differences.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT)

Walmart is a multinational retailer that operates a chain of big box stores in several American countries as well as South Africa and India. Not only the largest company in the world by revenue, it also tops the list for largest private employer with over 2 million employees. Walmart is majority-owned by the Walton family, whose living members are descendants of its founding brothers.

As a company, Walmart is already deeply established in the US and its profit margins are low, so there is little reason to expect high growth from the retailer. Coupled with the competition from online retailers like Amazon, Walmart’s valuation of $415 B is actually lower than its revenue.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM)

ExxonMobil is a multinational oil and gas company originally founded as Standard Oil by American entrepreneur John D Rockefeller. The company was renamed in 1999 after it facilitated the merger of Exxon and Mobil.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ExxonMobil makes a majority of its revenue from the exploration, extraction and chemical production of oil and natural gas. ExxonMobil is the largest publicly owned energy company and produces 3% of the world’s total oil.

The oil and gas company has a relatively high market cap. It ranks 15 on our list, but it moves significantly higher on the list when ranked by revenue. That’s because oil and gas stocks tend to be quite volatile, so investors may not be as keen on the stock.