Apple Earns Title of World's Most Profitable Company on Fortune Global 500 List

[MacRumors]

In June, Apple was ranked as #3 on the 2017 Fortune 500 annual list of the top U.S. corporations based on gross revenue. Today, the Fortune Global 500 rankings have been released, using the same data collected in the earlier rankings but expanding it and adding in companies on a global scale, resulting in a list that shares the 500 largest companies in the world.

Apple sits at #9 on the list in terms of total revenue, a spot it retains from 2016, and having climbed from #15 in 2014 and 2015. Where Apple sits above all other companies is in the profits category, earning the title of the most profitable company in the world with an annual profit of $45.6 billion. Apple earned the top spot despite a 14.4 percent drop in its annual profits compared to the previous year.

Rounding out the top 5 slots below Apple are all banks based in China: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ($41.8 billion), China Construction Bank ($34.8 billion), Agricultural Bank of China ($27.6 billion), and Bank of China ($24.7 billion). Further down the most profitable rankings are Alphabet at #9 ($19.4 billion), Samsung Electronics at #10 ($19.3 billion), and Microsoft at #13 ($16.7 billion).

Apple's profile on the Fortune Global 500 ranking includes a chart of its history on the list, including its origins at #422 in overall revenue back in 1995, its dropping off of the list from 1998 to 2005, and its peak growth to #9 in 2016. Otherwise, Apple's profile includes the same quote as its Fortune 500 ranking, describing a company that "appeared to hit a wall" this past year with iPhone sales.

After more than a decade of solid growth fueled first by the iPod music player and then by the even more popular iPhone, Apple finally appeared to hit a wall, with lackluster sales "relatively speaking" for other products such as the iPad and Apple Watch and a heavy reliance on upgraded phone models. But the most profitable publicly-traded company in the world is investing heavily in software and its efforts in new areas of opportunity, including automobiles, remain in development (and under wraps). Apple was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Cupertino, Calif.

Lackluster iPhone sales contributed to an overall revenue decline for Apple throughout much of 2016, but now it's predicted that the company will see a noticeable uptick in sales thanks to the launch of a significantly redesigned "iPhone 8," expected to be announced and debut this fall.

Article Link: Apple Earns Title of World's Most Profitable Company on Fortune Global 500 List

 

[jonnysods]

Sweet. I have 7 stocks and I'm rich I tells ya.

 

[44267547]

Apple earned it. They are profitable because They make the best products available to the consumer. With there core standards and practices over the years, there is a reason they are at the top.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

How did most here earn this money, look into this.

 

[2010mini]

Apple earned it. They are profitable because They make the best products available to the consumer. With there core standards and practices over the years, there is a reason they are at the top.

Interesting.... because most of the posts here state the opposite.

 

[44267547]

Interesting.... because most of the posts here state the opposite.

So you're saying Macrumors comments determine Apple's success rate being profitable based off a discussion forum? Gotcha.

 

[iReality85]

It's notable that all of the Top 8 Profitable are large banks, except for Apple.

 

[fourthtunz]

It's notable that all of the Top 8 Profitable are large banks, except for Apple.

Banks, which produce nothing !

 

[boast]

A win for Apple consumers everywhere!!!

 

[Constable Odo]

Profits are nice, but the FANG stocks are far more highly valued on Wall Street than Apple will ever be. Apple may be the most profitable but most of the greedy big investors are betting on Amazon and Alphabet to be more profitable than Apple over the next few years, so Apple is pretty much considered a has-been company. Apple gets a lot of high ratings but it doesn't help stabilize Apple's higher volatility nor does it translate to a higher P/E. Apple negativity is still coming at a record rate. They say a lot of consumers like Apple but Wall Street doesn't see it that way. All Wall Street sees is a company with very limited growth potential. All the pundits see is a company in dire need of new products that can rival the iPhone in revenue (which is highly unlikely because the smartphone is every person's go-to device). Apple isn't cheating with a high market cap based on a high P/E. Apple is really making that money. That seems to be a huge drawback now that Apple can't seem to grow more revenue.

I'll never understand why Apple is hated by critics more than Smith & Wesson or Colt Arms. It makes no sense to me, at all.

 

[melendezest]

A win for Apple consumers everywhere!!!

Apple makes money OFF the consumer.

So combine their high prices with Apple consumer willingnes to pay whatever Apple says and you have a win for Apple.
[doublepost=1500569724][/doublepost]

I'll never understand why Apple is hated by critics more than Smith & Wesson or Colt Arms. It makes no sense to me, at all.

Because both Colt and Smith & Wesson weapons take standard ammo, don't come with less slots for bullets than the previous model, and they still make revolvers.

 

[doelcm82]

Because both Colt and Smith & Wesson weapons take standard ammo, don't come with less slots for bullets than the previous model, and they still make revolvers.

Apple still makes computers with revolving hard drives.

 

[MrX8503]

Interesting.... because most of the posts here state the opposite.

Everyone knows that Apple's profits is inversely proportional to negative posts here.

 

[apolloa]

Banks, which produce nothing !

Apart from tons and tons and tons of money. The world is run by banks and governments because they have all your money.

------------------

This news is just in time for the £1100 Plus iPhone 8!

 

[2010mini]

So you're saying Macrumors comments determine Apple's success rate being profitable based off a discussion forum? Gotcha.

Well everyone knows Armchair CEOs are more knowledgeable than anyone else.

 

[melendezest]

Apple still makes computers with revolving hard drives.

Yet no real "pro" machines...that's what the "revolver" reference was for. A classic that's improved but not fundamentally changed. An old Mac Pro with Dual Graphics card capability, TB3/USBC, current Bluetooth and other wireless tech, etc would fit that description.

 

[Naraxus]

Apple earned it. They are profitable because They make the best products available to the consumer. With there core standards and practices over the years, there is a reason they are at the top.

More like because they dodge taxes at every opportunity, practice planned obsolescence with obsolete-before-they-hit-market computers, use sweatshop labor to make said products on the cheap among other practices....

 

[nt5672]

Apple earned it. They are profitable because They make the best products available to the consumer. With there core standards and practices over the years, there is a reason they are at the top.

Or as they teach people at Harvard, are milking their brand and intellectual property to produce the most profits regardless of the effect on future sales. Without sales there are no profits. Now that won't happen tomorrow, but unless they pop something really new, and quickly the handwriting is on the wall for all to see.

 

[Matthmaroo]

Interesting.... because most of the posts here state the opposite.

Most of the bitter people are just annoyed that apple products are not the price of low to mid tier android phones

With no mention of the stellar support that's 4x longer then android for OS updates

 

[Olganech]

Most of the bitter people are just annoyed that apple products are not the price of low to mid tier android phones

With no mention of the stellar support that's 4x longer then android for OS updates

Who is bitter? At the end of the day Apple's popularity will drop and people will move on to something else.

It happed with IBM, Sony and Nokia to name a few and it will happen with Apple.

People will get bored and move on.

 

[dmylrea]

$45B in profit. That just makes me want to walk into our local Apple Store and just throw $100 bills in the air for them to keep...sort of like when I bought my last iPhone 7 from them.

 

[diegov12]

More like because they dodge taxes at every opportunity, practice planned obsolescence with obsolete-before-they-hit-market computers, use sweatshop labor to make said products on the cheap among other practices....

Apple was the biggest tax payer in the US last year…

 

[blacktape242]

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rocketman]

I personally feel the posters here have never taken a business class. Apple's success guarantees they will be there for the next few years. There is value in that TO THE CONSUMER well beyond price. The value you get from a good vastly exceeds the price. That's why you buy.

 

[Analog Kid]

most of the greedy big investors are betting on Amazon and Alphabet to be more profitable than Apple over the next few years, so Apple is pretty much considered a has-been company.

I know you're not espousing this theory, but I just can't subscribe to it in any formulation. Being the second or third most profitable company in the world doesn't make them a has-been. It doesn't mean they're failing. It's not the beginning of the end. It's not the inevitable result of their lack of innovation.

That's not business thinking, or wise investment, it's the logic of a 12 year old. "You came all this way to compete and only won a silver medal after losing by just a hundredth of a second, you must be crushed." No, they're the second best athlete in the world and a slight forward lean from being the best, that's freaking amazing. For some reason people ascribe excessive weight to the number 1 spot even if the distinction in performance is negligible.

Invest on revenue, gamble on growth.