A lot can change in 15 years. Nowhere is this more true than on the stock market. For example, in just 15 years, the total annual revenue of the five largest U.S. companies has soared 50%, from $1.6 trillion to $2.4 trillion. That alone is a huge difference, but there’s something even more dramatic behind the numbers: Only one of the companies that appeared in the 2009 list remains in the top five now.

Let’s dig in and see which stocks have shouldered their way into the top five and which have dropped out.

The 5 largest U.S. companies in 2009

First off, a few notes on methodology. This list is made up of U.S.-based public companies. Also, I’m using annual revenue as my measuring stick rather than a valuation metric, such as market capitalization. With that in mind, let’s have a look at the list:

Data source: YCharts.

As you can see, in 2009, energy companies dominated the list of largest companies. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips held three of the top four spots. Meanwhile, retail giant Walmart sat in second place, and industrial conglomerate General Electric rounded out the list in fifth. Notably, there were no technology companies in the top five.

The 5 largest U.S. companies in 2024

Fast-forward 15 years, and things have changed a lot.

Data source: YCharts.

First off, there are no energy stocks on the list. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips have all disappeared. General Electric is gone, too. However, one holdover remains — Walmart — and takes the top spot.

Two “Magnificent Seven” stocks are among those joining the list: Apple and Amazon.

Berkshire Hathaway also makes the cut thanks to its enormous investment portfolio (including a hefty portion of Apple stock). As does healthcare giant UnitedHealth.

The post These Were the 5 Biggest U.S. Companies in 2009, and Here Are the 5 Biggest Now appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading

• The Oil Shock Is Here: How to Protect Your Investments Now

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Fool contributor Jake Lerch has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

How much is a great brand really worth? It’s a question that investors should care about, because strong brands can translate into strong businesses, which, in turn, can lead to strong stock performance.

So, let’s examine some of the companies with the world’s top brands to discover how valuable those brands truly are, and whether those stocks are a buy right now.

What are the top brands?

The consultancy Brand Finance releases an annual list of the 500 top global brands, and these four companies top the list:

The experts at Brand Finance use a variety of measures to calculate a brand’s value, including:

• Marketing investment: Marketing factors that increase brand loyalty and market share
• Stakeholder equity: Perceptions of the brand, particularly among consumers
• Business performance: Financial measures that convey sales volume and pricing power.

The rankings indicate how successful brands are at attracting consumer attention, generating sales, gaining market share, and leveraging pricing power.

Consider Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the company at the top of the rankings. Brand Finance estimates that the brand value of the Apple name increased a whopping 74% in the last year to $516 billion.

“According to our research, more than 50% of respondents recognized Apple as expensive, but worth the price, reinforcing the brand’s ability to demand a price premium,” it wrote.

So, it’s clear: Powerful brands are a positive for businesses. But are the stocks behind those top brands worth buying?

Are these stocks worth buying now?

Let’s start with Apple.

It isn’t just the most valuable brand in the world, it’s the most valuable public company, too. With a market cap of $3.3 trillion, Apple tops its nearest rival by some $200 billion.

However, the company has its problems. For one, sales of Apple’s signature product, the iPhone, flattened in recent years. The company still sells hundreds of millions of iPhones per year, but it appears to have saturated the market. Consequently, Apple must rely on price increases or sales of other products and services to deliver revenue growth. On the plus side, the company’s services division has racked up significant revenue growth in recent years, lifting the company’s year-over-year revenue growth rate to 5%. Nevertheless, that’s a significantly lower growth rate than some of its top competitors, which is why I remain lukewarm on Apple stock.

I’m far more bullish on Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and here’s one big reason why: When you compare the two companies’ revenue growth over the last three years, Microsoft blows Apple out of the water.

AAPL Revenue (Quarterly YoY Growth) data by YCharts.

Microsoft has averaged nearly 14% revenue growth over the last three years; Apple has averaged about 4%. If that trend holds, Microsoft will begin to close the still-sizable gap in revenue between itself and Apple. It will also likely mean Microsoft will once again pass Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. At any rate, Microsoft’s investments in the cloud computing industry are paying off and delivering big revenue growth right now. What’s more, its forays into artificial intelligence (AI) could deliver another big boost in the future, as AI truly gets rolling. That’s why I favor Microsoft stock over Apple right now.

Then, there’s Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Similar to Microsoft, Amazon is a huge player in the cloud services market, and that business has provided a big lift to its top line. Amazon’s revenue growth has averaged 11% over the last three years. Its strengths lie in rapidly growing fields like cloud services, AI, and robotics. That’s to say nothing of its huge e-commerce business, which has become more efficient thanks to timely infrastructure investments. In short, I’m a longtime fan of Amazon stock and see no reason to change that opinion.

Last, there’s Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL), the parent company of Google. Granted, Alphabet has some challenges to overcome: AI could very well change how people search the internet, and the company has been charged with monopolistic behavior in antitrust lawsuits.

However, neither of those concerns is new, and the antitrust lawsuits will likely take years before they’re fully resolved.

As for AI eating Google Search’s lunch, it is a threat, but it’s not as though Alphabet isn’t aware of it. The company is hard at work on its own AI-related projects and tools. Indeed, far from ending the company’s dominance of search, AI innovation might help the company find new ways to add value to its suite of online applications.

In summary, each of the top brands is backed by a solid stock, albeit with its own caveats. Amazon and Microsoft are my favorites due to their rapid growth, while Apple and Alphabet remain stocks worth watching.

The post They’re the World’s Most Valuable Brands. Are They Also the Best Stocks to Buy Now? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading

• The Stocks I’d Most Want to Own If I Had $1,000 to Put to Work Today
• How to Use Your Annual TFSA Room to Double Your Contributions

John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Fool contributor Jake Lerch has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.