Apple weighed in at the fourth spot in this year’s Fortune 500 rankings, slipping one spot from the #3 spot it held the two previous years. The Cupertino firm’s slip was due to 2017’s #4 Exxon Mobil rising to the #2 spot this year.
The top five spots were taken by the following companies;
- Walmart
- Exxon Mobil
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Apple
- UnitedHealth Group
Other notable technology firms on the list include #8 Amazon, AT&T in 9th place, #16 Verizon, and #30 Microsoft.
Fortune explains Apple’s slip, despite a 6% gain in annual sales:
Apple took a small step back, from No. 3 to No. 4, despite a 6% gain in annual sales, but it led the way in profits with more than $48 billion in net income. In short, the Apple juggernaut continues at tremendous scale and despite the overall saturation of smartphones, which make up the vast majority of the company’s sales and profits. In an unusual move, Apple introduced three new phones, the upgraded iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, as well as the redesigned iPhone X (pronounced “ten”), powered by facial-recognition technology. Services likes Apple Pay and Apple Music continued to rise too.
While Apple lags the top three firms in revenue, it beats them when it comes to annual profits, with Walmart coming in at $9.9 billion, Exxon Mobil at $19.7 billion, and Berkshire Hathaway scoring a $44.9 billion profit. Apple showed a $48.3 billion profit.
