Wal-Mart and ExxonMobil carry the flag for the U.S. The Bentonville, Ark.-based behemoth advanced two notches to take over the top spot. It registered $408B in sales, up 0.6 percent over the year earlier period.
With $285B in revenues, ExxonMobil slipped from second to third. Chevron and ConocoPhllips dropped from the top 10. Chevron fell six places to the No. 11 spot, while ConocoPhillips slipped from No. 7 to No. 17. It could be argued that profitability or return on investment are more meaningful yardsticks for rankings. Exxon with a 6.2 percent profit margin nearly doubled Wal-Mart's 3.3 percent margin.
The Forbes roster does provide a handy yardstick on the winners in the globalization game, though. China, for instance, placed a trio in the top 10. They are state-controlled Sinopec, State Grid, and China National Petroleum, which tried to acquire U.S.-based Unocal before it ultimately fell to Chevron.
The U.S. has nine companies among the top 25 ranked entities. They include General Electric (No. 12), Bank of America (No. 15), AT&T (No. 21), Ford Motor (No. 23) and J.P. MorganChase (No. 25). [Bailed out General Motors plummeted from No. 18 to No. 38].
France has four companies—AXA, Total, BNP Paribas, and Carrefour—in the Top 25. Japan (Toyota and Japan Post Holdings), Germany (Volkswagen and Allianz), Netherlands (Royal Dutch Shell and ING Group) and Italy (Assicurazionui Generali and ENI) each have two companies in the Top 25.
The U.K. has a single corporate champion among top-tiered companies. That is bloodied BP, which clocks in at No. 4 with revenues of $246B.