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Apple Leaps to #6 in Latest Fortune 500 Rankings

Monday May 6, 2013 7:52 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Fortune today released its annual "Fortune 500" list, a high-profile ranking of the largest companies in the United States ranked by revenue. In the new rankings, Apple has risen to #6 from its #17 spot in last year's rankings.
Apple is bigger than ever -- the company cracked the Fortune 10 this year. But it’s a high-pressure job, being king of the hill. At Apple's press event this past October, it maintained more than disrupted with its software upgrades and iPad mini announcement. Also, this past year has seen a lot of CEO Tim Cook having to apologize -- once in September for the failure of Apple’s maps app, and then to Chinese consumers this April for slow repair services -- this in a market that Cook said this past January would be Apple's largest. Still, when every executive wants to invent the iPod of ___, Apple remains an innovation icon.
Wal-Mart edged out ExxonMobil for the top spot in this year's rankings, with Chevron, Phillips 66, and Berkshire Hathaway also ranking ahead of Apple and its $156.2 billion in revenue. In looking at profits, Apple ranked second among Fortune 500 companies at $41.7 billion, trailing only ExxonMobil at $44.9 billion.

aapl_fortune_500_2013
Apple's Fortune 500 rankings, 1983–2013 (Source: setteB.IT)

Apple is on track for another strong performance this year, having reached $22.6 billion in profit on sales of $98.1 billion in the first half of the year. That compares to earnings of $24.7 billion on $85.5 billion in revenue for the first half of fiscal 2012.

[ 46 comments ]


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3N16MA
78 months ago
This is what happens when you run a doomed company. It cracks the top 10 in the Fortune 500.
Rating: 27 Votes
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needfx
78 months ago
#6 in the charts, #1 in our hearts, sorta
Rating: 16 Votes
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lkrupp
78 months ago
One thing we know for sure. If this report had shown Apple moving DOWN the list this thread would already have 300 posts, mostly by the resident haters crowing about their predictions of doom. As it is this thread will die quickly because it shows Apple in a positive light, and we just can't have that on MacRumors.:D
Rating: 9 Votes
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sseaton1971
78 months ago

Ah but unless the 5S has a 5" and we get a super cheap plastic phone Apple will struggle to make the top 50 next year. /s


How many people will miss the /s and reply defensively? ;)
Rating: 7 Votes
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IJ Reilly
78 months ago
The Fortune 500 is nothing more than a showplace ranking, an antique. Wal-Mart posted nearly three times the revenue of Apple, but Apple is more than twice as profitable.
Rating: 6 Votes
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bbeagle
78 months ago

The Fortune 500 is nothing more than a showplace ranking, an antique. Wal-Mart posted nearly three times the revenue of Apple, but Apple is more than twice as profitable.


The Fortune 500 list is a list of the top 500 companies by REVENUE. It's a list of companies you are most likely to be a customer of. It's something that companies strive to be a part of. It generally means that you are a big, successful company.

Of course, Apple is the 2nd most profitable company, but that doesn't mean squat, because, of course, they are doomed. Therefore, a list of the top 500 companies by PROFIT would just be a showplace, an antique.
Rating: 6 Votes
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IJ Reilly
78 months ago

I'd love to see them all ranked by profit. Apple would be near the top if not the top there.

To me profit means more then raw revenue does.


The full list can be sorted by profit. It puts Apple in the #2 spot ($41.7b) after ExxonMobil ($44.9b). Number 3 is Chevron, at $26.1b.

Of interest to me is that these oil companies are as large as they are today due to mergers. Apple has never merged with any company, nor has it even taken over any significantly large company. They've built the company the old-fashioned way -- from scratch.
Rating: 5 Votes
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the8thark
78 months ago
I'd love to see them all ranked by profit. Apple would be near the top if not the top there.

To me profit means more then raw revenue does.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Simplicated
78 months ago

How many people will miss the /s and reply defensively? ;)


I will. :D

I mean, why the hell would Apple want to target the low-end market? It's not something they've ever done (iPod shuffle, Mac mini?), and they shouldn't do it. If they make a low-cost iPhone, it signifies the death of Apple's core values and I'll definitely switch to Android. :D
Rating: 4 Votes
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nagromme
78 months ago
Under Steve Jobs, "disruptions" were years apart.

Now Tim Cook's Apple (and no other company on Earth) is expected to release a "disruptive" product every three months or the company will be a smoking hole in a year :p
Rating: 3 Votes

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