Apple has regained its third-place position in the annual Fortune 500 rankings of the largest companies in the United States by revenue.
Apple earned $274.5 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year, an increase of 5.5 percent, and made $57.4 billion in profit, a 3.9 percent increase.
Last year, Apple fell to fourth place, but now the company returned to third place, only surpassed by Walmart in first place and Amazon in second place.
The pandemic created challenges and opportunities for Apple. CEO Tim Cook had to close stores and send home engineers. But with Apple customers worldwide working and learning from home, iPad and Macintosh computer sales skyrocketed to their highest levels ever. And fiscal-year revenue hit an all-time record too, of $275 billion. That helped Apple's stock price soar; it gained 80.7% in 2020. As that year wound down, regulators fixed their sights on Apple for potentially abusing its power over the iOS app store. A House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee report in October concluded that Apple "exerts monopoly power" in its app store to harm competition and increase prices for consumers. Meanwhile, testimony in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Fortnite developer Epic Games will likely increase pressure on legislators to limit Apple’s power.
Apple has now ranked in the top five for eight consecutive years. Other notable tech companies in this year's list include Google parent Alphabet in ninth, Microsoft in 15th, and Facebook in 34th.
