Agency Report
Companies from the United States dominate the list of the top 100 most valuable stock market companies compiled by the auditing and consulting firm EY.
There were no European companies among the top 10, and only three companies from Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany, made it into the top 100: software giant SAP, tech conglomerate Siemens and telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom.
US tech giants Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft were the world’s most valuable companies at the end of 2024, EY said in a press release on Friday.
Apple had a market value of some $3.78 trillion as of December 31, 2024, a study by EY showed, while Nvidia was worth $3.28 trillion and Microsoft $3.13 trillion
US companies dominate the list, taking 62 of the 100 slots.
US companies in a league of their own
The boom in artificial intelligence (AI) contributed to keeping the US unchallenged on the stock market.
US companies account for nine of the 10 most valuable companies, including Google’s parent company Alphabet, the retail giant Amazon, and the internet company Meta, which owns Facebook.
Only the oil company Saudi Aramco in sixth place breaks the dominance of US companies.
“The stock markets continue to be driven above all by the issue of artificial intelligence, which drives the growth in value of technology companies worldwide,” said Henrik Ahlers, chairman of the management board of EY.
The weak economy and geopolitical crises seem to recede into the background, he said.
Among the top 100 most valuable stock market companies, 24 are technology businesses, 17 of which are from the US.
Germany’s SAP benefited from AI hype
The most valuable company listed on Germany’s DAX index, SAP, has also benefited from the AI hype, jumping to 32nd place in the ranking with a market value of $285 billion, a jump from $62 billion at the end of 2023.
Siemens reached 94th place with a market value of $153 billion, and Deutsche Telekom ranked 98th with $147 billion.
This indicates a slight upward trend: At the end of 2023, only two German stock market companies made it into the top 100, and none in 2022.
Compared to the US stock giants, however, the German representatives are relatively small. According to EY, Apple alone is almost twice as valuable, at nearly $3.8 trillion, as all 40 DAX companies combined.
Tech boom outshines Europe’s industry in transition
Among the 300 most valuable stock market companies globally, the number of German companies has fallen to five, down from 11 by the end of 2023. Due to the crisis in the automotive industry, former listed carmakers such as Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and BMW have significantly lost value on the stock market.
Generally, Europe – like Asia – is being outpaced on the stock market by the US: only 18 of the 100 most valuable companies have their headquarters in Europe, led by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which ranked 14.
Back in 2007, before the global financial crisis, 46 of the world’s 100 most valuable companies were based in Europe, compared to only 32 in the US.
“In Europe, the traditional industrial sectors still dominate, which are currently in the midst of a profound transformation and are also grappling with globally weak demand,” said Ahlers.
In contrast, Europe plays a subordinate role in AI and the digital sector in general. “And given the rapid growth in this area, there is a significant danger that we will increasingly lose ground.”
