Companies break record, but tech stocks no longer major driver

According to the latest ranking by management consultants PwC, the book value of the world's 100 most valuable companies broke through the 40 trillion dollar mark for the first time on March 31, 2025 at 42.6 trillion dollars. However, at just under USD 2.8 trillion or seven percent, the increase was significantly lower than in the previous year. In 2024, the increase was still 27%.

At that time, the valuation of the "Magnificent Seven" in particular increased by an impressive 50 percent. In this year's ranking, however, the financial sector outstripped the tech group in terms of growth rate with 39%. The combined market capitalization of Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla grew by a manageable ten percent. The PwC consultants blame factors such as the slowdown in economic growth in the US and political uncertainty for the cooling sentiment towards tech and AI shares. In addition, the emergence of new competitors has also prompted investors to reconsider the growth potential of the "Magnificent Seven".

However, the USA's arbitrary customs policy in recent months in particular has also distorted the picture. At the beginning of the year, for example, Nvidia was worth 45% more than on March 31. In April and May, the share price rose again by 15 percent.

Apple at the top

With a market capitalization of 3.3 trillion US dollars (up 26%), Apple regained the top spot from Microsoft in the new ranking on the reporting date. The book value of the previous year's number one fell by eleven percent to 2.8 trillion dollars. Nvidia maintained third place. However, at 19 percent to 2.6 trillion dollars, growth for the AI chip manufacturer was unusually moderate compared to previous years. Amazon, on the other hand, moved up two places. With an increase in value of just under eight percent to over two trillion dollars, the retail group with a cloud division moved ahead of Alphabet into fourth place. At 1.9 trillion dollars, the value of Google's parent company improved by just one percent.

Palantir recorded the highest relative growth among the top 100 companies with 289% to 198 billion dollars. The value of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi increased by a barely less impressive 233% to 159 billion dollars. The biggest relative declines were suffered by processor manufacturer AMD, down 43% to 166 billion dollars, and Dutch lithography system manufacturer ASML, down 32% to 258 billion dollars. The valuation of Adobe fell by 28 percent to 163 billion dollars.

USA dominate, SAP most valuable German company

As expected, from a regional perspective, companies from the USA dominate the Top 100 ranking with a combined valuation of 31.2 trillion dollars (up 8 percent). They are followed far behind by representatives from China (2.8 trillion dollars, up 53%) and Saudi Arabia (1.7 trillion dollars, down 13%).

From a German perspective, it is pleasing that Deutsche Telekom managed to return to the top 100 list, meaning that three companies from Germany were once again represented. With an increase of 50 percent to 181 billion dollars, the Bonn-based group was even one of the ten fastest-growing stocks, moving up 52 places to 74th place. Deutsche Telekom was even one place ahead of the Siemens Group, whose market capitalization was 179 billion dollars (up 17 percent) on the reporting date. SAP naturally remained the most valuable German company. The Walldorf-based software group moved up sixteen places in the list with a valuation of 308 billion dollars (up 36 percent) and is ranked 31st in the current list.

Whether the market capitalization of the 100 most valuable companies in the world will remain on a growth trajectory can hardly be seriously assessed in view of the customs chaos and erratic economic policy of the US government under Trump. In any case, the latest developments on the global capital markets are characterized by high volatility in the valuations of the 100 largest companies. After a significant slump in share prices when the tariffs were introduced, the subsequent announcement of a 90-day suspension led to a recovery, with the valuation level of USD 42.552 trillion as at April 30, 2025 only 0.2% below the USD 42.636 trillion as at March 31, 2025.

(mma)