Formerly named as Facebook, Meta Platforms was rebranded in October 2021 to reflect the company’s focus on building the metaverse. The company now owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other major products. US stocks were mixed Tuesday as investors reacted to new tariffs by President Donald Trump and a rollback of green energy subsidies. The broader market showed weakness, with Dow and Nasdaq futures down. Ciena, Enovix and Humacyte also posted significant moves on the day.
It’s also the world’s second-largest oil company behind only Saudi Aramco. Get step-by-step guidance on investing in Apple stock and learn the ins and outs of this technology company. To be clear, this list is all general in nature and for educational purposes only.
The company’s shares and its future are seen as inextricably tied to Musk. It is the ultimate tangled web of logic, psychology, and mixed incentives. The stock market’s future depends on investors’ ability to dream, and people are willing to dream when they feel confident in the present moment. Among the over 200 active IPO applicants in the pipeline to be listed on HKEX, over 40 are companies already listed on mainland stock exchanges, Wind Information showed. “The IPO boom in the Hong Kong market is certainly driven by dual-listing of A-then-H shares,” said Sun. A-shares refer to mainland-listed shares, while H-shares are those listed in Hong Kong.
Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple are the biggest companies by market cap.
No specific investment recommendations are being made and there are no earnings claims being made. This is just general information that is intended to help people see the leading stocks in the first half of 2025. The stock market fell by 20% in the first quarter after fear spread about Trump’s tariffs. In early April, the bulls showed up and aggressively bought stocks after Trump eased his stance on tariffs. That lead to a big rally that sent stocks to fresh all time highs by the end of the quarter. Apple’s market value first hit $1 trillion in 2018, $2 trillion in 2020, and $3 trillion in 2022.
- The company’s AI Platform (AIP) is seeing explosive adoption, with U.S. commercial customer count growing 39% year over year, while U.S. commercial revenue surged 71%.
- Founded in 1993, The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter, happier, and richer.
- Among the over 200 active IPO applicants in the pipeline to be listed on HKEX, over 40 are companies already listed on mainland stock exchanges, Wind Information showed.
Americans’ spending accounts for about 70% of GDP — by far the biggest driver of output — and spending has dropped in each of the past nine recessions. If tariffs intimidate consumers and lead to layoffs that decimate American incomes, then the economy is probably bound for a crisis — whether the robots pan out or not. And based on history, an economic crisis could topple the stock market. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, also known as TSMC, is a leader in semiconductor production and is Taiwan’s most valuable company.
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HIMS – Hims & Hers Health, a telehealth leader in wellness and personal care. OUST – Ouster, a LiDAR company for industrial and automotive applications. VERV – Verve Therapeutics, advancing gene-editing for cardiovascular disease. ADPT – Adaptive Biotechnologies, innovating in immune-driven medicine. SLNO – Soleno Therapeutics, developing treatments for rare disorders. PLTR – Palantir Technologies, a data analytics giant with a 19% surge in April 2025.
This American conglomerate is home to a diverse range of homegrown brands in various sectors. For instance, the company owns GEICO in insurance, Dairy Queen in fast food chains, Benjamin Moore & Co. in construction manufacturing, and Duracell in battery manufacturing. Over the years, Berkshire Hathaway has seen some of the most stable growth, with no major or sudden increases or decreases in value. Broadcom is a technology company that focuses on products like semiconductors and networking products like Ethernets and LANs.
Berkshire Hathaway: $1.055 trillion
“We pulled the Azoria Tesla Convexity ETF because we have real concerns about Elon’s ability to be a full-time CEO for Tesla with his new full-time job running ‘America Party’,” Fishback told Reuters on Monday. This is what I worry about the most in the clash between AI and the economy. We’re somewhere between AI saving the world and being an overhyped bust of a technology that can be ripped off by another country. I’m not foolish enough to call this a bubble, and I think AI will eventually deliver benefits for our economy.
- However, it has also warned that further import tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand and damage its U.S. investment plans.
- The confluence of geopolitical turmoil, high interest rates, the artificial intelligence (AI) superbuild, and valuation concerns has created dramatic volatility.
- In addition, Meta’s investments in its metaverse struggled at first, but its AR/VR technology, including the Quest headset, is slowly catching on.
Suddenly, the dream died, and tech stock prices came back down to reality. Yet share prices took an 80% crash before the promise of the new tech came to fruition. What’s particularly rich about this Broke Millennial is that tech companies are the most exposed sector to global tariffs. They gather the highest percentage of revenue internationally, plus they have the most suppliers and factories outside US borders.
The biggest change occurred from 2023 to 2024, where the market cap changed by over 90 percent, going from $539.38 billion to $1.045 trillion. The largest companies in the world today are worth many billions, and in some cases several trillions, of dollars when measured by market capitalization. This makes these companies more valuable than some countries’ entire economies. JPMorgan Chase & Co is the largest bank in the United States and the largest bank in the world by market capitalization.
The power semiconductor disruptor
“I and every other Tesla investor would prefer to be out of the business of politics. The sooner this distraction can be removed and Tesla gets back to actual business, the better,” said Camelthorn Investments adviser Shawn Campbell, who owns Tesla shares. Tesla shares fell sharply on Monday after CEO Elon Musk threatened to launch a new political party — renewing investor concerns following the mogul’s public dustup with President Trump.
Moreover, leaders attract institutional money—hedge funds, pension funds, and mutual funds—that drive the market higher. Tracking these stocks allows investors to ride the wave of institutional momentum while avoiding laggards that may hurt returns. It started as a personal computer company in the 1970s, but today, it makes iPhones, MacBooks, Apple Watches, iPads, and software. Over the years, Apple has built a loyal customer base and a strong business ecosystem.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company manufactures and designs semiconductors, and is the world’s second most valuable semiconductor company, while the largest in Taiwan. Its shares began trading on the Tadawul stock exchange on December 11, 2019, and exceeded the USD 2 trillion mark right on the second day of trading. The California-headquartered tech giant manufactures and markets the renowned iPhone, iPad and Macintosh computers, among other paragon consumer electronics products.
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PGY – Pagaya Technologies, using AI to streamline financial services. ASTS – AST SpaceMobile, pioneering satellite-to-smartphone connectivity. SMR – NuScale Power, a leader in small modular reactors with strong earnings. For instance, if a company has 1 billion shares and all its shares are worth $100, the company’s market cap would be $100 billion.
Biggest Companies in the World by Market Cap
Alphabet is the parent of Google, the dominant search engine in the global market. They demand proof of profits, even though companies are spending money on a pivot to the next big thing. Stock prices adjust, and if you hold a swath of US stocks or index funds, your money is probably heavily exposed to this reality check. The $65 trillion US stock market may be particularly gripped by Big Tech’s ups and downs these days, but it hasn’t always been this way. Tech has averaged about 20% of the S&P 500’s market value over the past decade, including 13% in the five years before COVID. The dominance is not set in stone, and while the wider market’s fortunes are tied to tech now, that may not always be the case.