The Highest-Profit Companies in 2024

Thanks to their international influence and the high purchasing power of the American consumer, the largest US retailers are now at the top of the list of the most profitable firms globally. Outside the United States, the largest share of the most profitable companies is mainly represented in the energy sector – many of which are giants, such as Saudi Aramco and China National Petroleum, are state-owned.

Visual Capitalist has presented its ranking of the world’s most valuable companies as of 2024. The list below is based on data from Fortune and includes financial reports from both public and leading private companies. At the top of last year’s list of the most profitable companies is Walmart, a retail giant and the largest employer in America.

The American company generates about $74 million per hour – and globally, the average number of weekly customer visits reaches 255 million. 68% of Walmart’s sales come from the US market, and domestic revenue has increased by almost 36% since 2019.

Amazon is in second place, with revenue of $574.8 billion. According to Fortune, the company’s revenue has almost doubled in the past five years – thanks to cloud computing services, Amazon Prime and its advertising business.

The top three in the list of the most profitable companies in 2024 is State Grid, a state-owned Chinese utility. Last year, the firm acquired two of Chile’s largest electricity distributors and now supplies more than 50% of the country’s total energy consumption. In addition, given the metal’s vital role in the electrical infrastructure, State Grid remains the world’s largest buyer of the metal.

Like State Grid, the top three are also dominated by state-owned companies Sinopec and China National Petroleum, driven by oil revenues. Sinopec is the world’s largest oil refiner, with 5.2 million barrels per day, according to the latest figures, ahead of Exxon Mobil, which processes 4.5 million barrels per day.