Fortune favors Wal-Mart for 3rd year The magazine's list of 500 top companies posted combined earnings of almost $446-billion on sales totaling $7.5-trillion.
By Associated Press
Published March 23, 2004
NEW YORK - A tail wind of improving economic conditions blew many major companies to record revenues in 2003, but none were able to knock Wal-Mart Stores Inc. off the top of the Fortune 500 list.
With sales of almost $259-billion, the global chain of general stores topped the list of the nation's largest publicly traded companies for the third straight year. There was some predictable shuffling among the rest of the top 10.
Fortune's annual ranking, to be published in the magazine's April 5 edition, is based on the companies' sales figures as reported in financial statements for 2003.
Thirteen Florida companies made this year's list, headed by AutoNation of Fort Lauderdale at No. 97.
Jabil Circuit of St. Petersburg turned in one of the most impressive performances, climbing 74 spots, from No. 441 to 367. That's the result of an impressive rebound in revenues last year after a big drop in 2002.
"Being on the list is very important and good for our shareholders, and we're delighted to move up the list," said Beth Walters, Jabil's vice president of investor relations. "Investors care if you're a Fortune 500 company. But do any of them care if we're No. 200 or 300 or 500? I don't get people who ever ask about that."
Tech Data Corp. of Clearwater also moved up, though just a few notches, from 117 to 111. That puts the company within striking distance of the top 100. Tech Data was part of that elite group several years ago, but lost its spot when sales slumped.
Jittery geopolitics kept the price of oil high, helping Exxon Mobil Corp. to post $213-billion in revenue. The 17 percent jump leapfrogged the oil company past General Motors Corp. into the No. 2 spot.
In terms of profits, Exxon Mobil was first with $21.5-billion in earnings. Wal-Mart, which has low profit margins, had $9.05-billion in earnings.
Carmakers GM and Ford Motor Co. came in third and fourth respectively, with revenues of $196-billion and $164-billion. General Electric Co., the provider of everything from jet engines to sit-coms, remained at No. 5 with revenue of $134-billion.
Both Ford and GE held their spots from 2002.
ChevronTexaco Corp. moved up a spot to No. 6, while another refiner, ConocoPhillips, jumped five spots to No. 7. Banking powerhouse Citigroup Inc. was eighth, followed by International Business Machines Corp. and insurer American International Group, Inc.
As a group, the 500 companies bounced back from two years of profit declines, posting combined earnings of almost $446-billion on sales totaling $7.5-trillion.
Profits grew in 34 of the 39 industries that Fortune tracks. And only 37 of the 500 companies disappointed shareholders with negative returns, which the magazine calculated by adding the change in a company's stock price to its dividend income.
Fortune credited barely-there interest rates, fewer accounting scandals, tax cuts and increased government spending as helping to power the blue chip boom. And although the war in Iraq kept oil prices high all year, the quick end to major fighting gave companies confidence, according to Fortune.
Among the 11 debutantes on the list, the most notable newcomer was Medco Health Solutions, a prescription benefits manager that was spun off from drug giant Merck & Co. Inc. last year.
The magazine noted that big pharmaceutical companies as a whole took a beating in 2003 due to expiring patents, competition from generic drugs and a backlash against expensive medicine. Schering-Plough Corp., for example, dropped to 247th on the list from 187th as revenue fell from $10.2-billion to $8.3-billion.
On the upside, the Federal Reserve Bank's decision to keep interest rates low boosted homebuilders. Centex Corp., Lennar Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc. all moved up considerably in the rankings.
Conspicuously absent was mortgage giant Freddie Mac, No. 32 on the 2002 list. That's because its most recent financial statements were unavailable because of an accounting scandal.
This year marks the 50th time Fortune has published its annual rankings. A look at the original 500 reveals some familiar names - in 1955, General Motors was No. 1, General Electric No. 4, Chrysler No. 6 and Du Pont No. 10.
- Times staff writer Helen Huntley contributed to this article.
