Walmart, Amazon and Apple top the 2021 FORTUNE 500 list

Fortune Magazine on Wednesday released its annual list of the 500 top companies in the United States, and retail giant Walmart ranked first for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Amazon and Apple.

The FORTUNE 500 ranks companies by total revenue in 2020 fiscal year, and this year marks the 67th edition of it.

Walmart generated $559.15 billion revenue last year, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier.

Internet service and retail company Amazon held No 2 spot with a 37.6 percent jump in revenue to $386.06 billion. It earned profit of $21.33 billion.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced people online, both Walmart and Amazon saw their e-commerce businesses surging last year.

Boosted by the strong sales performance of iPhone 12, Apple's revenue increased 5.5 percent to $274.52 billion for the 2020 fiscal year, making its rise from No 4 to No 3.

The computer and phone manufacturer turned out to be the most profitable company on FORTUNE 500, with $57.41 billion in profits, up 3.9 percent year-on-year.

Together, the 500 corporations on the list generated $13.8 trillion in revenue, dropping 3.15 percent year-on-year, and the amount sum equaled to two-thirds of the US economy, Fortune said.

The revenue threshold for the list was $5.37 billion, lower than the $5.66 billion of last year under the effect of global virus outbreak.

Total profits saw the biggest decrease since 2009 – about 29.8 percent down from last year, to $858.6 billion in 2020.

Technology and finance remained the most profitable sectors, with nine of the top 10 companies coming from these two.

The 47 tech companies made a combined $275 billion in profits, up 9 percent from last year, and accounting for nearly a third of the total profits among 500 companies on the list.

Microsoft took the 15th spot at the list, while the company's profit up 12.8 percent year-on-year, making it the second profitable company in 2020.

Tesla, the NEV manufacturer saw revenue surging 28.3 percent from a year earlier, with ranking up 24 spots to No 100 at the list.