The U.S. lead the ranking of the world’s most valuable firms. But Swiss quality holds its own at the top of international equity markets.
Despite global crises, a weakening economy and rising interest rates – the stock market year 2023 has provided investors with a bumper harvest. The market capitalization of the world’s 100 most valuable companies rose by 29 percent to a record high of 36.5 trillion dollars.
Technology companies were the main drivers of this increase. The market capitalization of the tech giants in the top 100 rose by 60 percent over the year, according to a study by global Consultancy EY.
Strong Growth Due to AI Boom
Companies that also work on AI solutions recorded particularly strong growth in valuations. At the end of the year, 25 technology companies were among the 100 most valuable listed companies in the world.
The U.S. consolidated its supremacy with 62 of the 100 most valuable companies, while Europe lagged despite modest improvements. A total of 19 European companies are among the top 100, but none are among the global top ten.
UBS Takes a Giant Leap
The overall picture for Switzerland among the most valuable companies remains unchanged. Traditionally strong players such as Nestlé (26th place), Roche (43rd) and Novartis (52nd) have slipped in the rankings, but are still firmly positioned in the top 100.
Meanwhile, food giant Nestlé maintains its leading position in the Swiss cross-sector ranking. Due to the takeover of Credit Suisse, UBS has made a giant leap forward in the league table of the most valuable companies. It is now ranked 139th compared to 235th in the previous year.
Swiss Precision
A total of 17 Swiss companies have made it to the global top 500, including the insurer Zurich (ranked 196th) and the private equity giant Partners Group (ranked 496th) as further representatives of the finance and insurance sector.
This puts Switzerland in sixth place internationally in terms of total market capitalization. The ranking is led by the U.S., followed by Saudi Arabia and China.
