Fortune released its annual Fortune 500 ranking of the US’s largest companies today (May 21), and while Walmart made history—it’s the first American company to boast $500 billion in annual sales—Amazon had its own coming-out party, making the top 10 for the first time.
Jeff Bezos’ bookseller-turned-behemoth ranked eighth this year, up from 12th in 2017, a jump Fortune credits its rapid growth—revenue has increased $70 billion in two years—as well as its overseas expansion and the rise of Amazon Web Services.
Just three companies have ever topped the Fortune 500: Walmart, Exxon Mobil, and Berkshire Hathaway, which (in that order) make up this year’s top three as ranked by revenue.
Profits tell a different story, with companies like Berkshire, Apple, and AT&T squeezing more out of their sales than the top two.
Looking at market capitalizations for each of the top 10 yields another interesting narrative. While rankings based on revenue and profit have long been the norm, investors’ excitement over low-overhead, high-market-cap companies like Apple and Amazon suggest the traditional route may be increasingly outdated. Amazon’s revenue and profit is around a third of Walmart’s, for example, but its market cap is three times as large.