Talk about wealth-generating powerhouses — a handful of S&P 500 companies now pull in at least $10,000 a second in revenue.
Ten companies, including Walmart, Amazon.com and UnitedHealth, generated up to $21,743 a second in the just-reported calendar 2024 year, or are expected to, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge. This enormous amount of revenue highlights just how pivotal a small group of companies are for the economy.
Sizing Up S&P 500 Revenue
Now that more than 60% of the S&P 500 reported their 2024 results, investors get a glimpse of how business is looking. And so far, so good.
Revenue growth is coming in at 5.2% for the year, says John Butters of Factset. That's up slightly from the 5.0% revenue growth anticipated at the end of 2024.
And some of the absolute numbers are strong, too. The S&P 500 are now expected to post total revenue of $17 trillion for the full year of 2024. There are some giant contributors to that tally as well.
Giant Revenue Contributors
Amazon is narrowing the gap, but Walmart is still the nation's biggest source of revenue in 2024. The retailer is seen hauling in $676.3 billion in revenue in calendar 2024. That amounts to $21,742 every second of the day.
Investors are responding positively, pushing shares of Walmart up nearly 14% this year. That gives the Bentonville, Ark.-based firm an RS Rating of 94. Additionally, analysts think the company will boost profit by 12% in both 2025 and 2026. The stock is etching out a flat base now.
But Amazon is close on Walmart's heels. Amazon pulled in revenue of nearly $638 billion in 2024, or $20,511 every second. Shares of Amazon are strong, too, rising 6.3% this year. The stock carries an RS Rating of 88. Earnings are seen rising 14% in 2025 and 20% in 2026.
Given the size of some S&P 500 companies' revenue, now you can see why investors are so eager to own shares of the giants.
Top S&P 500 Revenue For 2024
Based on annual results or estimates
| Company | Ticker | 2024 revenue ($ billions) | Revenue per second |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart | WMT | $676.3 | $21,742.53 |
| Amazon.com | AMZN | $638.0 | $20,510.51 |
| UnitedHealth | UNH | $400.3 | $12,869.02 |
| Apple | AAPL | $395.7 | $12,723.77 |
| CVS Health | CVS | $371.6 | $11,948.24 |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRKA | $366.8 | $11,792.29 |
| Alphabet | GOOGL | $350.0 | $11,253.15 |
| Exxon Mobil | XOM | $349.6 | $11,239.23 |
| McKesson | MCK | $344.6 | $11,078.41 |
| Cencora | COR | $303.2 | $9,747.71 |
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