PwC presents a global ranking of the top 100 public companies by market capitalisation as of March 2021.
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold on the global economy in early 2020, the MSCI World Index declined by 21% and market volatility increased dramatically peaking at 83 on 16 March 2020. The world’s largest companies were not immune to significant reductions in market value, with the value of the Global Top 100 Companies as at Mar-2020 declining by 15% in the first quarter of 2020.
Since the declines seen in early 2020, global equity markets have not only recovered lost ground, but have surged to record highs—with economic recovery being supported by government and central bank policies responding to the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The market capitalisation of the Global Top 100 companies (as at March 2021) increased by 48% ($10.3tn) to $31.7tn from 31 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.
This report analyses the position of the Global Top 100 Companies and highlights the remarkable changes in the composition of the list, comparing the Global Top 100 Companies by market capitalisation as at March 2020 and March 2021.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Market capitalisation
- The market capitalisation of the Global Top 100 companies increased by 48% in the year to March 2021, resulting in a record breaking market capitalisation of $31.7tn.
- In-line with expectations, the United States continues to dominate the Global Top 100 in terms of market capitalisation and number of companies, with 59 companies accounting for 65% of total market capitalisation.
- There were no direct entrants to the Global Top 100 companies via IPO despite a buoyant IPO market. The threshold to enter the list is now $129bn, potentially creating a barrier to future entrants via IPO.
- All regions and component countries experienced a relative increase in market capitalisation of the companies listed in the Global Top 100.
Sector performance of the Global Top 100 companies
- Technology continues to be the largest sector in terms of market capitalisation ($10.5tn). Global Top 100 Technology companies saw a 71% increase as compared to their value as at March 2020.
- All sectors represented by the Top 100 list saw massive increases in market capitalisation in the year to March 2021, ranging from 25% to 75%.
- Global Top 100 companies in the cyclical sectors, Industrials and Basic Materials, outperformed other sectors in the Global Top 100 (other than Technology).
- The worst-performing sectors in the Global Top 100 were Health Care, Energy and Utilities.
Download the full report here.
