Market Direction and Stock Trends

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Stock Market Power Rankings
By: Motley Fool | November 5, 2018

They're big, beautiful, and ranked from 1 to 50.

10. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB): $432.1 billion market capitalization, down 16% over the past year

The world's leading social network commands the sixth-largest market cap on U.S.-listed exchanges, but it sinks in the rankings because it's the one name among the top 10 this week that has seen its stock decline over the past year. You've heard the story by now. Facebook is bumping up against privacy concerns. Millennials are shying away from Facebook. They're flocking to Instagram -- perhaps unaware that it's also owned by Facebook -- and that platform has been tougher for the company to monetize. Sorry, Facebook -- your friend request has been denied.

9. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE): $251.7 billion, up 21.1%

The "P" is silent in Pfizer, but the same can't be said about the pharmaceuticals giant's profits. Revenue only rose 2% in its latest quarter as new drugs offset the declines of older treatments that are now off patent and thus facing generic competition. Nevertheless, adjusted earnings per share rose 16%. Pfizer also received accelerated FDA approval for Lorbrena, a potential treatment for a type of non-small cell lung cancer. The stock's juicy 3.1% dividend yield doesn't hurt either. The "P" in potential also isn't silent.

8. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM): $360.4 billion, up 6.7%

A giant in consumer banking, investment banking, and credit cards, JPMorgan remains a smart way to play the financial-services industry. Lyft announced last month that it was tapping JPMorgan to serve as lead underwriter for its highly anticipated IPO. JPMorgan commands one of the lower valuations in this list, selling for less than 12 times this year's earnings. The stock also offers a dividend yield of nearly 3%.

7. Walmart (NYSE:WMT): $296.8 billion, up 14.1%

There's money to be made in discounting. Walmart is the country's leading brick-and-mortar retailer, but it has stepped up its online game recently with the acquisitions of Jet.com and Flipkart. Walmart disappointed investors last month when it lowered its adjusted earnings outlook for fiscal 2019 to account for dilution from the Flipkart transaction, but it sees sales growing at least 3% in fiscal 2020. Shoppers love a good bargain.

6. Visa (NYSE:V): $309.8 billion, up 26%

We're becoming a cash-less society, and credit card giant Visa is there for the swiping. Visa processed $32.8 billion in transactions during the third quarter, 12% ahead of where it was a year earlier. Visa remains a widely accepted card platform worldwide, and you have to give it some -- double bad pun alert -- credit for leading the charge.

5. Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A): $512.1 billion, up 8.8%

Even at age 88, Warren Buffett remains the best investor of our generation. Most investors can't afford even a single share of the company's original Class A shares, but that's what happens when you command the only six-digit stock price in the investing universe. (The Class B shares, meanwhile, cost only a couple hundred dollars, rather than a few hundred thousand.) Berkshire Hathaway's book value has ballooned to $228,712 per share as of the end of September. Buffett sure knows how to create value, even as he scoffs at your request to break a $100,000 bill.

4. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG): $740.4 billion, up 2.7%

The company formerly known as Google has barely moved over the past year. It ran into some bad press last week when The New York Times wrote a scathing report claiming that top executives engaged in sexual misconduct. Financially speaking, Alphabet is a tale of two extremes. Its revenue is accelerating for the third year in a row, but earnings growth has gone the opposite direction. Alphabet has missed Wall Street profit targets twice over the past year, which is a rare occurrence in the company's history.

3. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN): $814.4 billion, up 52.2%

The world's leading online retailer turned heads this summer when it followed Apple in hitting the $1 trillion market cap mark. Amazon didn't stay in the 13-digit club for long: Its shares slipped two weeks ago after the company posted fresh financials that didn't wow the market. Amazon missed analyst sales estimates, and its guidance suggests decelerating online growth will continue. Amazon remains a big winner over the past year, but torrid gains have a funny way of inflating expectations.

2. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT): $814.9 billion, up 26.3%

Fire up the DeLorean, Doc, and let's go back to the future. Apple and Microsoft are on top of this list, and it may seem like a throwback to the 1980s, when the two companies were the darlings of the nascent PC space. Microsoft is no longer just about pushing Windows operating systems and Office applications. It's a multifaceted software giant, and it has actually outperformed Apple stock over the past year.

1. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL): $986.6 billion, up 23.4%

The world's most valuable company by market cap disappointed investors with its quarterly report last week, but its dominant market position and still-hearty double-digit return over the past 12 months keep it entrenched at the top. Apple posted better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter, but soft iPhone unit sales and a problematic outlook for the holiday quarter rained on the earnings-season parade. The new iPhones sell at much higher price points, so it's not a deal breaker if the actual number of iPhones sold is slowing. Apple also unveiled new MacBooks. There's never a dull moment in Cupertino.

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