Forget Apple And Google's Market Cap Battle, Wal-Mart Is The Real Winner

Alphabet Inc GOOGL’s reign as the world’s largest public company was very short-lived. After the stock briefly eclipsed Apple Inc. AAPL as the world’s largest public company following a solid Q4 earnings beat, Alphabet’s market cap has now plummeted more than 15 percent in a matter of days.

However, analysts at FactSet know there’s more than one way to size up a company. FactSet took a look at how Apple and Alphabet stack up now following Alphabet’s volatile trading.

In terms of market cap, Apple, at $535.6 billion, once again has a comfortable $40 billion-plus cushion on its lead over Alphabet. Alphabet, in turn, remains more than $80 billion ahead of third place Microsoft Corporation MSFT.

Related Link: Google Traders Now Monitoring Levels Above $800

When it comes to net income, however, Apple’s $53.7 billion on-year income more than doubles that of any other public company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM comes in a distant second place at $23.9 billion, and Alphabet appears only ninth on the list at $16.4 billion.

Finally, FactSet reveals that, even as the business world continues its digital shift, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT maintains a massive lead over all other companies in terms of sales. Walmart’s $484.0 billion in sales dwarfs those of second place Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM ($244.3 billion) and third place Apple ($233.3 billion). In terms of sales, Alphabet doesn’t even make the top 10.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.