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Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, news, msgs) shrugged off weak consumer spending to remain atop the 2008 Fortune 500 list, edging ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs) for the second straight year in the magazine's annual ranking of the nation's largest publicly traded companies.
Fortune compiled its list based on companies' 2007 revenues. Wal-Mart raked in $378.8 billion in revenue last year, up 7.9% from 2006, and had $12.7 billion in profits, according to the list released today. The discount retailer has topped the list six of the past seven years, having been unseated only by ExxonMobil.
Though consumer spending fell sharply last year, Wal-Mart weathered the slowdown better than other retailers as shoppers traded down to cheaper stores amid a difficult economy, falling home values and increased unemployment.
Because the list is based on revenues rather than profits, Wal-Mart was able to come in ahead of ExxonMobil, which was a close second with $372.8 billion in revenue and far outdistanced the retailer in earnings, with $40.6 billion. ExxonMobil's windfall was boosted by soaring energy demand and geopolitical instability that this year have pushed crude oil prices above $117 a barrel and gasoline prices to an average of about $3.50 a gallon. ExxonMobil topped the Fortune 500 list in 2006.
Collectively, revenues for all companies listed reached $10.6 trillion last year, up 7.1% from 2006. However, profits dropped 17.8% over the same period, falling to $645.2 billion amid rising expenses, including the price of oil.
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Declining U.S. auto sales hurt General Motors (GM, news, msgs), which fell one position to No. 4 on revenue of $182.3 billion and a loss of $38.7 billion.
General Electric (GE, news, msgs) came in sixth, followed by Ford Motor (F, news, msgs) in seventh place, Citigroup (C, news, msgs) at No. 8 and Bank of America (BAC, news, msgs) at No. 9. AT&T (T, news, msgs) cracked the top 10, moving from No. 27.
Companies capitalizing on a global commodities boom were among the biggest winners of 2007. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX, news, msgs) shot from No. 398 in 2006 to No. 140, the biggest leap among all companies.
Among the biggest losers were home builders and savings institutions, which were buffeted by fallout from the subprime-mortgage crisis that began rattling global markets late last year. Home builders and savings institutions saw revenues plummet 206% and 102%, respectively, according to Fortune.
Falling the most on the list was title-insurance company Fidelity National Financial (FNF, news, msgs), which slipped 171 spots to No. 435.
New additions to the list included Kraft Foods (KFT, news, msgs), Symantec (SYMC, news, msgs), PetSmart (PETM, news, msgs) and BlackRock (BLK, news, msgs), while those knocked from the list included H&R Block (HRB, news, msgs), Hilton Hotels, RadioShack (RSH, news, msgs) and Lucent Technologies (which merged with Alcatel).
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