Comments on: Most Profitable Global Companies

By: Top 10 Components of the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Oil & Gas Titans Index | Stocks and Sectors

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:42:21 +0000

[...] the 10 most profitable companies in the world based on 2008 data, energy companies occupy the top six spots. Two of the companies on that list [...]

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:44:49 +0000

Mike in H-town,

you’re forgetting about MSFT bleeding through the orifices with projects X-box, and Zune, for starters..
and, going-fwd, seemingly, potential Loss of Rev. from Word sales..
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=MSFT+Word+injunction

and, these http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=Microsoft+Privacy+violations+EFF continuing issues, ready for future Lawsuits..

does MSFT represent “Goodwill” in negative #’s, on its Bal. Sheet?

By: willid3

willid3 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:19:24 +0000

software companies always have better margins. they should too.other than some hardware, the production of their product is actually pretty simple. a lot of them will have very large profit margins (+30) but they also get them selves into trouble really easily. they do have a large server farm, just not as big as Google maybe.

By: Mike in Nola

Mike in Nola — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:06:04 +0000

Clay: Profit margins depend on the capital investments needed. Industrial companies have high capital costs which drag down margins; companies like MSFT that don’t sell hardware or have to invest heavily in equipment have an advantage there.

Compare:

XOM

Q3 (Sep ’09) 2008
Net profit margin 5.92% 9.47%
Operating margin 11.19% 17.13%
EBITD margin – 20.20%
Return on average assets 8.61% 19.24%
Return on average equity 17.74% 38.53%
Employees 79,900

Q3 (Sep ’09) 2009 [2008?]
Net profit margin 27.66% 24.93%
Operating margin 34.55% 34.85%
EBITD margin – 38.77%
Return on average assets 17.98% 19.34%
Return on average equity 35.50% 38.42%
Employees 93,000
Uncle Festus is doing ok, despite everyone dumping on MSFT.

Interestingly, MSFT has better margins than Google, I suppose because Google has to maintain huge server farms.

By: Mike in Nola

Mike in Nola — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:53:52 +0000

Well, looky there: collapsing MSFT is still there even though APPL gets all the press. Where’s Apple? Fanbois will not believe this chart.

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:29:20 +0000

MattS,

have you ever wondered why, post ’89, we were never entreated to the Soviet-era “Anti-American/Anti-Capitalist” Propaganda, of Cold-War fame?

seriously, didn’t you think some enterprising ‘entrepenuer’ would have Imported that stuff for a cross-country Tour, showing at a Cineplex/Drive-In/Shopping Mall near you?

but, never happened, right?

By: sgornick

sgornick — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:55:18 +0000

Add back the bonuses (net, after subtracting corporate income tax) and Goldman Sachs would be on that list, no?

By: MattS

MattS — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:35:39 +0000

Or… With ExxonMobil’s profits from last year alone they could… generate returns for the shareholders who risked their capital in a business linked to a volatile commodity price affording people around the world mobility, heat and helpful chemicals and plastics. But why point out that stuff?

Also, these companies have the biggest absolute profit numbers, but aren’t those with the highest profitability. The anti-profit types have grabbed the artificial moral high ground and exploit it beautifully. I love the assumption that ExxonMobil “could” give away all of that money. What if they did? We’d be walking to work real quick.

By: Clay

Clay — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:32:47 +0000

To provide perspective, they should have shown percentages of Net Income as a percentage Total Revenue/Sales for each company and shown separate rankings for some of the largest companies based on these percentages.

My guess is that most of the companies included in the above graphics have Net Income percentages between 3% and 8%.

By: Mr. Micawber

Mr. Micawber — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:27:21 +0000

This actually reminds me of how full of horsesh*t the Economist has become.

Anyone remember their leader a few weeks ago about how Toyota was doomed to collapse?

Also tells me that, if Peak Oil isn’t true, we sure do have a ton of profits going to companies extracting a resource that isn’t supposed to be that scarce.