Three Swiss firms among top 100 most valuable

Nestlé was ranked the 36th most valuable company by the consulting firm EY. Keystone-SDA

Technology companies are the undisputed leaders in the ranking of the world's most highly valued listed companies. The AI boom in particular gave the sector a boost. But three well-known Swiss companies have also made it into the top 100.

According to an analysis by consulting firm EY published on Tuesday, three tech companies took the top spots of the most valuable companies. Microsoft came out on top, followed by Apple and chip manufacturer Nvidia. The cut-off date for the survey was June 28.

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The total market capitalisation of the 100 most valuable companies reached a new high of $42.3 trillion according to EY calculations. Among the global top 100, 26 companies are from the technology sector and 60 are based in the US.

Three Swiss firms – Nestlé, Roche and Novartis – made it into the ranking. However, they had to drop a few places. The food company slipped to 36th place from 24 at the beginning of 2024. Roche is in 51st place (previously: 43rd) and Novartis remains in 53rd place.

A total of 19 companies from Europe made it into the top 100. Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk came in 12th place and the German company SAP in 47th place. The remaining 18 companies are in Asia.

Tech boom, especially in the US

“The majority of the most valuable companies in Europe and Switzerland are not active in the technology sector, so they have not benefited to the same extent from the stock market euphoria for technology stocks triggered by the mega topic of artificial intelligence,” said Stefan Rösch-Rütsche, Country Managing Partner of EY in Switzerland.

This has further widened the gap with the US. In general, Europe’s importance on the world’s stock markets has declined sharply – before the global financial crisis in 2007, the region still accounted for 46 of the 100 most valuable companies.

If you extend the ranking to the 500 most valuable companies worldwide, you will find a total of 15 Swiss companies. In addition to the three heavyweights mentioned, these include the industrial group ABB (ranked 150th), UBS (ranked 169th), the luxury goods group Richemont (ranked 174th) and the insurer Zurich (ranked 219th). Holcim (rank 365) and Givaudan (rank 430) are further down the list.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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