Wal-Mart rules the Fortune 500 for the second year in a row — and the eighth time this decade — beating Exxon Mobil decisively in the battle to be crowned America’s largest company.
But things haven’t been easy: Sales at its U.S. stores have dropped for seven straight quarters, despite gains in worldwide revenues and profits.
To fight back, CEO Michael Duke is restocking shelves with lower-priced products dropped by his predecessor, Lee Scott. He’s also jumping on the anti-obesity bandwagon: Thousands of packaged food items are being reconfigured to cut their salt and sugar content. —Peter Newcomb, contributor
Is Wal-Mart Stores a great company, or what?
| Key financials | $ millions | % change from 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenues | 421,849.0 | 3.3 |
| Profits | 16,389.0 | 14.3 |
| Assets | 180,663.0 | — |
| Stockholders’ equity | 68,542.0 | — |
| Market value (3/25/2011) | 182,764.3 | — |
| Profits as % of | Â |
|---|---|
| Revenues | 3.9 |
| Assets | 9.1 |
| Stockholders’ equity | 23.9 |
| Earnings per share | Â |
|---|---|
| 2010 $ | 4.47 |
| % change from 2009 | 20.8 |
| 2000-2010 annual growth rate % | 12.3 |
| Total return to investors | % |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 3.2 |
| 2000-2010 annual rate | 1.4 |
|
Issue date: May 23, 2011 Figures are for fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2011. |
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Fortune 500: Full list