The index is responsible for eighty percent of the market value of the equity market in the United States. Because it contains virtually all of the major companies in the United States, "the market" as a whole is sometimes considered to be identical with the S&''P 500 Index. It is the one that comes the closest to being a "default" stock index for the United States. The following is an examination of the 10 components of the S&''P 500 that we consider the most important. The information about weighting and market capitalization is current as of March 31, 2022, and was provided by S&''P Dow Jones Indices. The following revenue and net income figures have been provided by YCharts and are current as of April 19, 2022.
The Corporation Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Apple is a leading manufacturer of hardware and software products, with a primary focus on the consumer market for its goods. Apple's iPhone brand is perhaps it's most well-known offering, but the company also manufactures other brands, such as Mac computers and iPad tablets, among others. Additionally, it manages the music streaming service Apple Music and the television media delivery platform Apple TV.
The company Microsoft (MSFT)
Microsoft is a firm specializing in the production of computer hardware and software, and the company's wares are suitable for home and commercial usage. Microsoft has been a significant force in the information technology sector for decades. It is best recognized as the developer of the Windows operating system, the Microsoft Office suite of products, and the Xbox gaming console. Additionally, the corporation is a significant participant in the cloud computing services market with the help of its cloud platform known as Azure.
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon is an online retailer that sells various products, but the company has been working hard to diversify its revenue streams. In addition, it operates the Whole Foods chain of traditional supermarkets under the name Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is a key player in the cloud computing industry. On July 5, 2021, founder and long-time CEO Jeff Bezos decided to stand down from his position as CEO of the firm to assume the role of executive chair of the corporation.
Tesla, Inc. (TSLA)
The production of electric vehicles is Tesla's primary business Index. Although it derives more than 90 percent of its income and almost all of its earnings from the sale of automobiles, it also markets photovoltaic panels and batteries for use in private residences and commercial establishments.
Class a Shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)
Alphabet, a subsidiary of Google, owns the world's most popular search engine. In addition to its flagship product, the Google search engine, Alphabet also operates the popular video-sharing website YouTube. It is important to note that the corporation maintains two primary share classes for its shares.
Class C Shares of Alphabet Inc. (GOOG)
Each of these shares is listed on the S&''P 500, and each is significant enough on its own to be included in the list of the top 10 stocks. If both share classes were added toward the total, Alphabet would move up to the fourth position on this list and account for about 4.2 percent of the index's total value. There are also B shares, which only Google employees and other Google insiders my own and come with disproportionate voting rights. The B shares are not actively traded on any market at this time.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
Nvidia is a firm that specializes in designing and producing graphics processing units (GPUs) (GPUs). Visuals processing units, or GPUs, are a kind of computer chip used for creating computer graphics, most often for visual design or computer gaming. However, graphics processing units (GPUs) are in the growing demand for other jobs such as mining cryptocurrencies, developing artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning. Nvidia's GeForce brand of graphics processing units (GPUs) for consumers is very popular.
Berkshire Hathaway, a Fortune 500 Company (BRK.B)
The many investments that CEO Warren Buffett has made throughout his career are held under Berkshire Hathaway, which functions as a holding corporation. Among its many holdings are consumer brands like the Dairy Queen ice cream chain and energy and utility companies like GEICO and Precision Castparts Corp.
Class a Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (META)
The biggest and most influential social networking platform in the world is managed by Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook. Additionally, it is the owner of the photo-sharing application Instagram, the messaging application WhatsApp, and the virtual reality equipment manufacturer Oculus.
The UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (UNH)
In addition to providing medical insurance, UnitedHealth Group operates as a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) firm. Under the Optum name, the company manages not just its pharmacy benefit management operations but also other healthcare services such as health-related data analytics.
