Seven Arkansas-Based Companies On Fortune 500 List

The vast majority of companies in the United States want to be on the Fortune 500 list.

And for the second year in a row, an Arkansas-based company is the leader of the pack.

According to the list released Thursday, the list also includes dozens of companies with Arkansas connections.

There are seven Arkansas-based companies on the list, which is considered by most to be the gold standard for economic success in the economy.

No. 1 was Bentonville-based Wal-Mart.

The magazine provided overviews for the company, strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats for Wal-Mart and other companies on the list.

The report on Wal-Mart was mixed, the magazine noted.

“The discount retailer is at a crossroads: how to transition from the big-box era that propelled it to the world’s largest company, to one in which customers are fussier about what they eat and can easily comparison shop thanks to the internet. In 2014, under new CEO Doug McMillon, Wal-Mart’s U.S. finally broke a nearly two-year streak of growth-free quarters on the comparable sales front. But that recovery is tenuous: it is still struggling to get people into its stores, and it has suffered from out-of-stocks and customer service that many find wanting,” the article noted.

“Last year saw a lot of turmoil: it replaced the CEO of its $288 billion U.S. division and lost its chief merchant. But the company has made strides in improving the quality of fresh food in its stores — about 55% of revenue comes from grocery. Its e-commerce investments are paying off too. Still, Wal-Mart is grappling with ever more aggressive rivals like Target and Amazon, the proliferation of dollar stores and a desire for healthier grocery offerings, meaning 2015 is a key year for McMillon to prove he can modernize Wal-Mart.”

TYSON FOODS
The only other Arkansas company in the top 100 was Springdale-based Tyson Foods.

The company was listed at No. 83, up from a No. 93 listing last year.

The report on Tyson provided some detail on the company’s opportunities.

“The meats producer last year won a food fight to earn the right to buy Hillshire Brands, scooping the asset away from rival Pilgrim’s Pride. The deal allowed Tyson to combine its stock of chicken, beef and pork with Hillshire’s well-known brands and private label products, including Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park meats,” the report noted. “The deal also gave Tyson more exposure to the breakfast occasion, where previously it had little presence.”

Listed as a strength was that American consumers wanting more protein from meat and fish in their diet. However, the high exposure on commodities including the cost of corn, feed and soybean meal to raise chicken was listed as a weakness.

As for opportunities, the magazine noted the combination of sales and marketing teams as well as the Hillshire Brands sale as reasons for growth.

“The Hillshire Brands deal is a true opportunity. There are millions that can be saved as Tyson completes its integration plans. While companies love to tout deals, mergers can also be a risk. Tyson’s integration efforts could take longer to process or may not be as successful as it hopes,” the magazine noted. “Streamlining supply chains, cutting overhead costs and eliminating overlapping operations takes time and Tyson could make some missteps along the way.”

OTHER COMPANIES
There were five other Arkansas-based companies in the top 500.

At No. 202 was El Dorado-based Murphy USA, down from No. 175 in 2014. Murphy USA is a relative newcomer to the list, being on the list for just the past two years.

Murphy Oil was listed at No. 350, up from No. 470 in 2014.

Retailer Dillard’s, based in Little Rock, was listed at No. 400 while Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services was at No. 434, the list noted.

Little Rock communications company Windstream Holdings was at No. 452, down from No. 429 last year.

There were also several companies that are located in Arkansas that made the list.

Among them were California-based (with a facility in Conway) HP at No. 19, Maryland-based with a location in Camden, Lockheed Martin (at No. 64) and two Memphis-based companies – Fed Ex at No. 65 and Auto Zone at No. 307. Texas-based Kimberly-Clark Corporation, with facilities in Conway and Maumelle, was listed at No. 140.