Rankings and Revenue (EDITORS NOTE)

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 116 views 

Fortune magazine recently revealed its annual “Fortune 500,” an annual ranking of American companies in terms of the most recent fiscal year revenue, and it’s worth noting how our local companies are performing.

Of the state’s six Fortune 500 companies, three of those are in Northwest Arkansas.

The companies, their ranking and revenue are: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., No. 1, $482.1 billion; Tyson Foods Inc., No. 66, $41.3 billion; J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., No. 416, $6.1 billion.

That’s $529.5 billion generated in revenue by Northwest Arkansas’ Big Three.

Walmart is ranked No. 1 for the fourth straight year, while Tyson Foods jumped 17 spots from last year’s Fortune 500, the continuing ripple effect of its 2014 purchase of Hillshire Brands for nearly $8 billion. Walmart and Tyson Foods have been on the Fortune 500 list for 22 years.

J.B. Hunt jumped 18 spots and is on the Fortune 500 for the fourth straight year.

In their peer industries, Walmart still has a sizable lead over its closest retail competitor, Costco (No. 15, $116.1 billion). Home Depot, Target and Lowe’s rank No. 28, No. 38 and No. 47, respectively in the industry.

Tyson Foods ranks second in food production behind Archer Daniels Midland ($67.7 billion). Fortune says Tyson Foods is increasingly looking abroad for growth, although its chicken production in China took a hit as economic growth there slowed.

Other Arkansas companies and their Fortune 500 ranking are: Murphy USA of El Dorado (No. 258, $10.8 billion); Dillard’s of Little Rock (No. 380, $6.7 billion); Windstream Holdings of Little Rock (No. 443, $5.7 billion).

Murphy Oil of El Dorado, not surprisingly, dropped from a 2015 ranking of No. 350 down to No. 662 on this year’s list, with $3.4 billion in revenue, reflecting a drop of about 60 percent. 

In the expanded rankings of Fortune 1000 firms, you can add ArcBest Corp. to the list, ranking No. 800 overall, with $2.6 billion in revenue.