24/7 Wall St.’s Corporate Power Rankings (Week 9)

The 24/7 Wall Street Corporate Power Rankings of the thirty-two most important companies in America are determined by earnings, analyst rankings, important corporate news, trends in each firm’s industry, product introductions, management strength and changes, and credible rumors. It is, in effect, a new version of the DJIA.

The Corporate Power Rankings are released at midnight on each Sunday based on performance during the previous week.

Apple took the top spot as its market cap moved toward $200 billion and it set April 3 to launch the iPad.  Ford moved into second place as its February sales topped GMs for the first time in 12 years.

Home Depot dropped to 31st as home sales dropped.

	Company	Rank (last week)	Symbol	Comment
	Apple	1 (5)	APPL	Jobs & Co.’s stock hits all-time has as market value reaches $200 billion. Market anticipates new iPad launch on April 3. Planned Microsoft competing PC tablet is a non-issue.
	Ford	2 (6)	F	February sales move up 43% as firm passes GM in monthly market share for the first time in 12 years. Toyota implosion should help the house that Henry built keep momentum.
	Disney	3 (4)	DIS	“Alice in Wonderland” film hits $116 million on first weekend. ABC pulls signal from Cablevision and cable firm’s customers will riot to force CVC to pay ABC the $40 million it wants.
	Coca-Cola	4 (3)	KO	Coca-Cola gets flack for its deal to buy it bottlers. But, Wall St. seems unconcerned. UBS upgraded Coke to a “buy”. Board member Herb Allen shows support by buying $6 million in shares.
	Berkshire Hathaway	5 (1)	BRK	New data claims Buffett’s performance has beat any and all mutual funds over last 45 years. But, shares downgraded by KBW after BRK releases earnings.
	Cisco	6 (8)	CSCO	Should release faster routers next week and widen core revenue stream. Shares hit 52-week high and competitor Ciena stumbles. Did Cisco take its market share?
	IBM	7 (2)	IBM	Claim to make gains in chip speed, but the market does not think that will get business from Intel. Is pushing patent reform in Congress, but there is no guarantee IBM’s plan will prevail.
	Wal-Mart	8 (12)	WMT	Retail sales post largest gain since 2007, according to government stats. To the delight of shareholders, sons of Walton increase dividend 11%.
	McDonald’s	9 (7)	MCD	Rival Wendy’s/Arby’s moves to local pricing and $1 menu. Competition seems more likely to cut costs to get Kroc & Co. market share points.
	Philip Morris	10 (9)	PM	Morgan Stanly applauds cigarette company’s $12 billion share buyback program. Credit Suisse says it favors PM over rival British American Tobacco.
	Oracle	11 (13)	ORCL	Barron’s gives Sun buyout an endorsement as earnings engine hums along. Private equity firm offers big premium to buy rival Novell, a sign ORCL may be underpriced.
	Johnson & Johnson	12 (10)	JNJ	FDA expresses concerns about firm’s insulin pumps. Rival Pfizer offers anti-clotting pill that may take JNJ share.
	GE	13 (11)	GE	ABC job cuts an indication 2010 will be hard for networks and NBC already lost money on Olympics. Chief Immelt takes no bonus, but other top managers become rich with 2090 comp.
	Abbott Labs	14 (15)	ABT	FDA favors transplant drug over new treatment from Bristol-Myers. Head of Abbott Medical Optics takes over powerful position at top of medical device lobby.
	FedEx	15 (17)	FDX	Problems at US Postal Service likely to cause cutback in service sacrificing business to FDX. Morgan Keegan upgrades stock based on anticipation of big earning increase.
	Verizon	16 (16)	VZ	FCC plan to aggressively expand broadband will help providers like VZ. Microsoft to launch new cellular handset with carrier, but no one may buy it.
	Dow Chemical	17 (14)	DOW	Firm will sell ill-fitting division Styron plastics for $1.6 billion. Rival Reliance Industries fails in key strategic bid to buy LyondellBasell and improve hand against DOW.
	Pfizer	18 (20)	PFE	Good showing in trial with new anti-clotting drug. May buy generic firm Ratiopharm which would allow diversification away from patents. Tough hit on Alzheimer’s candidate failure.
	Intel	19 (21)	INTC	iSuppli experts say global chip revenue will rise 21%. UBS says overall industry expansion is faster than expected. It’s good to own 70% of the market.
	Proctor & Gamble	20 (24)	PG	Cramer says he likes company, so how bad could it be? PG finishes 6th in Fortune “Most Admired” ratings, but who cares?
	Caterpillar	21 (18)	CAT	China says GDP will be up at least 8% and infrastructure expansion should be strong. Options trading suggest upward pressure on stock.
	Google	22 (19)	GOOG	Buys DocVerse to broaden competition with MSFT PC software. Finishes 2nd in Fortune “Most Admired” completion, which will not offset antitrust problems in EU and Justice Department concern about settlement with book publishers.
	American Express	23 (22)	AXP	Federal Reserve seeks limits on what credit card company can charge for consumer penalties. Raised rates on some of its cards, tempting Congressional fury.
	Microsoft	24 (27)	MSFT	Forecast of sharp rise in PC sales this year will help Windows 7 sales. Antitrust case against Google could help Mr. Softy in Europe. Plans to launch handset preposterous.
	Boeing	25 (23)	BA	Rival Airbus gets much-needed bailout for A400M model keeping BA competitor alive in military transport business. Boeing will bid on Air Force tanker but may not get the critical win.
	AT&T	26 (29)	T	Dispute between Cablevision and ABC should help T fiber optic business stronger ties with network TV. Apple iPad launch should lift AT&T 3G subscriptions.
	Exxon-Mobil	27 (32)	XOM	Crude at $80 always a plus. Rival BP makes optimistic noises about the industry. Market concern about XOM Baytown refinery turns out to be empty.
	Bank of America	28 (26)	BAC	Volcker rule and new credit card penalty restrictions each undermine BAC prospects. Congress tells rival Citi that days of government support of big banks are over.
	Hewlett-Packard	29 (25)	HPQ	Company has to revise last quarter’s earnings because of bad lawsuit against EDS division. Acute embarrassment worse than impact on EPS.
	JP Morgan	30 (28)	JPM	Pressure from Congress to cut vitally important proprietary trading. Faces limits on credit card charges. Washington dark mood about financial firms shows no sign of improving.
	Home Depot	31 (30)	HD	Relentless bad news on housing with new forecasts that rising defaults could push home prices down this year and in 2011. Investors want big payout of HD cash through dividend. Tough luck.
	Goldman Sachs	32 (31)	GS	Between question about Greek financing transaction and Washington witch hunts about compensation and proprietary trading, GS problems get worse by the day.

Douglas A. McIntyre