24/7 Wall St.’s Corporate Power Rankings: Week 21

The 24/7 Wall Street Corporate Power Rankings of the 32 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 change, 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.
Intel and other companies that rely on PC sales took big jumps on news that computer sales increased by 22% in the first quarter. Google’s privacy problems dropped it well down the list. And trouble in the oil patch knocked Exxon Mobil down. Johnson & Johnson’s legal problems were not enough to offset an anticipated improvement in medical device sales.

	Company	Rank (last week)	Symbol	Comment
	Intel	1 (6)	INTC	PC growth in Q1 is fastest in seven years. Shipments up almost 23%. And, there is Intel inside 80% of them.
	Disney	2 (2)	DIS	CEO Iger says theme park bookings are up and “Toy Story 3” is expected to have massive box office sales. Pushes shares up 4% last Wednesday.
	Coca-Cola	3 (3)	KO	Investors push into shares as DJIA drops. Analysts still expect sharp increase in EPS for quarter and yield is now above 3.4%.
	Ford	4 (4)	F	Reports gonzo sales in the US in May and says China sales were a record last month. Shuttering of Mercury brand should save tens of millions a year.
	McDonald’s	5 (1)	MCD	Recall of 12 million tainted “Shrek” glasses does not trump market’s enthusiasm for strength of core business even in a listless economy. Shares bet DJIA by 2% for week.
	Apple	6 (5)	APPL	Expectations for new 4G iPhone became more muted as the week passed. But, news about PC industry growth and improvement in iPad sales cheers shareholders.
	Berkshire Hathaway	7 (3)	BRK	Buffett has a harmless visit before Congress to discuss credit ratings agencies. Shares hold up well in market drop as investors bet on the Oracle.
	Abbott Labs	8 (5)	ABT	Gets FDA approval for ovarian cancer test. Rival J&J says overall market in medical devices should outpace the economy.
	IBM	9 (9)	IBM	New study shows critical data storage business growing quickly. Ties up with chip companies to boost Linux, save money.
	Philip Morris	10 (8)	PM	Sharply outperforms DJIA as risk to Europe sales seen as limited. Stifel Nicolaus initiates stock coverage with a “buy”
	Proctor & Gamble	11 (7)	PG	Procter & Gamble gets good comments from Citi analyst. Also helped by strong uptick in consumer spending in Q1.
	Wal-Mart	12 (12)	WMT	Will buy back $15 billion in shares. Also says it sees substantial expansion overseas and in online sales. Of course, that is just management’s guess.
	Hewlett-Packard	13 (14)	HPQ	Benefits from pick-up in PC sales in Q1. More job cuts to save money in enterprise operations.
	Microsoft	14 (16′)	MSFT	News about PC growth and storage system sales improvement both good for Mr. Softy. CEO Steve Ballmer makes a good case for future of personal computer.
	Oracle	15 (11)	ORCL	Company says it will cut extra bodies at Sun. Could signal more trouble with buyout. Caris & Company upgrades shares to “buy.”
	Cisco	16 (13)	CSCO	Good news for shareholders as veteran CEO Chambers says he will stay 3 to 5 more years. Says online traffic, key to earnings, will grow 4x by 2014.
	Pfizer	17 (19)	PFE	Early stage lung cancer trials look good. Closes deal to offload China property.
	Google	18 (23)	GOOG	Pressure still on from use of WiFi- based data. But, Android adoption is rapid enough to rival iPhone OS and RIM. Company’s Chrome browser also adding share.
	American Express	19 (20)	AXP	May be the only large financial firm that does not have trouble with the SEC, Justice Department, Fed, FDIC, or state regulators. Reports sharp gains in cardholder spending.
	Dow Chemical	20 (21)	DOW	Should make good revenue from new venture with Monsanto. Yield moves near 2.5% which should make stock good alternative to fixed income.
	FedEx	21 (24)	FDX	Goldman Sachs raised EPS targets through 2010. Company is also fighting off unions—a good way to cut costs.
	Boeing	22 (25)	BA	Federal mediator presses settlement between company and striking workers. Odds still look good that airplane maker will get US Air Force tanker program.
	Caterpillar	23 (29)	CAT	Moody’s raises outlook on company because of successful cost cuts. But, the trick is to make revenue grow.
	AT&T	24 (28)	T	Telco decides to raise rates that it charges heavy users of wireless data, which could cause customers to defect, or could improve margins. iPhone users won’t leave.
	Verizon	25 (26)	VZ	Should make some additional money in wireless as it follows AT&T price hike. Slow adoption of Sprint 4G is long-term plus.
	Johnson & Johnson	26 (17)	JNJ	JNJ says that its medical device sales should move up due to new products. But company is under siege more each day over child Tylenol issue.
	Home Depot	27 (18)	HD	It’s simple enough. The housing turnaround is a mirage and the employment situation is not improving either.
	Exxon-Mobil	28 (22)	XOM	The only good news for the world’s largest oil company is that it’s not BP. The fallout from the leak could change access to open water drilling for years. Bad week for shares.
	GE	29 (15)	GE	Market abandons the stock last week pushing it down 6%. Weak economy and concerns over GE financial asset base cause investors to flee. Double dip would hit all divisions.
	Bank of America	30 (27)	BAC	Shares drop 5% on slow economy and concerns about financial firm’s holdings of debt in EU nations and region’s banks.
	JP Morgan	31 (30)	JPM	JPMorgan Chase faces big suit from Lehman and really big exposure in EU.
	Goldman Sachs	32 (31)	GS	Goldman Sachs has most to lose from new bank regulation package and news that it might settle with SEC is most likely not true.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Sponsor: 3 Recovery Stocks to Own Now – Get the names of the best cheap stocks to rebuild your wealth in 2010 and beyond.