espite lingering economic headwinds, higher interest rates threatening profits and widespread layoffs across the industry, technology companies have been largely resilient over the past year—continuing to post record sales and recouping vast stock losses as artificial intelligence promises to reinvigorate the battered sector.annual ranking of the world's largest companies , ticked up to 169 this year from 164 in 2022.
Next up, Microsoft lands at the No. 2 spot for tech after a three-spot ascent in the global rankings to No. 9 overall. Shares of the storied tech giant have surged 40% this year and are just 2% away from record levels thanks in no small part to buzz around AI.
Rounding out the top five, Samsung Electronics is steady at No. 14 globally, and Meta Platforms climbs one spot after its stock surged 20% over the past year. Shares are still down 27% from a 2021 peak, but they've more than doubled this year, as the firm broke a three-quarter-long run of sales declines with an April earnings report. The Facebook parent replaces Tencent, which falls to the sixth tech spot after a year of lingering Covid lockdowns that marred the Chinese tech sector.