A new report is shedding a new light on Amazon’s financials, revealing more surprises about other players in the tech field in the process. As it turns out, Amazon is not at the tippy-top as many might have believed.
The 2021 Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands report ranked Amazon as the world’s most valuable brand ranked on sales and free cash flow over the past years.
Here are the top 10.
| COMPANY | 2015 Income ($M) | 2020 Income ($M) | CAGR (Five-Year Return) |
| Amazon.com | $107,006 | $386,064 | 29.26% |
| Apple Inc | $232,128 | $293,971 | 4.84% |
| Alphabet Inc (Class C) | $73,590 | $182,350 | 19.9% |
| Microsoft Corp | $87,314 | $153,274 | 11.91% |
| Tencent Holdings Ltd | $16,366 | $69,742 | 33.67% |
| Facebook Inc (Class A) | $17,928 | $85,965 | 36.82% |
| Alibaba Group Holding Ltd | $14,979 | $93,844 | 44.34% |
| Visa Inc (Class A) | $14,063 | $21,479 | 8.84% |
| McDonald’s Corp | $24,413 | $19,208 | -5.45% |
| Mastercard Inc (Class A) | $9,667 | $15,301 | 9.62% |
While Amazon racked up the highest 2020 income to earn the top spot as the most valuable brand, Alibaba, Facebook, and Tencent Holdings all posted a higher five-year CAGR than Amazon.
The compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, is the annual rate of return on an investment over time, taking into effect compounding.
Apple’s CAGR of 4.84% seems surprising, but it’s been a top performer and ranked as the world’s most valuable brand for several years. Still, Apple increased total sales volume during the five years by more than any other company not named Amazon, Microsoft, or Facebook.
McDonald’s was the only company in the top 10 to post a negative number — losing 5.45% of sales over the past five years.
Free Cash Flow
Free cash flow is the amount of cash a company generates after operations and capital expenditures. Similar to sales and earnings reports, it is typically evaluated on a per-share basis to evaluate any impact of dilution.
If you take a look at the same group by free cash flow per share, Facebook jumps to the top of the list with a CAGR of 30.89%, while Amazon ranks third. McDonald’s Corp and Apple showed free cash flow growth in single digits.
| COMPANY | FCF/share 2015 | FCF/share 2020 | CAGR (FCF) |
| Amazon.com | $15.37 | $50.83 | 27.03% |
| Apple Inc | $3.02 | $4.19 | 6.73% |
| Alphabet Inc (Class C) | $23.99 | $62.36 | 21.05% |
| Microsoft Corp | $2.87 | $5.89 | 15.42% |
| Tencent Holdings Ltd | $0.72 | $2.41 | 27.30% |
| Facebook Inc (Class A) | $2.13 | $8.18 | 30.89% |
| Alibaba Group Holding Ltd | $2.22 | $7.27 | 26.80% |
| Visa Inc (Class A) | $2.51 | $4.37 | 11.69% |
| McDonald’s Corp | $5.00 | $6.17 | 4.27% |
| Mastercard Inc (Class A) | $3.40 | $6.52 | 13.91% |
Other highlights from the 2021 study include:
- US brands grew fastest in 2021. Brand value grew an average of 46% from last year.
- US brands accounted for 56 of the top 100.
- 7 of the top 10 brands were tech companies or platforms.
“In the midst of unprecedented disruption, the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands have grown by an incredible 42%. Increasing in value by $2.1 trillion with a growth rate that is 4.5 times the average growth rate for the Global Top 100.” – Kantar
Tesla was the fastest growing brand, increasing its value by 275% during the measurement period to $43 billion. It is not the most valuable automaker brand. New entrants to the Top 100 list in 2021 include #12 Nvidia, #52 Zoom, #57 AMD, and #99 Spotify.
