With all the bubble talk, I wondered what the top 20 market cap companies' P/E looked like in 1999 compared to the top 20 today. I also included the rate of return through 2006, so this avoids the 2007–08 crash.
Take this for what you will.
Notable:
Average P/E in 1999: 54
Average P/E in 2025: 48
4 Companies from 1999 had a positive return through 2006.
5 companies from 1999 are still in the top 20 today: Exxon, Walmart, Microsoft, J&J, and Oracle
In 1999, 3 companies had P/Es over 100. Today, only Tesla is above 100.
Tesla stands out with the highest PE of the 40 data points and continues to confound me.
1999 Top 20 7-Year Return (1999–2006) and P/E Ratio
1. ExxonMobil +28% P/E: 15
2. Citigroup +25% P/E: 23
3. Walmart +14% P/E: 40
4. Procter & Gamble +7% P/E: 30
5. Microsoft +0% P/E: 75
6. Johnson & Johnson +0% P/E: 28
7. Home Depot -7% P/E: 40
8. IBM -7% P/E: 30
9. Oracle -14% P/E: 110
10. Merck -21% P/E: 30
11. Bristol-Myers -28% P/E: 28
12. Pfizer -28% P/E: 30
13. AT&T -35% P/E: 20
14. Intel -35% P/E: 45
15. General Electric -42% P/E: 30
16. Cisco Systems -49% P/E: 135
17. Dell -56% P/E: 65
18. AOL -64% P/E: 200
19. Lucent -68% P/E: 90
20. American Intl. Group -68% P/E: 18
2025 Top 20 – Market Cap and P/E Ratio
1. NVIDIA $4.5T P/E: 52.7
2. Microsoft $3.9T P/E: 38.4
3. Apple $3.8T P/E: 38.9
4. Alphabet $3.0T P/E: 26.6
5. Amazon $2.4T P/E: 33.8
6. Meta Platforms $1.8T P/E: 25.9
7. Broadcom $1.6T P/E: 85.8
8. Tesla $1.5T P/E: 250.3
9. Taiwan Semiconductor $1.1T P/E: 31.5
10. Berkshire Hathaway $1.1T P/E: 17.0
11. Oracle $0.9T P/E: 65.9
12. JPMorgan Chase $0.8T P/E: 15.8
13. Tencent $0.8T P/E: 27.2
14. Walmart $0.8T P/E: 38.8
15. Eli Lilly $0.8T P/E: 55.1
16. Visa $0.7T P/E: 34.8
17. Netflix $0.5T P/E: 50.8
18. Mastercard $0.5T P/E: 39.1
19. ExxonMobil $0.5T P/E: 16.2
20. Johnson & Johnson $0.4T P/E: 20.4