Best large cap stocks to watch in 2025
Consider some of the best large cap companies. These were the 10 largest companies in the world by market capitalisation at the start of the year.
Large caps in brief
Large cap stocks are generally considered to be companies sporting a market capitalisation consistently in excess of $10 billion — though this is not an official definition. You will find large caps in many of the major indices, including the FTSE 100 and the S&P 500: some good examples include Apple, Microsoft, Unilever and Bank of America.
Large caps are characterised by their stability and reliability, especially in times of economic stress. This is largely due to their international operations, which make large cap companies less susceptible to downturns in any single geographic market.
They tend to be less volatile than smaller companies, and often pay out dividends from excess income generation, making them attractive to income-focused investors. Many large caps are designated as ‘blue-chip’ stocks, representing high quality and financially stable companies.
All large caps are very liquid, making them easier to buy and sell. All are subject to significant regulatory scrutiny and are required to make regular financial disclosures — where smaller companies tend to have more flexibility in their reporting. Large caps also tend to benefit from institutional investment including from pension funds.
However, it’s worth noting that larger companies tend to offer lower growth potential and can still be subject to large swings in the event of major global economic changes. There’s also potential diversification risk in that the very largest companies in the world at the start of 2025 were almost all US-listed tech companies.
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We also offer many large cap-focused ETFs, including the popular iShares Core FTSE 100 UCITS ETF, which seeks to track the FTSE 100 index, and the iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF which follows the 500 largest US-listed companies by market capitalisation.
Top large cap stocks to watch
The following were the 10 largest companies in the world by market capitalisation at the start of 2025.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Apple is the world’s most valuable company by market capitalisation, and for good reason. It enjoys a global presence, selling high quality hardware including the iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers — as well as wearables like the Apple Watch and AirPods.
The company also provides a seamless software ecosphere including iOS, macOS, the App Store, and iCloud — and services such as Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Pay. Apple is the market leader in consumer electronics.
In Q4 results, Apple saw revenue rise by 6% year-over-year to $94.9 billion, driving operating cash flow to $27 billion.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
Nvidia designs and manufactures GPUs that power gaming, artificial intelligence, and data centres. The company is the world leader in AI computing and deep learning, with its GPUs widely used in autonomous vehicles, supercomputers, and cloud computing.
Nvidia's innovations are now expanding in every direction, including into edge computing and AI-powered hardware for industries such as healthcare and robotics.
In Q3 results, Nvidia saw revenue rise by 94% year-over-year to a record $35.1 billion, with record quarterly data centre revenue.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Microsoft is seemingly everywhere in the IT world. It’s most famous for developing and licensing out software products such as the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite — including Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
It’s also a leader in cloud computing through Azure, offering scalable services for enterprises globally. However, Microsoft is also diversified into hardware with Surface tablet devices and Xbox gaming. It owns major sites LinkedIn and GitHub and is a large shareholder in OpenAI.
In Q1 results, the titan saw revenue rise by 16% year-over-year to $65.6 billion, while operating income rose by 14% to $30.6 billion.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG/GOOGL)
Alphabet is the parent company of Google, which controls circa 90% of the world's search engine market share, and through which it generates the lion’s share of its income via digital advertising. It also owns YouTube, Android, Google Cloud, and has a side business in hardware, including Pixel phones and smart home Nest devices.
Alphabet is also well-known for its risky investments in ‘other bets’ which may generate even further income in the future.
In Q3 results, revenue rose by 15% year-over-year to $88.3 billion, the lion’s share in services. Google Cloud revenue increased by some 35% to $11.4 billion.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)
Amazon is best known as the largest e-commerce provider in the world, but it’s also a leader in cloud computing and streaming. Its Amazon Web Services (AWS) segment dominates the cloud computing space for consumers, businesses and governments.
Amazon also produces popular consumer electronics, including the Kindle e-reader, the Fire TV stick, and Echo smart home devices. The company has also expanded into physical retail shops and begun to produce original streaming content through Amazon Studios.
In Q3 earnings, Amazon saw net sales increase by 11% year-over-year to $158.9 billion.
Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL: 2222)
Saudi Aramco is the world's largest oil producer and a key player in the global energy market, having launched an Initial Public Offering consisting of just 1.5% of the company back in 2019.
The large cap explores, produces, refines, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and petrochemicals. It plays a central role in Saudi Arabia's economy and is perhaps particularly valuable for large cap investors seeking some diversification because it is not technology focused.
Aramco saw full-year 2023 net income of $121.3 billion.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META)
Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, is a social media and technology company that controls Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — with its apps used by billions of people every day. Its platforms generate revenue primarily through digital advertising, though it is expanding into other areas.
For example, the company is investing heavily in both the metaverse and gaming, focusing on augmented and virtual reality through its Reality Labs division — developing the Meta Quest headset which has brough affordable virtual reality to the masses.
In Q3 results, Meta saw revenue rise by 19% year-over-year to $40.6 billion, while the number of people using its apps each day rose to 3.29 billion.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Tesla remains the trailblazer for electric vehicles (EVs), producing popular models including the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck. The company also manufactures energy storage products and solar panels through its energy division — for example, the Powerwall.
Tesla is heavily focused on artificial intelligence, specifically when applied to robotics and autonomous driving technology. The goal is fully autonomous driving, though this may be some time off.
In Q3 earnings, the EV company saw revenue rise by 7.8% year-over-year to $25.2 billion.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO)
Broadcom designs and develops the semiconductors used in communications, data centres, networking and storage solutions.
Its products power devices all over the world, including smartphones, broadband hardware, and enterprise networking gear. Broadcom is also a well-known provider of software solutions for enterprise security and data management.
In Q4 results, Broadcom saw revenue rise by a whopping 51% year-over-year to $14.1 billion.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the largest semiconductor foundry in the world, producing chips for major tech companies like Apple, Nvidia, and AMD. It specialises in advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes, including cutting-edge three nanometre technologies.
TSMC's chips are used in everything from consumer electronics to AI, automotive and IoT devices. The company plays a vital role in the global semiconductor supply chain and cannot easily be replaced.
In Q2 earnings, TSMC generated $20.8 billion in revenue.
Large cap stocks summed up
- Large cap stocks are generally considered to be companies sporting a market capitalisation consistently in excess of $10 billion
- All are subject to significant regulatory scrutiny and are required to make regular financial disclosures
- Large caps are characterised by their stability and reliability, especially in times of economic stress
- Many of the largest companies in the world are US-listed tech businesses
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