*********** was the leading company in the United Kingdom by market capitalization as of October 11, 2024. Headquartered in Cambridge, England, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company had a market capitalization of approximately ****** billion U.S. dollars.

As of May 2025, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca was the leading company listed on the London Exchange (LSE), with a market capitalization of 159 billion British pounds. This made them the largest of all companies listed on the LSE. Seen as the heart of the global financial community, the London Stock Exchange is the second-largest stock market in Europe and ranks eighth globally. Key information The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is among the largest stock market operators globally and ranks 11th in terms of the oldest stock exchanges in existence, with 224 years of operation as of 2025. Performance after Covid The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on the global economy, causing considerable volatility on the stock market. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) saw a notable decline in the market capitalization value of its listed companies, reaching its lowest value in March 2020 at approximately three trillion British pounds in correlation with a surge in the average daily number of trades, which peaked at over two billion. Following this initial reaction, the LSE observed a decrease in the average daily active traders, alongside a gradual recovery in the market capitalization of the listed companies.

Astrazeneca was the leading pharmaceutical company in the United Kingdom as of March 7, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars. GlaxoSmithKline followed as the second largest pharma company in the country, with market capitalization of nearly **** billion U.S. dollars. Examining the development of the FTSE 100 Index, which was launched in January 1984 with a base level of 1,000, increased by more than sevenfold to date. What is the FTSE 100 index? The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, commonly known as the "Footsie", is the most widely recognized stock market index in the United Kingdom. It is made up of the 100 largest blue-chip companies on the London Stock Exchange. Companies from various sectors, such as healthcare, consumer goods, and energy, are included in the index, as are leading banks of the United Kingdom, such as HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, and Barclays. Moreover, it can be seen as a reflection of the investment climate in the United Kingdom. What is not included in the FTSE 100 Index? Most notably, the FTSE 100 Index, like most indices, is not adjusted for inflation. While inflation in the United Kingdom has gone down dramatically since 2023, it might be useful to adjust the historic figures on the index when comparing historic data to current levels. This is especially important when the index seems to have increased by a few percentage points because inflation may have increased at a faster rate than stock prices.

***** was the leading e-commerce company in the United Kingdom (UK) as of October 15, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to over **** billion U.S. dollars. **** followed as the second largest e-commerce company in the country, with a market capitalization of **** billion U.S. dollars.

The total market capitalization of all companies trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) took a large hit during the early months of 2020, due mostly part to a mass sell-off of shares caused by the fears surrounding the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Between December 2019 and March 2020, the total value of market capitalization decreased by more than *** billion British pounds (GBP). The overall number of companies currently trading has also been falling. The number of daily trades spiked in March 2020 and then decreased as well. As of February 2025, the total market value of all companies trading on the London Stock Exchange stood at over **** trillion British pounds. European stock exchanges While almost every country has a stock Exchange, in Europe only five exchanges are considered major, with total market capital amounting to over *** trillion euros. The London Stock Exchange is the second largest in Europe and tenth largest worldwide. As of January 2025, Europe’s largest stock exchange, Euronext had a total market capital of listed companies valued at approximately **** trillion U.S. dollars.

As of February 2025, Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc was the leading company in the industrial goods and services sector on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), with a market capitalization of ** billion British pounds. Second on the list was CRH Plc, with a value of **** billion British pounds.

With a market capitalization of 3.12 trillion U.S. dollars as of May 2024, Microsoft was the world’s largest company that year. Rounding out the top five were some of the world’s most recognizable brands: Apple, NVIDIA, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Amazon. Saudi Aramco led the ranking of the world's most profitable companies in 2023, with a pre-tax income of nearly 250 billion U.S. dollars. How are market value and market capitalization determined? Market value and market capitalization are two terms frequently used – and confused - when discussing the profitability and viability of companies. Strictly speaking, market capitalization (or market cap) is the worth of a company based on the total value of all their shares; an important metric when determining the comparative value of companies for trading opportunities. Accordingly, many stock exchanges such as the New York or London Stock Exchange release market capitalization data on their listed companies. On the other hand, market value technically refers to what a company is worth in a much broader context. It is determined by multiple factors, including profitability, corporate debt, and the market environment as a whole. In this sense it aims to estimate the overall value of a company, with share price only being one element. Market value is therefore useful for determining whether a company’s shares are over- or undervalued, and in arriving at a price if the company is to be sold. Such valuations are generally made on a case-by-case basis though, and not regularly reported. For this reason, market capitalization is often reported as market value. What are the top companies in the world? The answer to this question depends on the metric used. Although the largest company by market capitalization, Microsoft's global revenue did not manage to crack the top 20 companies. Rather, American multinational retailer Walmart was ranked as the largest company in the world by revenue. Walmart also had the highest number of employees in the world.

******************** led the rankings in terms of the largest construction company by market capitalization in the United Kingdom as of October 11, 2024. The residential property development company reached a market capitalization of nearly **** billion U.S. dollars. Other notable companies in the sector were Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon, with market caps amounting to **** billion and *** billion U.S. dollars, respectively.

As of February 2025, the France-incorporated company Saint-Gobain was the second-largest construction company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) with a market capitalization of approximately ** billion British pounds. The leading construction company on the LSE was the Irish CRH, with a market cap of over ** billion British pounds. Construction and materials companies on the exchange had a combined market capital value of *** billion British pounds as of December 2024. CRH largest Irish company CRH, is an international group of enterprises which cover the construction process from materials and products, to distribution. CRH not only topped the London Stock exchange for construction companies, they are also the second largest company headquartered in Ireland in terms of turnover. London Stock Exchange As of February 2025, the London Stock Exchange had approximately ***** companies trading from more than ** countries globally with a combined market capital of approximately *** trillion British pounds (GBP). Seen as the heart of the global financial community, the London Stock Exchange is the second largest market in Europe and ranks eighth globally.

As of February 2025, AstraZeneca Plc was by far the leading healthcare company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) with a total market capitalization of *** billion British pounds. This was followed by GSK Plc and Haleon Plc, with a value of over ** billion and ** billion British pounds, respectively.

As of February 2025, Shell Plc was the leading company in the energy sector listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), with a total market capitalization value of over *** billion British pounds. This was followed by Reliance Industries Limited and TotalEnergies, with values of over *** billion and *** billion British pounds, respectively.

As of February 2025, British holding bank HSBC Holdings Plc was the leading finance company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) with a total market capitalization of almost *** billion British pounds. Second in the ranking was Spanish bank Banco Santander S.A., with a market cap of nearly **** billion U.S. dollars.

***************** was the leading internet company in the United Kingdom as of October 11, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to over ** billion U.S. dollars. ********* followed as the second-largest internet company in the country, with a market cap of **** billion U.S. dollars.

As of February 2025, China Pacific Insurance Group had the highest market cap of any insurance company trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The group saw a market capitalization of **** billion British pounds. Market capitalization is the outstanding value of a company's shares and is often used to measure the size of a company and investor's interest in each enterprise. London Stock Exchange As of July 2023, there were just under ***** companies trading on the London Stock Exchange, and on average somewhere around ******* trades per day. The combined market value of companies trading on the LSE was *** trillion British pounds (GBP) in July 2023, below the peaks found before the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial public offerings (IPOs) When a private company first offers its shares to the public, the process is called an initial public offering (IPO). IPOs are typically used by growing companies that need to raise capital or by allowing owners to sell off some of their ownership of a company. The Kazakhstani technology-focused bank Kaspi saw the highest initial public offering in 2020 of over *** billion British pounds.

**** was the leading professional services company in the United Kingdom (UK) as of October 15, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to over ** billion U.S. dollars. *** followed as the second-largest professional services company in the country, with a market capitalization of nearly ** billion U.S. dollars.

Linde was the leading chemical company in the United Kingdom (UK) as of October 15, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to just over *** billion U.S. dollars. Croda International, the second-largest chemical company in the country, had a market cap of approximately **** billion U.S. dollars.

**** was the leading financial services company in the United Kingdom (UK) as of October 15, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to over *** billion U.S. dollars. The *************************** followed as the second-largest financial services company in the country, with a market cap of approximately **** billion U.S. dollars.

********** was the leading software company in the United Kingdom (UK) as of October 15, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to over ** billion U.S. dollars. ********* followed as the second-largest software company in the country, with a market capitalization of **** billion U.S. dollars.

Hong Kong Land Holdings LD was the leading real estate company on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as of April 2023, with a total market capitalization value of nearly ***** billion British pounds. This was followed by Segro Plc and the Land Securities Group Plc, with values of approximately ** billion and **** billion British pounds respectively. In the same month, the total market cap of all real estate companies trading on the LSE was close to *** billion British pounds.

3i Group was the leading investment company in the United Kingdom (UK) as of October 11, 2024, with a market capitalization amounting to approximately ***** billion U.S. dollars. Legal & General followed as the second largest investment firm in the country, with a market cap of almost ** billion U.S. dollars.