* Mega Cap Technology: How the Big 10 Compare in Eight Remarkable Charts

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Conclusion
This is a quick note with eight charts that compares the mega cap technology firms in the United States on several financial measures:

* Net Income (Earnings)
* Net Income (Earnings) Growth
* Total Assets
* Total Assets (Growth)
* Operating Margins
* Gross Margins
* Research & Development Expense (R&D)
* Inventory Turnover

Here we go...

* Net Income (Earnings)
When it comes to sheer size of earnings (and cash flow), there's AAPL... and then there's everybody else.



* Net Income (Earnings) Growth
What's so odd about this group of mega caps is that all of the firm's are well established "old guys" with the exception of FB.  Whether you love or hate FB you must at ;east recognize at this pint in time, the size it has achieved so quickly is absolutely breathtaking.  Actually I wrote about it, here:
FB - How Facebook Hit an All-time High & Became a Giant of Technology



* Net Income (Earnings) Growth (ex FB)
To get any kind of value out of this scatter plot, we really do need to remove the "new guy."  This is the same chart, but with FB removed. Check out QCOM and GOOGL.



* Total Assets
This goes hand in glove with earnings and sheer size.  There's AAPL... and then there's everybody else.



* Total Assets (Growth)
This plots the one-year growth in total assets, and naturally we see FB at the top.  But, this time the "old guys" are still in play.  MSFT and GOOGL (again) are increasing their asset bases massively.




* Operating Margins
One of my favorite measures of all is comparing operating revenue to operating expenses.  Obviously a firm must have more than $1 in Op.Rev for every dollar in Op. Ex to be profitable and that minimal  threshold is easily surpassed by these tech giants. FB again looks spectacular, and a new name arrives: ORCL.  I also note that MSFT shows the third highest level.




* Gross Margins
FB again shows a tremendously high value here, but, believe it or not, "old guy" ORCL is at the top of the list.  Yet again, I note MSFT in third place.




* Research & Development Expense (R&D)
It's fascinating to see which of the giants are still pouring money into R&D.  While FB at the top of the list isn't a surprise, INTC in third place is (for me).



* Inventory Turnover
This is an interesting measure I put at the end.  many of these firms don;t carry inventory like a brick and mortar firm.  INTC, CSCO and AAPL do, but FB (for example) isn't even on the chart (no inventory). I note that GOOGL is at the top of the list, then ORCL.  A fair question is, does this measure really matter for this peer group?  I'm not sure it does, but it's still worth noting.



This is trade analysis, not a recommendation.

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