Many people look at a company and their first instinct is to check revenue.

But to truly judge a company’s real value, you still need to look at profits.
This chart is interesting:
Among the 10 most profitable companies in China, 5 are banks.
Among the 10 most profitable companies globally, 6 are technology and internet companies.
Behind this is not simply “who is stronger,” but differences between two economic structures.
In China’s profit rankings, finance is the core.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Merchants Bank—together they almost single-handedly account for the majority of China’s top-tier profits.
Why?
Because banks naturally benefit from scale.
They take deposits, issue loans, and earn the spread.
The larger the asset base, the bigger the profit pool.
So China’s most profitable companies may not have the highest profit margins, but they are definitely tightly tied to cash flow, the credit system, and the depth of financing for households and businesses.
This shows that a large part of China’s profits is still concentrated in the financial system and the capital allocation process.
But the global profit rankings are different.
Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Meta, Amazon—these companies rely on technology, platforms, ecosystems, and globalization.
They don’t just serve one market; they serve global users, global enterprises, global advertisers, and global developers.
A product or platform can be replicated across dozens of countries.
Once software, ads, cloud, chips, and AI form scale, the profit leverage can be extremely formidable.
So when looking at this chart, my biggest takeaway is:
China’s top profits are more skewed toward finance and asset scale.
Global top profits are more skewed toward technology and platform capabilities.
This also helps explain why US stocks have so many high-valuation tech companies for the long term.
Because the market isn’t buying simple revenue—it’s buying profit expansion ability, global pricing power, and the compounding effect of business models.
Looking at revenue only tells you how big a company is.
Looking at profit shows you how good the company really is at making money.