The year 2014 saw the ebb and flow of many companies, fall of giants, growth of newbies, stock market fluctuations and the like. In the midst of all these, there were some companies that simply blew away the minds of investors and shareholders. The admiration for these companies grew multi-fold during 2014 because of their excellent performance, ethical business values and value addition to shareholders. Here is a look at the top five companies that were admired the most during last year for a variety of reasons.
Apple
Apple (AAPL, Financial) retained its No.1 rank on the list of most-admired companies of 2014. It is a well-known fact that Apple enjoys an excellent brand image that no other company is able to match up to. For the seventh consecutive year, Apple has been rated the most admired company in the world for its innovative and user-friendly products that include iPhone and the iPad. Curiosity is at an all time-high among the stakeholders of Apple to check out the next new release from the company. Currently the share price of Apple is $110.22 per share. The company is the market leader in fields of innovation, people management, financial capacity, product quality, long-term investment value and the like. The following is the share price trend for Apple for the 2014 and Q1 of 2015.
Amazon.com
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN, Financial) has revolutionized the ecommerce industry to a great extent. Currently the share price of Amazon.com is an impressive $294.74 per share. Billions of shoppers are customers of Amazon.com. The reason why Amazon.com is the second-most admired company in the world for 2014 is because of four main factors – continuous customer focus, innovative products, making best use of resources and ethical business values. For 2013, Amazon.com was ranked No.3, and it has now moved up one spot on the list for 2014. The company is the global leader when it comes to the quality of its management and products. The ecommerce giant fares quite high in the fields of launching innovative products and creating value for the stock held by long-term investors. The share prices for 2014 and Q12015 of Amazon are as follows:
Google (GOOG, Financial) is one of the companies that people love to work for. The search engine giant, with its huge earnings and excellent reputation, holds the third rank in the list of most admired companies of 2014. This is a slight drop from the second rank that it held for 2013. Nevertheless, there is still a huge fan following for the company because of its smart acquisitions, which included the thermostat company Nest and launching of innovative products like cars sans drivers. The company remains the undisputed leader in the search engine market and is currently trading at $496.18 per share. Some of the top factors that have contributed for Google’s success are innovative products, effective utilization of corporate assets, contribution towards social causes, financial health, creating value for long-term investments and ability to ward off competition from its global counterparts.
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, Financial) is the leading MNC conglomerate holding company in the world today. With none other than the investment genius, Warren Buffet at the helm of affairs, it was no wonder that the share price of Berkshire Hathaway touched a whopping $200,000 per share for the very first time in August 2014. Currently, the share price of the company is $223,000 per share. It is the fifth-largest public company in the world and has majority and minority holdings in a large number of American companies. The company was ranked No. 4 on the list of most admired companies of 2014 due to some critical factors like innovative products, effective management of people, good utilization of corporate assets, sound financial health, quality of products and management and creating value for long-term investments. The company’s share price trend can be seen below:
Starbucks
There is more than just coffee to Starbucks (SBUX, Financial). The current share price of the company is $80.87 per share. It has set up branches in many parts of the world, and the figures from these global sales are quite impressive. Added to this fact, the company has been continuously launching new seasonal drinks as well. Starbucks would be opening juice joints and tea bars in the near future in order to add to its already impressive earnings. CEO Howard Schultz has insisted that the prime focus of the company for 2015 would be to improve the quality of food. The company has scored phenomenally high on a variety of factors like people management, quality and innovation of products, adding value to long-term investments, effective utilization of corporate assets, financial health, contribution to social causes and the like. Here is a look at the share price trend of Starbucks.
Conclusion
The above companies have been voted as the most admirable companies of 2014 as a result of the combination of various factors. This is a clear indication of the fact that for a company to be “on top,” it should focus on a wide range of divisions simultaneously by employing the right people for the right jobs. As investors we now know the companies to look for when it comes to stepping up stakes in our portfolio.
