The Top 500

Size alone is no safeguard against the profit squeeze of the sluggish 1960s. This is the key message of FORTUNE'S eighth annual directory of the nation's 500 biggest industrial corporations. Though overall the companies on FORTUNE'S 1961 list boosted their sales 2.2% to a record $209 billion, their average after-tax profits on invested capital slid from 9.1% in 1960 to 8.3% last year.

Once again the Big Four were General Motors (1961 sales: $11.4 billion), Jersey Standard ($8.4 billion), Ford ($6.7 billion) and General Electric ($4.5 billion). Socony Mobil ($3.32 billion) rose from sixth to fifth, overtaking U.S. Steel ($3.3 billion). Only new face among the top ten was the nation's largest food processor, Chicago's Swift & Co. ($2.48 billion), which moved back up to tenth place after slipping to eleventh in 1960. Swift's return to the top ten was a result of the decline of Chrysler, which, with sales off 29% to $2.1 billion, skidded from seventh place in 1960 to twelfth place last year.

Curiously, 1961's most notable success stories were among companies which ranked well below the top ten. Impressive gains were reported by North American Aviation, which soared from 44th place up to 29th largely through increased sales of missile components and other electronic equipment; Singer Manufacturing, which rose from 86th to 77th by diversifying from sewing machines into other home appliances; and Newport News Shipbuilding, which advanced from 239th to 191st on the strength of Government orders for nuclear submarines. The high profitability of drugstore and door-to-door selling was clearly reflected by the companies with the highest earnings rates. Gillette led with a spectacular 40% return on invested capital, followed by Avon Products (33%), Smith Kline & French Laboratories (31%) and American Home Products (28%).

Some of the sharpest sales declines were in transportation. Budd Co., the Philadelphia trainmaker, dropped 28% in sales, and Douglas Aircraft 33%. And as in 1960, 24 of the nation's biggest industrial companies actually operated at a loss. General Dynamics, which lost a massive $143 million on its jet-transport debacle (TIME, Sept. 15 et seq.), led the red-ink list. It was followed by J.I. Case (loss: $32 million), Yuba Consolidated ($14 million), Ling-Temco-Vought ($13 million), Underwood ($9 million) and Hearst ($9 million). Of these seven heavy losers, all but Ling-Temco-Vought had also run in the red in 1960.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.