In this piece, we will take a look at the top 20 technology companies in Silicon Valley. If you want to skip our coverage of the world's technology hub and a region that has changed the world as we know it, then check out 5 Top Tech Companies in Silicon Valley.
If there's one thing that 2024 has made sure it's that Silicon Valley isn't going anywhere. The sector that gave us the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the smartphone is now leading the charge with a set of technologies called artificial intelligence. Typically the domain of science fiction, AI is a collection of techniques that fall under the category of data science. It is the most advanced kind of data science there is, as the software is programmed to learn from voluminous data sets to generate and create insights of its own.
The close of the first quarter of 2024 also provided Wall Street the ability to take stock of where some of the biggest technology companies in the world, most of which are in Silicon Valley, are when it comes to artificial intelligence. Big ticket technology and AI companies, such as Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) report their earnings for the first quarter of 2024. These results primarily focused on the costs that the companies had incurred for their AI platforms in Q1 and also their plans for further spending this year.
One of the first firms to report its earnings was the Facebook parent Meta. Its shares tanked by 16% in aftermarket hours on the day of the earnings report, as Wall Street digested a multi billion dollar AI capital expenditure plan for 2024 and saw costs grow for the first time after two consecutive quarters. Alphabet sought to assure investors of its stability, as it became yet another technology stock to declare a dividend. An additional source of income is almost always welcomed by investors, and Alphabet's shares soared by more than 10% in aftermarket, even as its peer Microsoft demonstrated mixed share price performance despite being one of the strongest performers on the artificial intelligence front.
Delving deeper into Silicon Valley giant Alphabet's earnings, the firm known for being Google's parent, announced a 20 cent dividend and a $70 billion stock buyback. Both of these are great for helping the share price, and since its earnings report, Alphabet's stock is by 6% after shedding some of its 10% gains in post earnings gains during regular trading hours. On the revenue front, Alphabet brought in $80 billion while it raked in $1.81 on the EPS front. Both of these beat analyst estimates that had stood at $78.59 billion and $1.59, and coupled with $61.7 billion in advertising revenue that surged past estimates of $60.2 billion meant that the latest set of results was rather well rounded.
On the hardware side of things, Intel, which is one of the biggest semiconductor manufacturers in the world, is currently focusing on the leading edge side of the industry. The firm has lost its chip manufacturing race to the Taiwanese Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM), and in April 2024, it announced the 'first light' for the world's most advanced chip making machine, a high NA EUV scanner. First light refers to the first time that a chip making machine is turned on, and the event typically marks the end of countless hours of work spent in setting up the complex machines.
As for AI, here's what the management of Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE), another Silicon Valley firm, had to say during its Q1 2024 earnings:
We’re bringing generative AI to Adobe Experience Cloud and will demonstrate our AI Assistant for Customer Experience Management at Adobe Summit. Every student, communicator, creative professional and marketer is now focused on leveraging generative AI to imagine, ideate, create and deliver content and applications across a plethora of channels. Adobe is uniquely positioned through the combination of Express, Firefly, Creative Cloud, Acrobat and Experience Cloud to deliver on this immense market opportunity. The success we are already seeing with our GenStudio offering in the enterprise is validation of our leadership, and we expect that success to translate into other segments as we roll out these solutions throughout the year. We are driving strong usage, value and demand for our AI solutions across all customer segments.
With these details in mind, let's take a look at some top technology companies in Silicon Valley. A couple of notable names are Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Our Methodology
To make our list of the top Silicon Valley companies, we ranked all firms that are either located in the region or originated there by their number of employees and picked out those with the highest number of workers.
20. ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)
Number of Employees: 22,668
ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is a technology company that enables businesses to utilize advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and other capabilities for their daily operations. The shares are rated Strong Buy on average, and the average analyst share price target is $859. It joins Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in our list of Silicon Valley's top technology companies.
19. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)
Number of Employees: 26,000
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a Santa Clara, California based semiconductor designer. Along with Intel, it is one of few companies in the world that is capable of selling microprocessors designed through the x86 microarchitecture. It was at the center of Wall Street attention ahead of its first quarter earnings, with Morgan Stanley cutting the share price target to $177 from $193 and keeping an Overweight rating on the shares.
18. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)
Number of Employees: 27,200
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) is a software company that was one of the first in the world to introduce a digital payments system that enables cross border payments and transactions. The shares are rated Buy on average, and the average share price target is $66.70.
17. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Employees: 29,600
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is another semiconductor designer. It primarily designs and sells graphics processing units, which has propelled it right to the top of the AI food chain. The AI boom has also helped NVIDIA financially, as it has beaten analyst EPS estimates in all four of its latest quarters.
16. Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)
Number of Employees: 29,945
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is a software company whose products help engineers, designers, and others manage their daily tasks. It has also started to monetize its AI products and offers a reader AI assistant for a fee of $4.99.
15. Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER)
Number of Employees: 30,400
Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) is another revolutionary Silicon Valley company that was one of the first in the world to introduce a ride sharing application. It's also a highly rated stock, with an average rating of Strong Buy accompanied by an average share price target of $81.65.
14. Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX)
Number of Employees: 33,400
Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) is a computer hardware company that sells storage systems such as hard disks. The firm is doing well on the financial front as of late since it has beaten analyst EPS estimates in three out of its four latest quarters.
13. Sanmina Corporation (NASDAQ:SANM)
Number of Employees: 34,000
Sanmina Corporation (NASDAQ:SANM) is a technology company that makes and sells products such as printed circuit boards.
12. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)
Number of Employees: 34,500
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is a backend semiconductor firm whose products are used to design and test chips. The firm was out with some good news for investors in April 2024 after it increased its dividend to 40 cents per share.
11. Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)
Number of Employees: 43,000
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) is one of the biggest memory chip manufacturers in the world. It received billions of dollars in funding from the US government in April 2024 to establish chip making facilities in America.
10. QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM)
Number of Employees: 50,000
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a San Diego based firm that designs and sells CPUs, GPUs, and other chips that are used in smartphones and other mobile products.
9. Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC)
Number of Employees: 53,000
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) is another computer hardware firm that makes and sells storage devices. The shares are rated Buy on average, and the average analyst share price target is $86.53.
8. HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ)
Number of Employees: 58,000
HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) is one of the oldest companies in Silicon Valley and one that has played a crucial role in the personal computing revolution. It has struggled on the financial front lately though by having beaten analyst EPS estimates in just one of its four latest quarters.
7. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Employees: 69.329
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is the holding company for Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Its latest earnings call saw CEO Mark Zuckerberg reiterate the benefits of having an open source AI model and virtual reality headsets when it came to developing and benefiting from AI.
6. Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Employees: 72,682
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is an enterprise software firm that enables businesses to manage their customer relationships. Its climate lead took an interesting approach to AI in April 2024 when she shared that while focusing on AI is important, the industry also needs to focus on the effects that the shift will have on the climate.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) are some of the biggest technology companies in Silicon Valley.
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Disclosure: None.Top 20 Tech Companies in Silicon Valley is originally published on Insider Monkey.
