Finance is the most dominant sector by revenue, new Fortune 500 Europe list shows

Good morning. Volkswagen has topped the Fortune 500 Europe for a third straight year, even as the auto industry it leads gets squeezed by tariffs and Chinese competition. The automaker’s revenue still climbed 3.4%, to more than $363 billion, in the fourth edition of Fortune’s ranking of Europe’s largest companies by revenue. The combined revenues of the companies on the list hit a record high of $15.5 trillion this year. Profits rose 3% to just over $1 trillion, rebounding from a 5% decline in 2025.

Across the Fortune 500 Europe, margins have narrowed for two years running, falling to 6.5% from a high of 7.1% on the 2024 list—despite record revenue and profit growth. That’s consistent with stagflation pressures weighing on Europe’s corporate sector, Guido Cozzi, a macroeconomics professor at the University of St. Gallen, told Fortune’s Sam Birchall.

Three sectors generate over half of all revenue on the list: financials (24%), energy (20%), and motor vehicles and parts (10%). Finance remains Europe’s most dominant sector by revenue, profit, and headcount. A total of 105 finance companies earned a spot in the rankings, together generating 24% of the list’s total revenue, with Banco Santander (No. 9) and BNP Paribas (No. 10) in the top 10.

Financial companies also account for 40% of the list’s profit and employ 14% of its workforce. HSBC (No. 11) is the most profitable company on the list, recording $22 billion in........

© Fortune