2012年财富美国500强：利润之年

    去年，航空航天和工业控制领域的巨头霍尼韦尔国际（Honeywell International）（排第77位）在中国、印度等高成长市场的营收增长了12亿美元，增幅20%，几乎占公司总销售额增长的三分之一。“我们预计未来5年我们的营收增长将有近一半来自新兴市场。”霍尼韦尔国际的首席财务官戴维•安德森表示。

    周期性消费、能源和金融服务三大领域贡献了去年1,160亿美元新增利润的73%。周期性消费是包含多样的一个领域，主要由汽车和汽车零配件构成，相关公司去年利润增长210亿美元。通用汽车（GM ）（排第5位）利润猛增49%至92亿美元。2010年底以来，通用汽车推出了主打雪佛兰科鲁兹（Chevy Cruze）紧凑车型和Sonic次紧凑车型的一系列热销车型。

    自2009年破产重组以来，通用汽车已将成本压缩到这样的水平：只要美国汽车市场达到1,050万辆（去年的数据：1,280万辆）时，公司就可以赚钱。这比通用汽车过去的盈亏平衡点低了整整500万辆。

    Honeywell International (No. 77), the aerospace and industrial controls colossus, raised revenues by $1.2 billion, or 20%, last year in high-growth markets such as China and India. That accounted for almost one-third of Honeywell's (HON) total sales growth. "We expect about half of our revenue growth to come in emerging markets over the next five years," says CFO David Anderson.

    Three sectors -- consumer cyclicals, energy, and financial services -- generated 73% of last year's $116 billion earnings gain. Consumer cyclicals is a diverse category dominated by motor vehicles and auto parts, businesses that produced a $21 billion rise in earnings last year. Profits at GM (No. 5) rose by 49%, to $9.2 billion. GM has introduced a fleet of briskly selling models since late 2010, led by the compact Chevy Cruze and the subcompact Sonic.

    Since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, GM (GM) has also curbed costs to the point where it makes money when the U.S. car market reaches 10.5 million units (last year's figure: 12.8 million). That's a remarkable 5 million units below GM's old profitability threshold. 

    再看看福特汽车（Ford）（排第9位），利润骤增208%至202亿美元。去年，福特创造了良好的营运利润，在包括中型车Fusion在内的强大产品线带动下，美国销量增长9%；Fusion车型是丰田（Toyota）凯美瑞（Camry）车型的有力竞争对手。但是，利润巨幅增长很大程度上源于一项加大了基期税务损失的会计调整。几年来，这些损失一直被视为是毫无价值的，因为福特一直没有实现盈利。如今，福特再次盈利，这些递延效应将减少其未来的现金税负。

    油价高涨也转化为埃克森美孚（Exxon Mobil）等能源公司的巨额利润。2011年，埃克森美孚营收高达4,530亿美元，超过了上年排名第一的沃尔玛（Wal-Mart），荣登财富美国500强公司榜首。这是埃克森美孚第十三次拔得头筹，也是在过去10年来埃克森美孚和沃尔玛两家第六度交换冠亚军位置。由于埃克森美孚大部分成本都相对固定，去年油价大涨为其利润贡献良多。（2010年的头号种子沃尔玛去年流年不利：经济缓慢复苏对沃尔玛的低端消费者客户群打击沉重，《纽约时报》（New York Times）率先报道了沃尔玛的墨西哥贿赂丑闻，致使近月该股股价下跌。）

    Over at Ford (No. 9), profits jumped 208%, to $20.2 billion. Ford generated healthy operating earnings, raising unit sales 9% in the U.S. last year with a strong lineup that includes the midsize Fusion, a worthy competitor to the Toyota Camry. However, much of the swing came from an accounting change that increased the value of Ford's past tax losses. For years those losses looked worthless because Ford (F) had no earnings. Now that Ford is making money again, those deferred benefits will decrease its future cash taxes.

    High prices at the pump translated into great results for energy companies like Exxon Mobil, which topped the Fortune 500 with $453 billion in revenues, edging out last year's winner Wal-Mart. It's the 13th time that Exxon has taken first place, and the sixth time that Exxon and Wal-Mart have traded the top two positions during the past decade. Exxon (XOM) also led the 500 with $41.1 billion in earnings, up 35% over the previous year. Because most of Exxon Mobil's costs are relatively fixed, last year's surge in oil prices fell heavily to the bottom line. (It's been a mixed year for last year's No. 1: Wal-Mart's (WMT) low-end consumer base has been hit hard by the slow recovery, and the stock recently plunged on news of a massive bribery scandal involving its operations in Mexico, first reported by the New York Times.)