Despite its sluggish stock price, Apple has topped Fortune’s list of most admired companies for 2013 — just as it did last year.
Apple has had a tough run the past few months, with an uncooperative stock price and shareholders pushing Apple to return cash to investors. Still, the company had the two best-selling smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2012 with the iPhone 5 and 4S, and it continues to be a powerful force in retail.
Google took a close second on Fortune’s list, with Amazon showing up in third place. In the tech realm, other companies also made the top 20 — IBM took sixth and Microsoft was 17th.
To make the list, Fortune ranked companies on the following criteria: innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment, quality of products/services, and global competitiveness.
Check out the top 20 of Fortune’s list below.
1. Apple
2. Google
3. Amazon
4. Coca-Cola
5. Starbucks
6. IBM
7. Southwest Airlines
8. Berkshire Hathaway
9. Walt Disney
10. FedEx
11. General Electric
12. McDonald’s
13. American Express
14. BMW
15. Procter & Gamble
16. Nordstrom
17. Microsoft
18. Nike
19. Whole Foods Market
20. Caterpillar
Apple Store photo via Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat
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