Avnet leads five Arizona companies on Fortune 500 list

• Electronics distributor Avnet is the highest ranked Arizona company on the new Fortune 500 list%2C which is based on revenue.
• Other Arizona corportations on the Fortune 500 include Freeport-MoRan%2C Republic Services%2C PetSmart and Insight Enterprises.
• Northern Tier Energy%2C an energy refiner and convience-store operator%2C just missed the Fortune 500. The company moved to Arizona last year.

Avnet, a Phoenix-based distributor of computers and other electronic products, leads five Arizona-based companies in the latest edition of the Fortune 500.

The list of giant U.S. corporations, ranked by annual revenue for each company's latest fiscal year, is compiled by Fortune magazine. Walmart tops the list with 2014 revenue of $486 billion, followed by Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway and Apple.

In terms of revenue, Avnet is the biggest corporation headquartered in Arizona, ranking in 108th place, followed by copper miner Freeport-McMoRan, waste hauler Republic Services, retailer PetSmart and computer-seller Insight Enterprises.

Northern Tier Energy, which moved its headquarters to Tempe from Connecticut last year, barely missed the cut, finishing No. 502. The company has refining operations and operates convenience stores in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The Fortune 500 rankings are based on revenues. In terms of profits, Avnet finished slightly behind Republic Services, which posted the highest net income in the state at $548 million, according to a separate analysis by The Arizona Republic. In terms of stock-market capitalization or worth, Freeport-McMoRan remains the leading Arizona company with a value of $20 billion, with Republic Services in second place.

Arizona had the same five companies on last year's edition of the Fortune 500, in the same order. In 2013, US Airways also was included in the Arizona group, before the carrier merged with American Airlines.

Arizona's Fortune 500 companies