The growth of technology has created new markets and changed the manner in which people live their lives and businesses run their operations. While the computer and the microprocessor on their own have enabled users to compute billions of instructions in the blink of an eye, the true disruption from technology takes place in tandem with the rise of the Internet. Data from the popular internet speed testing firm Ookla, global internet speeds have grown from 0.5 megabits per second (Mbps) to 107 Mbps as of July 2021.
This high speed connectivity has generated growth in a relatively nascent industry called cloud computing. The Internet's role in cloud computing growth is clear from the fact that these technologies have been present since the 1970s when computers were first linked together to allow for resource sharing. This also led to a growth in enterprise resource computing and firms such as SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) which enable companies to manage their production and other resources efficiently. However, things only took a head at the turn of the millennia, with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) allowing its customers to 'rent out' cloud computing resources and Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) delivering software over the Internet. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) joined in soon as it provided a system for developers to develop applications over the Internet, and even the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) pitched in by providing the world's first open source software for creating private and semi private cloud computing networks.
These days, cloud computing is used far and wide in both the enterprise sector and by the general consumer. One of the most well known examples of cloud computing is Dropbox, Inc. (NASDAQ:DBX)'s online platform that enables users to remotely share their documents and other resources. While on the surface Dropbox being a cloud computing firm might sound counterintuitive due to the term 'computing', in fact, cloud computing is defined by three distinct yet interrelated services. These are platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Out of these, Dropbox is a SaaS company since it provides people with access to a virtual platform located on its hardware through an easily accessible interface.
On the corporate side of things, cloud computing is quite prevalent as well. These uses are spread across a variety of industries, from sectors ranging from hospitality and restaurants to biotechnology, banking, and production and logistics optimization. According to the consulting firm McKinsey, the coronavirus pandemic was a massive stimulant for the cloud computing sector. It outlines that prior to the devastating global pandemic, companies planned to spend less than half of their information technology budgets on cloud computing by 2021. However, the pandemic led to this spending growing to 80% of the budget by 2024. A large motivating factor behind this spending is the cost benefits offered by cloud computing, as according to McKinsey, the segment can generate an additional $1 trillion in operating income. For the uninitiated, operating income is the income of a firm after direct and indirect costs are accounted for but taxes and interest payments are not subtracted. On a side note, cloud computing was also central in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)'s fight against the coronavirus, as the firm built its messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) research platform on a public cloud, which enabled it to scale up research of, and rapidly design, the Spikevax coronavirus vaccine.
As a whole, the global cloud computing market was worth $484 billion in 2022 and should grow to $619 billion by the end of this year according to a report from Grand View Research. From then until 2030, the sector is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.1% and sit at a final value of $1.5 trillion by the end of the forecast period.
Looking at the situation on the ground, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s chief financial officer Mr. Brian Olsavsky commented on the firm's AWS cloud computing division during Amazon's Q4 2022 earnings call conference where he highlighted:
Net sales increased $21.4 billion in Q4, up 20% year-over-year and now representing an annualized sales run rate of more than $85 billion. Starting back in the middle of the third quarter of 2022, we saw our year-over-year growth rates slow as enterprises of all sizes evaluated ways to optimize their cloud spending in response to the tough macroeconomic conditions.
With these details in mind, let's take a look at some of the top cloud computing companies in the world, with the top ones being Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL).
Top 15 Cloud Computing Companies in the World
AI Generated Image
Our Methodology
To find the top cloud computing companies in the world, we started by listing down all publicly traded firms that provide cloud computing products and services. Then, those, such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) whose primary business model is in a different industry were removed. The remaining firms were ranked through their market capitalization and the top fifteen cloud computing firms out of these are listed below. For cloud computing firms segregated by market share, head on over to 12 Biggest Cloud Providers by Market Share in the World.
Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its cloud platform aggregates data from smart and connected devices to generate analytics.
By the end of last year's fourth quarter, 23 of the 943 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had invested in Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT). The firm's largest shareholder in our database is Zach Schreiber's Point State Capital which owns a $65 million stake.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) are met by Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) in our list of the world's top cloud computing companies.
Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLK) provides security and application development cloud platforms. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
As of Q4 2022, 52 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's database had bought the firm's shares. Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLK)'s largest hedge fund investor is Alex Sacerdote's Whale Rock Capital Management with a $217 million stake.
Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE:VEEV) is a cloud software company that meets the needs of the healthcare industry. Some of its products are customer relationship management and analytics software.
43 of the 943 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey for their fourth quarter of 2022 investments had owned Veeva Systems Inc. (NYSE:VEEV)'s shares. Out of these, Greg Poole's Echo Street Capital Management is the company's largest investor as it owns one million shares that are worth $177 million.
Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM) is an enterprise software company whose Jira lineup of software allows companies to run their operations. It is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
Insider Monkey scoured through 943 hedge fund portfolios for last year's fourth quarter and found out that 50 had held a stake in the company.
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) is an American firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its cloud platform enables global teams to collaborate with each other.
By the end of December 2022, 54 of the 943 hedge funds surveyed by Insider Monkey had invested in Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK). The firm's largest investor is Ian Simm's Impax Asset Management which owns 1.3 million shares that are worth $243 million.
Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) provides financial, human resource management, and other cloud computing applications. It is based in Pleasanton, California.
Insider Monkey's fourth quarter of 2022 survey covering 943 hedge funds revealed that 83 had bought the company's shares. Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY)'s largest hedge fund investor is Stephen Mandel's Lone Pine Capital which owns 4.6 million shares that are worth $781 million.
VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) is a cloud management and infrastructure firm operating out of Palo Alto, California.
68 of the 943 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey's database had held a stake in VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW) during Q4 2022. Out of these, Jim Davidson, Dave Roux, and Glenn Hutchins's Silver Lake Partners is the largest stakeholder through a $5.1 billion stake.
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) provides human resource management cloud services. It operates out of Roseland, New Jersey.
Insider Monkey's December quarter of 2022 survey covering 943 hedge funds outlined that 49 had invested in the firm. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)'s largest shareholder is Terry Smith's Fundsmith LLP which owns 5.5 million shares that are worth $1.3 billion.
ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW) is a crucial player in the cloud computing industry since it provides software for automation and analytics.
97 of the 943 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey for their fourth quarter of 2022 shareholdings had bought ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW)'s shares. Its largest investor is Ken Fisher's Fisher Asset Management which owns a $508 million stake.
6. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)
Latest Market Capitalization: $116 billion
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) is an American company that provides both IaaS and PaaS services.
As of the fourth quarter of 2022, 43 of the 943 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had invested in the firm. International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM)'s largest investor is Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke, and John Campbell's Arrowstreet Capital through owning 5.5 million shares worth $777 million.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), and Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) are some of the top cloud computing companies in the world.
