Founded in 1945 in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart (WMT) is the world’s largest retailer and operates on a truly staggering scale. For example, its 2.2 million employees serve 275 million consumers per week in 27 nations via a network of more than 11,000 stores that collectively sell over $500 billion of merchandise per year. Approximately 50% of Walmart’s stores are located in international markets, which the company entered in 1991. These locations serve about 100 million customers per week under 56 different banners (store brands). While Latin America, the UK, and Canada are important regions, the majority of Walmart’s sales and profits are derived from the company’s U.S. stores (64% of revenue) and Sam’s Club (12%).

Apple (AAPL) was one of the pioneers in personal computing but has since grown to become one of the world's most dominant forces in consumer electronics with more than $260 billion in annual revenue. Today the company produces numerous consumer devices, including smartphones, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartwatches, voice-controlled smart speakers, TV boxes, and various phone accessories.

Texas Instruments (TXN) is one of the oldest tech businesses in the world, having been founded in 1930. Over the course of nearly 90 years, the company has proven itself to not only be remarkably adaptive but also a leading pioneer in the semiconductor industry. In 1958, for example, Texas Instruments employee (and future Nobel Prize winner) Jack Kilby actually invented the first integrated circuit, which literally went on to transform the world. Texas Instruments is now the world's largest producer of analog and embedded chips with about 20% and 15% global market share, respectively. Analog chips are used in nearly all electronic equipment to convert physical data about the real world, such as sound, pressure, temperature, humidity, and light, [...]

American Tower (AMT) was founded in 1995 and converted to a REIT business structure in late 2011, minimizing its taxes on its real estate assets and kicking off its dividend program. The company owns a portfolio of approximately 171,000 towers that are located mostly in suburban and rural areas and leased out to wireless carriers under long-term contracts. American Tower’s infrastructure is used by carriers to provide wireless service to consumers and businesses, transmitting signals between towers and mobile devices. Most towers have the capacity for 4 to 5 tenants. American Tower operates similarly to a triple-net lease REIT in that its tenants pay for almost everything needed to transmit signals (communications equipment, cables, antennae, etc.) except the tower and [...]