The companies that make up the CAC 40 in 2022

What does the French CAC 40 index reflect?

First of all, let's take a moment to recall what the French CAC 40 index is all about. It is a basket of 40 French companies. The composition of this index is determined by the choice of 40 companies from among the 100 companies with the highest trading volume. It is also important to understand that each company in the index has a predefined weighting in relation to its total market capitalisation on the NYSE Euronext market. It is also important to note that the maximum weight of a single stock's capitalisation in this market index is 15%.

Of course, the stocks included in this index are selected to best represent the French economy and therefore come from all sectors of activity. This representativeness is important and therefore requires continuous updating of this composition, which explains why, from one year to the next, the companies included in this index will change.

More precisely, it is the NYSE Euronext Scientific Council that is responsible for determining which stocks can enter or leave the composition of this index. This council is made up of experts who are independent of the stock exchange operator to ensure objectivity. A meeting is held every three months on a permanent basis, but also on an ad hoc basis when an important financial event occurs, such as after a merger between two companies. As we will see in more detail below, the elements used to select the stocks included in this index are both the volume of transactions in the company's share and its representativeness in its sector of activity.

Company rankings

To better interpret the composition of the CAC 40 stock market index, you need to take into account the total market capitalisation of the companies in the index. Here is the complete list of companies in the index from the largest to the smallest capitalisation as of 28 February 2023:

• The LVMH group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 421.926 billion
• The L'Oréal group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 200,935 billion
• The Hermes International group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 189.99 billion
• The TotalEnergies group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 166.341 billion
• The Sanofi Group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 119.894 billion
• The Airbus Group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 103,161 billion
• The Schneider Electric group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 89.596 billion
• The BNP Paribas Group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 85,540 billion
• The Air Liquide group with a total market capitalisation of 78.906 billion euros
• The Essilor Luxottica group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 77.778 billion
• The AXA Group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 74,278 billion
• The Kering group with a total market capitalisation of 72.893 billion euros
• The Vinci group with a total market capitalisation of 64,088 billion euros
• The Safran group with a total market capitalisation of 60.677 billion euros
• The Stellantis group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 55,406 billion
• The Pernod Ricard group with a total market capitalisation of €54.298 billion
• The Dassault Systèmes group with a total market capitalisation of 51.401 billion euros
• The STMicroelectronics group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 43.805 billion
• The Crédit Agricole Group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 36,740 billion
• The Danone group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 35,661 billion
• The Engie group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 33,811 billion.
• The Capgemini group with a total market capitalisation of 32.393 billion euros
• The Saint-Gobain group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 30,970 billion
• The Orange group with a total market capitalisation of 30,577 billion euros
• The Thales group with a total market capitalisation of 30,002 billion euros
• The Legrand group with a total market capitalisation of 24.669 billion euros
• The ArcelorMittal group with a total market capitalisation of 24.016 billion euros
• The Michelin group with a total market capitalisation of 22.852 billion euros
• The Société Générale group with a total market capitalisation of 22,696 billion euros
• The Veolia group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 21,882 billion
• The Publicis group with a total market capitalisation of 20.20 billion euros
• The Teleperformance group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 15.571 billion
• The Carrefour group with a total market capitalisation of €14.20 billion
• The Eurofins Scientific group with a total market capitalisation of €13.995 billion
• The Bouygues group with a total market capitalisation of €12.775 billion
• The Renault group with a market capitalisation of €11.953 billion
• The Worldline group with a total market capitalisation of 11,523 billion euros
• The Alstom group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 10,901 billion
• The Vivendi group with a total market capitalisation of EUR 10,279 billion
• The Unibail Rodamco group with a total market capitalisation of 8.791 billion euros

Of course, the list we have just presented is likely to change over time and corresponds to the composition of this index in February 2023.

Selection criteria

As explained above, the 40 companies that are chosen to be included in the CAC 40 are selected from among the 100 French companies with the highest trading volumes.

However, in order to be included in this index, listed companies must of course meet certain financial conditions, such as stock liquidity, market capitalisation and significant daily trading in shares. It should also be noted that the free float, i.e. the proportion of the company's shares that can be traded on the market, is also a criterion taken into account in this decision. Indeed, the weight of a company in the index will be proportional to its free float.

Of course, once all these criteria have been established, it is the board of experts that is responsible for modifying or not the composition of the index every three months. When a company leaves the CAC 40, it is logically replaced by another, which is most often chosen from the CAC Next 20 index.

Historically, certain stocks have been included in this index since its creation in 1987. These include Air Liquide, Carrefour, Danone, L'Oréal, LVMH, Michelin, Saint-Gobain, Sanofi, Société Générale and Vivendi.

Can we rely on the CAC 40 to analyse the health of the French economy?

In reality, the CAC 40 is not a true reflection of the French economy because some sectors are over-represented. This is particularly true of the finance sector, which alone accounts for nearly 16% of the index, and the luxury goods sector, which accounts for 11.4% of the CAC 40 index.

It is also worth noting that the vast majority of the 40 companies that make up this index are also multinationals that generate a large part of their turnover outside the French market. For example, Sanofi and Total generate only a quarter of their turnover in Western Europe and only 10% at most in France. This is also the case for LVMH and L'Oréal, which are also two heavyweights in this index and which only generate less than 12% of their turnover in France. However, these companies have a very high weighting in the calculation of the CAC 40 stock market index, which does not really reflect the French economy as such.

However, it is interesting to know these stocks because it is possible to trade them individually online on a CFD trading platform.

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