There has been a changing of the guard atop the S&P/ASX 200 index this week.
Following the broad market selloff and yesterday's rebound, the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has climbed to a level which makes the biotherapeutics giant Australia's largest listed company.
At the close of play on Tuesday, CSL had a market capitalisation of $140.2 billion.
This is just over $10 billion larger than the country's former largest listed company, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA).
Commonwealth Bank's shares have fallen heavily over the last three weeks. This has been driven by concerns over the coronavirus outbreak and weaker net interest margins following the recent cash rate cut.
This 20% decline from the 52-week high it reached in the middle of February has left Commonwealth Bank with a market capitalisation of $129.9 billion.
And while it has been dethroned from the top of the S&P/ASX 200 index, it is still comfortably Australia's largest bank.
What are the market capitalisations of the rest of the big four banks?
The next biggest is Australia's oldest bank, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC). With the Westpac share price ending Tuesday at $20.54, it now has a market capitalisation of $74.2 million. This means Commonwealth Bank is some 75% larger than its nearest rival right now.
After Westpac, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) is the third largest Australian bank. It has a market capitalisation of $62.2 billion currently.
And finally, on Tuesday the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) share price traded at $21.13. Which gives it a market capitalisation of $59.9 billion.
Can CSL grow larger?
Given CSL's strong long-term growth potential thanks to its high quality CSL Behring and Seqirus businesses, I'm confident that it can grow even larger over the next decade.
So, despite it becoming Australia's largest listed company, I don't think it is too late to buy shares if you're prepared to make a long term and patient investment.
