30 exceptionally profitable large-cap companies: margins built to last?
This screen ranks common shares of operating companies valued above approximately $10 billion by trailing net income margin. REITs, partnerships, BDCs, preferred securities and duplicate share classes are excluded, while three fiscal years help distinguish persistent economics from a one-period windfall.
A high margin is valuable only when the economics are repeatable
Net income margin measures the share of revenue remaining after operating costs, interest, taxes and other expenses. The strongest businesses in this screen combine pricing power, scalable platforms, scarce assets or recurring transaction revenue—but margin levels are not directly comparable across every industry.
The three-year history matters. It removes companies whose latest result was dominated by an impairment reversal, tax benefit, asset sale or sudden cyclical rebound. Even then, investors should examine cash conversion, competitive durability and valuation before treating accounting profitability as investment quality.
| # | Company | Ticker | TTM net margin | Dividend yield | 2026 YTD | Market cap | Latest FY | Prior FY | Three FY ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA | NVDA | 63.66% | 0.47% | +11.71% | $5.14T | 55.60% | 55.85% | 48.85% |
| 2 | CME Group | CME | 63.12% | 1.89% regular | +4.00% | $99.79B | 61.80% | 56.88% | 57.10% |
| 3 | Texas Pacific Land | TPL | 60.32% | 0.65% | +22.59% | $25.85B | 60.31% | 64.32% | 64.22% |
| 4 | Visa | V | 50.35% | 0.71% | +8.31% | $710.91B | 49.63% | 54.16% | 52.03% |
| 5 | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing | TSM | 49.92% | ≈1.1% | +30.79% | $1.94T | 44.57% | 40.02% | 39.40% |
| 6 | VeriSign | VRSN | 49.77% | 1.09% | +24.14% | $27.19B | 49.84% | 50.45% | 54.76% |
| 7 | Brookfield Asset Management | BAM | 48.89% | 4.38% | −12.76% | $74.76B | 51.59% | 54.47% | 45.27% |
| 8 | Royal Gold | RGLD | 48.05% | 0.76% | +12.31% | $21.10B | 45.63% | 46.58% | 40.01% |
| 9 | Mastercard | MA | 46.34% | 0.61% | +2.00% | $504.75B | 45.65% | 45.71% | 44.60% |
| 10 | Futu Holdings | FUTU | 46.20% | 2.39% irregular | −37.74% | $15.58B | 53.76% | 45.46% | 47.06% |
| 11 | Banco de Chile | BCH | 45.43% | 3.99% | +8.43% | $21.03B | 45.09% | 45.42% | 47.22% |
| 12 | United Therapeutics | UTHR | 41.56% | — | +1.20% | $23.11B | 41.94% | 41.53% | 42.31% |
| 13 | MSCI | MSCI | 40.73% | 1.51% | −2.05% | $40.09B | 38.36% | 38.83% | 45.42% |
| 14 | Microsoft | MSFT | 40.30% | 0.73% | +6.87% | $3.73T | 40.30% | 36.15% | 35.96% |
| 15 | Arista Networks | ANET | 38.37% | — | +40.58% | $244.74B | 38.99% | 40.73% | 35.62% |
| 16 | Intercontinental Exchange | ICE | 38.25% | 1.33% | −1.40% | $88.44B | 33.38% | 29.68% | 29.64% |
| 17 | Check Point Software | CHKP | 37.93% | — | −23.49% | $15.59B | 38.78% | 32.97% | 34.80% |
| 18 | Southern Copper | SCCO | 35.87% | 2.30% | +30.51% | $156.10B | 32.30% | 29.54% | 24.51% |
| 19 | DT Midstream | DTM | 35.73% | 2.81% | +5.14% | $12.97B | 35.48% | 36.09% | 41.65% |
| 20 | Moody’s | MCO | 34.25% | 0.88% | −4.22% | $81.93B | 31.86% | 29.04% | 27.16% |
| 21 | Banco Santander | SAN | 32.17% | 1.37% | +22.12% | $216.21B | 28.78% | 25.00% | 24.46% |
| 22 | McDonald’s | MCD | 31.72% | 2.94% | −15.09% | $181.29B | 31.85% | 31.72% | 33.22% |
| 23 | Texas Instruments | TXN | 30.93% | 2.16% | +48.39% | $242.04B | 28.13% | 30.53% | 36.97% |
| 24 | S&P Global | SPGI | 30.54% | 0.94% | −13.71% | $122.55B | 29.15% | 27.11% | 21.01% |
| 25 | Meta Platforms | META | 29.84% | 0.31% | +2.34% | $1.71T | 30.08% | 37.91% | 28.98% |
| 26 | Coca-Cola | KO | 28.56% | 2.39% | +29.27% | $381.48B | 27.34% | 22.59% | 23.42% |
| 27 | T. Rowe Price | TROW | 28.55% | 4.99% | +1.12% | $22.38B | 27.84% | 28.82% | 27.00% |
| 28 | Intuitive Surgical | ISRG | 28.45% | — | −32.75% | $135.24B | 28.38% | 27.81% | 25.24% |
| 29 | Fortinet | FTNT | 28.17% | — | +118.51% | $127.48B | 27.26% | 29.30% | 21.64% |
| 30 | Adobe | ADBE | 28.05% | — | −20.31% | $105.97B | 30.00% | 25.85% | 27.97% |
Data through September 14, 2026. YTD figures measure share-price performance from the first 2026 trading close through September 14; market values change daily. Fiscal columns follow each issuer's reporting calendar and may therefore cover different period-end dates.
AI leaders are converting scarcity into extraordinary profit
NVIDIA's 63.66% trailing margin is the screen's highest, rising from 48.85% three fiscal years ago as accelerated-computing demand expanded faster than its cost base. TSMC shows the manufacturing side of the same cycle: its margin advanced from 39.40% to 49.92% while leading-edge capacity became increasingly valuable.
These margins are exceptional, but they are not guaranteed annuities. Export restrictions, customer concentration, custom accelerators, enormous fabrication spending and the possibility of slower AI infrastructure growth all matter. Microsoft, Meta and Arista also benefit from AI demand, yet their capital requirements are rising—so free cash flow may tell a more complete story than net margin alone.
Exchanges, ratings and payment networks: small incremental costs, large incremental revenue
CME, Visa, Mastercard, MSCI, Moody's, S&P Global and Intercontinental Exchange share an attractive characteristic: once their regulated networks, benchmarks, datasets or ratings franchises are established, additional activity can require comparatively little incremental expense. CME's international average daily volume reached a record 8.4 million contracts in 2025, illustrating how volatility and risk management can support transaction revenue.
The trade-off is regulatory and cyclical sensitivity. Credit issuance can slow, index-linked assets can fall, and governments can scrutinize payment fees or market-data pricing. High margins invite competition and regulation, so durability depends on trust, liquidity and network effects—not merely cost control.
Scarce assets can be profitable without looking like technology
Texas Pacific Land earns royalties, easement income and water-related revenue from a vast West Texas land position. Royal Gold uses streaming and royalty agreements to participate in mine output without operating most mines itself. Both models can preserve unusually high margins because the asset owner avoids much of the producer's direct operating burden.
Scarcity does not eliminate cyclicality. Oil, copper and precious-metal prices affect counterparties, development decisions and royalty volumes. Southern Copper's margin expansion is encouraging, but its earnings remain tied to copper prices, project execution and political conditions in its operating regions.
Fortinet shows why price performance and margin rank tell different stories
Fortinet's approximately 118.51% rise from the first 2026 trading close through September 14 vastly outpaced its modest margin progression. The company reported strong second-quarter results and expanded its AI-security capabilities, while investors reassessed demand for integrated network and security platforms.
That rerating also raises the hurdle for future returns. A durable 28% margin can support substantial value, but the share price ultimately depends on billings, product refresh cycles, competitive intensity and the multiple investors are willing to pay. High quality bought at an extreme valuation can still produce weak subsequent returns.
Banks and asset managers require a different reading
Banco de Chile, Santander, Brookfield Asset Management, Futu and T. Rowe Price pass the numerical screen, but revenue definitions differ materially from those of industrial or software companies. Interest income, provisions, investment marks, performance fees and client asset levels can all move reported margins.
For financial companies, return on equity, capital ratios, credit quality, net inflows and fee-related earnings may be more informative than a cross-sector margin comparison. Futu's steep YTD decline despite a 46.20% trailing margin is a useful reminder that regulation, customer activity and expectations can overwhelm an attractive current income statement.
What could matter beyond 2026
The central macro tension is between nominal growth and the cost of capital. Strong transaction volumes, AI investment and commodity prices can sustain revenue, while persistent inflation and higher long-term rates can compress valuation multiples—even when margins remain healthy. Currency movements also affect ADRs and globally diversified businesses.
Over the foreseeable future, the strongest candidates will be those that can reinvest without sacrificing cash conversion. Watch incremental margins, stock-based compensation, capital expenditures, customer concentration and effective tax rates. A stable headline percentage is most valuable when it is supported by recurring cash rather than accounting adjustments.
How to use the screen
Treat the ranking as a quality-research shortlist, not a buy list. Compare each company's margin with direct peers, then test whether revenue growth, free cash flow and returns on invested capital support the result. Also ask whether the margin has risen because the underlying franchise improved or because taxes, financing costs or one-time items temporarily helped.
Finally, separate company quality from stock attractiveness. The 2026 performance column shows that similarly profitable companies can deliver radically different returns. Valuation, expectations and future growth—not the historical margin by itself—determine what shareholders earn next.