The Most Profitable Company in Every Industry

Mark Pierce
Mark Pierce is the founding partner of Wyoming Trust and LLC Attorney. He is an estate planning and small business structuring expert with over 40 years of experience.
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What are the most profitable industries, and what are the most profitable companies within those industries? The research team at Cloud Peak Law Group analyzed the profits that every company on the Fortune 500 list earned during their most recent fiscal year to determine the most profitable U.S. company in every industry. The colorful chart below was created using the results of our analysis, with each company’s annual profits visualized as a bubble. Fortune magazine’s annual ranking of the 500 largest companies in the United States compares these major corporations by their annual revenue for their respective fiscal years, but we’ve ranked them based on the profits they earned over the course of the fiscal year. To take our ranking a step beyond just a list of the most profitable companies in America, we decided to break it down by industry to reveal the most successful company in every industry. Read on to see which companies earned the highest profits across 73 industries that span 22 different sectors.

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What Is the Most Profitable Company in the United States?

The most profitable company in the U.S. is Apple, with $94.68 billion in profit earned during their 2022 fiscal year, which began on Sept. 26, 2021, and ended on Sept. 24, 2022. Apple’s profits during this time were 64.9% higher than the profits earned during the 2021 fiscal year. Apple is by far the most profitable technology company; only Google’s parent company Alphabet comes close, with $76.03 billion in profits earned this past year.

The second most profitable company in America is Berkshire Hathaway, with a recorded profit of $89.8 billion earned this year. If you thought Apple’s increase in profits was impressive, brace yourself: Berkshire Hathaway's profits increased an unbelievable 111.2% over the previous year’s profits. Berkshire Hathaway is the most profitable company in the financial sector and the property/casualty insurance industry. The second most profitable financial company was JPMorgan Chase, which made a profit of $48.33 billion, roughly half of Berskhire Hathaway's profits.

The 10 Most Profitable Companies in the United States

  1. Apple: $94.68 billion
  2. Berkshire Hathaway: $89.80 billion
  3. Alphabet: $76.03 billion
  4. Microsoft: $61.27 billion
  5. JPMorgan Chase: $48.33 billion
  6. Meta Platforms: $39.37 billion
  7. Amazon: $33.364 billion
  8. Bank of America: $31.98 billion
  9. ExxonMobil: $23.04 billion
  10. Fannie Mae: $22.18 billion

What Is the Most Profitable Company in the World?

Saudi Aramco, a petroleum and natural gas company, is the world’s most profitable company, and it earned $105.37 billion during the most recent fiscal year. Apple’s $95.68 billion profit earned it the title of the second most profitable corporation in the world, with Berkshire Hathaway on its heels as another of the most profitable companies in the world.

What Is the Most Profitable Energy Company in the United States?

The most profitable energy company in the U.S. is ExxonMobil, with a profit of $23.04 billion earned during their fiscal year. This was quite the turnaround for ExxonMobil, which had its worst year in decades the previous year, losing $22 billion amid the pandemic. With oil and gas prices rising throughout 2022, energy is one of the most profitable industries, with ExxonMobil and other energy companies back to earning record profits.

What Is the Most Profitable Health-Care
Company in the United States?

The most profitable health-care company in the U.S. is Pfizer, which earned record profits of $21.98 billion during the 2021 fiscal year. Pfizer had one of the bigger increases in profits on our list of companies, with a whopping 128.60% increase over the previous year’s profits. The main reason for Pfizer’s high profits during their recent fiscal year is the development of its vaccine for COVID-19, which has 70% of the U.S. and European market share. Before the pandemic began, Pfizer’s most profitable products were a pneumonia vaccine, the fibromyalgia treatment Lyrica, and the cancer drug Ibrance.

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The Most Profitable U.S. Company in Every Industry

Sector Industry Company Profits (in Billions)
1 Aerospace and Defense Aerospace and Defense Northrop Grumman $7.01
1 Apparel Apparel Nike $5.73
1 Business Services Financial Data Services Visa $12.31
2 Business Services Diversified Outsourcing Services Automatic Data Processing $2.60
3 Business Services Waste Management Waste Management $1.82
4 Business Services Advertising and Marketing Omnicom Group $1.41
5 Business Services Miscellaneous United Rentals $1.39
6 Business Services Temporary Help Robert Half International $0.60
1 Chemicals Chemicals DuPont $6.47
1 Energy Petroleum Refining ExxonMobil $23.04
2 Energy Mining and Crude Oil Production ConocoPhillips $8.08
3 Energy Pipelines Energy Transfer $5.47
4 Energy Utilities: Gas and Electric Duke Energy $3.91
5 Energy Energy NRG Energy $2.19
6 Energy Oil and Gas Equipment and Services Halliburton $1.46
1 Engineering and Construction Home Builders Lennar $4.43
2 Engineering and Construction Engineering and Construction Peter Kiewit Sons’ $0.75
1 Financial Insurance, Property and Casualty (Stock) Berkshire Hathaway $89.80
2 Financial Commercial Banks JPMorgan Chase $48.33
3 Financial Diversified Financials Fannie Mae $22.18
4 Financial Insurance, Life and Health (Stock) Prudential Financial $7.72
5 Financial Securities BlackRock $5.90
6 Financial Insurance, Life and Health (Mutual) TIAA $4.06
7 Financial Real Estate Prologis $2.94
8 Financial Insurance, Property and Casualty (Mutual) Nationwide $1.62
1 Food and Drug Stores Food and Drug Stores Publix Super Markets $4.41
1 Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Beverages Coca-Cola $9.77
2 Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Tobacco Philip Morris International $9.11
3 Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Food Consumer Products PepsiCo $7.62
4 Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Food Production Tyson Foods $3.05
1 Health Care Pharmaceuticals Pfizer $21.98
2 Health Care Health Care, Insurance and Managed Care UnitedHealth Group $17.29
3 Health Care Health Care, Pharmacy and Other Services CVS Health $7.91
4 Health Care Medical Products and Equipment Abbott Laboratories $7.07
5 Health Care Health Care, Medical Facilities HCA Healthcare $6.96
6 Health Care Wholesalers, Health Care AmerisourceBergen $1.54
1 Hotels, Restaurants, and Leisure Food Services McDonald’s $7.55
2 Hotels, Restaurants, and Leisure Hotels, Casinos, and Resorts MGM Resorts International $1.25
1 Household Products Household and Personal Products Procter & Gamble $14.31
2 Household Products Home Equipment and Furnishings Stanley Black & Decker $1.69
3 Household Products Toys and Sporting Goods Mattel $0.90
$0.00
1 Industrial Construction and Farm Machinery Caterpillar $6.49
2 Industrial Electronics and Electrical Equipment Honeywell International $5.54
3 Industrial Industrial Machinery Illinois Tool Works $2.69
$0.00
1 Materials Metals Nucor $6.83
2 Materials Forest and Paper Products Weyerhaeuser $2.61
3 Materials Packaging and Containers International Paper $1.75
4 Materials Building Materials, Glass Builders FirstSource $1.73
1 Media Entertainment Netflix $5.12
2 Media Publishing and Printing News Corp. $0.33
1 Motor Vehicles and Parts Motor Vehicles and Parts Ford Motor $17.94
1 Retailing Internet Services and Retailing Amazon $33.36
2 Retailing Specialty Retailers, Other Home Depot $16.43
3 Retailing General Merchandisers Walmart $13.67
4 Retailing Specialty Retailers, Apparel TJX $3.28
5 Retailing Automotive Retailing and Services AutoNation $1.37
1 Technology Computers and Office Equipment Apple $94.68
2 Technology Internet Services and Retailing Alphabet $76.03
3 Technology Computer Software Microsoft $61.27
4 Technology Semiconductors and Other Electronic Components Intel $19.87
5 Technology Network and Other Communications Equipment Cisco Systems $10.59
6 Technology Scientific, Photographic, and Control Equipment Thermo Fisher Scientific $7.73
7 Technology Information Technology Services IBM $5.74
1 Telecommunications Telecommunications Verizon Communications $22.07
1 Transportation Mail, Package, and Freight Delivery United Parcel Service $12.89
2 Transportation Railroads Union Pacific $6.52
3 Transportation Transportation and Logistics Expeditors International of Washington $1.42
4 Transportation Trucking and Truck Leasing Old Dominion Freight Line $1.03
5 Transportation Airlines Southwest Airlines $0.98
6 Transportation Shipping Matson $0.93
7 Transportation Transportation Equipment Harley-Davidson $0.65
1 Wholesalers Wholesalers, Electronics and Office Equipment Arrow Electronics $1.11
2 Wholesalers Wholesalers, Diversified LKQ $1.09
3 Wholesalers Wholesalers, Food and Grocery Sysco $0.52