Which companies earn the most on their capital?
The best businesses earn a high return on the money invested in them, keep a large share of every sale, and turn profit into cash. Those that do this year after year can reinvest and compound, which is what long-term owners are really buying.
Updated Sep 27, 2026
150 earn 15% or more
The median S&P 500 company earns 11% a year on its invested capital. 150 earn 15% or more; the highest-quality larger names are VRSN, APP and FTNT.
By sector
The median return on invested capital in each sector. Select any company below to see its past year.
The 60 highest-quality businesses
Net cash is cash minus debt as a share of market value; negative means more debt than cash. Select a column to sort.
| Company | Quality | Return on capital | Gross margin | Cash margin | Net cash | Sector | Past year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VRSN VeriSign, Inc. | 100Excellent | >200% | 88% | 62% | −5% | Information Technology | |
| APP AppLovin Corporation | 100Excellent | 69% | 88% | 71% | −1% | Information Technology | |
| FTNT Fortinet, Inc. | 99Excellent | 96% | 80% | 55% | +3% | Information Technology | |
| FICO Fair Isaac Corporation | 99Excellent | 64% | 85% | 42% | −27% | Information Technology | |
| BKNG Booking Holdings Inc. | 99Excellent | 77% | 100% | 33% | −2% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| ADBE Adobe Inc. | 99Excellent | 41% | 89% | 42% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| TPL Texas Pacific Land Corporation | 98Excellent | 32% | 98% | 59% | +1% | Energy | |
| NVDA NVIDIA Corporation | 98Excellent | 63% | 75% | 42% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| EXPE Expedia Group, Inc. | 98Excellent | 39% | 90% | 31% | +11% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| REGN Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 98Excellent | >200% | 85% | 23% | 0% | Health Care | |
| MO Altria Group, Inc. | 97Excellent | 43% | 71% | 38% | −19% | Consumer Staples | |
| ADSK Autodesk, Inc. | 97Excellent | 23% | 91% | 36% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| INCY Incyte Corporation | 97Excellent | 24% | 93% | 33% | +18% | Health Care | |
| PLTR Palantir Technologies Inc. | 97Excellent | 22% | 84% | 51% | +2% | Information Technology | |
| GDDY GoDaddy Inc. | 96Excellent | >200% | 64% | 33% | +8% | Information Technology | |
| MU Micron Technology, Inc. | 96Excellent | 48% | 73% | 29% | +2% | Information Technology | |
| VRSK Verisk Analytics, Inc. | 96Excellent | 37% | 68% | 39% | −18% | Industrials | |
| TPR Tapestry, Inc. | 96Excellent | 51% | 78% | 23% | −5% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| ABNB Airbnb, Inc. | 95Excellent | 20% | 83% | 36% | +10% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| GILD Gilead Sciences, Inc. | 95Excellent | 21% | 79% | 34% | −7% | Health Care | |
| VRTX Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 95Excellent | 21% | 86% | 30% | +5% | Health Care | |
| PAYX Paychex, Inc. | 95Excellent | 24% | 74% | 31% | −10% | Industrials | |
| ANET Arista Networks, Inc. | 94Excellent | 25% | 64% | 54% | +5% | Information Technology | |
| PM Philip Morris International Inc. | 94Excellent | 31% | 68% | 30% | −14% | Consumer Staples | |
| NTAP NetApp, Inc. | 94Excellent | 33% | 70% | 24% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| PTC PTC Inc. | 94Excellent | 18% | 84% | 32% | −7% | Information Technology | |
| LLY Eli Lilly and Company | 93Excellent | 36% | 84% | 19% | −4% | Health Care | |
| INTU Intuit Inc. | 93Excellent | 16% | 81% | 40% | −2% | Information Technology | |
| IDXX IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. | 93Excellent | 44% | 62% | 24% | −2% | Health Care | |
| KLAC KLA Corporation | 93Excellent | 40% | 61% | 28% | 0% | Information Technology | |
| FFIV F5, Inc. | 92Excellent | 18% | 82% | 29% | +6% | Information Technology | |
| SNDK Sandisk Corporation | 92Excellent | 34% | 56% | 34% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| AVGO Broadcom Inc. | 92Excellent | 18% | 67% | 42% | −3% | Information Technology | |
| ZTS Zoetis Inc. | 92Excellent | 23% | 71% | 22% | −24% | Health Care | |
| HAS Hasbro, Inc. | 91Excellent | 22% | 70% | 24% | −17% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| AAPL Apple Inc. | 91Excellent | 67% | 49% | 31% | 0% | Information Technology | |
| RMD ResMed Inc. | 91Excellent | 21% | 62% | 32% | +3% | Health Care | |
| CDNS Cadence Design Systems, Inc. | 91Excellent | 15% | 88% | 29% | −1% | Information Technology | |
| ABBV AbbVie Inc. | 90Excellent | 16% | 71% | 33% | −14% | Health Care | |
| MTD Mettler-Toledo International Inc. | 90Excellent | 46% | 59% | 21% | −7% | Health Care | |
| TTD The Trade Desk, Inc. | 90Excellent | 16% | 78% | 28% | +23% | Communication Services | |
| DXCM DexCom, Inc. | 90Excellent | 22% | 62% | 28% | +2% | Health Care | |
| MSFT Microsoft Corporation | 89Excellent | 26% | 68% | 20% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| IT Gartner, Inc. | 89Excellent | 26% | 68% | 19% | −10% | Information Technology | |
| DECK Deckers Outdoor Corporation | 89Excellent | 41% | 57% | 21% | +14% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| MCD McDonald's Corporation | 89Excellent | 25% | 57% | 26% | −23% | Consumer Discretionary | |
| WDAY Workday, Inc. | 88Excellent | 14% | 80% | 28% | +3% | Information Technology | |
| META Meta Platforms, Inc. | 88Excellent | 20% | 82% | 18% | 0% | Communication Services | |
| CL Colgate-Palmolive Company | 88Excellent | 39% | 60% | 18% | −9% | Consumer Staples | |
| VEEV Veeva Systems Inc. | 88Excellent | 11% | 75% | 47% | +16% | Health Care | |
| NEM Newmont Corporation | 87Excellent | 18% | 55% | 57% | +6% | Materials | |
| STX Seagate Technology Holdings plc | 87Excellent | 62% | 46% | 27% | −1% | Information Technology | |
| BMY Bristol-Myers Squibb Company | 87Excellent | 17% | 70% | 23% | −25% | Health Care | |
| GEN Gen Digital Inc. | 87Excellent | 13% | 76% | 30% | −59% | Information Technology | |
| AMGN Amgen Inc. | 86Excellent | 15% | 71% | 23% | −20% | Health Care | |
| TXN Texas Instruments Incorporated | 86Excellent | 20% | 58% | 28% | −3% | Information Technology | |
| TER Teradyne, Inc. | 86Excellent | 34% | 59% | 18% | +1% | Information Technology | |
| EA Electronic Arts Inc. | 85Excellent | 11% | 79% | 31% | +3% | Communication Services | |
| LRCX Lam Research Corporation | 85Excellent | 44% | 50% | 21% | 0% | Information Technology | |
| MNST Monster Beverage Corporation | 85Excellent | 23% | 55% | 24% | +7% | Consumer Staples |
How to read this page
How it’s measured. Quality combines return on invested capital, gross margin and free-cash-flow margin, each ranked across the S&P 500. Banks, insurers and real estate are left out.
Sources. Company financial statements from Financial Modeling Prep.
Quality ranks each company from 0 to 100 across the S&P 500 on three measures: return on invested capital, gross margin and free-cash-flow margin. The values beneath are the reported figures over the last twelve months; returns above 200%, usually from very small or negative equity, are shown as >200%.
High quality describes the business, not the stock. Great companies can be expensive, and in our research no single quality measure has been a reliable signal on its own.
This page is information, not investment advice. About our data and methods ›