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Ranked: The Most Profitable U.S. Companies, by Sector

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The Most Profitable U.S. Companies, by Sector

The Most Profitable U.S. Companies, by Sector

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U.S. corporate profits hit record levels in 2022, even as stocks fell into a bear market and inflation reached 40-year highs.

Given these headwinds, investors are watching corporate fundamentals very closely. Corporate profit margins provide a buffer against higher borrowing costs and price pressures and for many reasons, they are a key measure of financial health.

This graphic shows America’s most profitable companies by sector, using data from Fortune.

America’s Most Profitable Companies

Here are the U.S. firms with the highest annual profits in their sector. Data is based on the fiscal year ending on or before January 31, 2023 across companies in the Fortune 500.

Both public and private companies that are incorporated and operate in the U.S. are included.

NameSector2022 Annual ProfitAnnual % Change
AppleTechnology$99.8B5.4%
Exxon MobilEnergy$55.7B141.9%
JPMorgan ChaseFinancials$37.7B-22.1%
PfizerHealth Care$31.3B42.7%
Verizon CommunicationsTelecommunications$21.3B-3.7%
Home DepotRetailing$17.1B4.1%
VisaBusiness Services$15.0B21.5%
Procter & GambleHousehold Products$14.7B3.0%
TeslaMotor Vehicles & Parts$12.6B127.5%
UPSTransportation$11.5B-10.4%
Coca-ColaFood, Beverages & Tobacco$9.5B-2.3%
NucorMaterials$7.6B11.4%
DeereIndustrials$7.1B19.6%
McDonald'sHotels, Restaurants & Leisure$6.2B-18.1%
NikeApparel$6.0B5.6%
DuPontChemicals$5.9B-9.3%
D.R. HortonEngineering & Construction$5.9B40.3%
Lockheed MartinAerospace & Defense$5.7B-9.2%
NetflixMedia$4.5B-12.2%
Walgreens Boots AllianceFood & Drug Stores$4.3B70.6%
W.W. GraingerWholesalers$1.5B48.3%

Apple is the most profitable company in America. Reaching almost $100 billion in profits in 2022, it outpaces the profit leaders in both the energy and financials sectors combined. Furthermore, at the end of 2022, its net profit margin stood at nearly 25%.

Amid a maturing smartphone market, the company is focusing more on service-based revenue. iPhones make up roughly half of its total net sales, yet growth is plateauing. Last year, iPhone sales growth was 7%, compared to 39% the year before. Meanwhile, services sales—including cloud, AppleCare, and advertising—increased 14% annually.

Within the energy sector, Exxon Mobil took the top spot with record profits of over $55 billion. Profits jumped almost 142% last year as oil prices spiked with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Steep cuts in costs through the pandemic also helped to bolster the company’s returns.

JPMorgan Chase saw the highest profits in the financial sector. As the nation’s largest bank by assets, it saw a sharp decline in its investment banking division as higher interest rates made financing mergers and acquisitions less lucrative. Overall, profits sank more than 22% annually.

Corporate Profits in Perspective

Low taxes and interest rates contributed to about one-third of profit growth across nonfinancial companies in the S&P 500 over the last 20 years, a paper from the Federal Reserve shows.

Now, as interest rates climb higher, steeper costs could cut into bottom lines. The good news is so far, corporations have shown resilience to a shifting interest rate regime. In the first quarter of 2023, U.S. corporate profits fell moderately by just over 5%.

Profitability and Competitive Advantage

What does this mean for investors?

For investors looking for companies that can weather higher rates, profitability is one factor to consider. Companies with strong profitability can reinvest in their business, pay dividends, and better withstand road bumps from rising costs.

Going further, companies with high profitability often have a strong market share thanks to economies of scale lowering costs, brand loyalty driving demand, and economic moats. We can see this with Apple and Visa, for example.

Over time, this builds a sustainable competitive advantage. As companies preserve profitability, it adds value to shareholders, often supporting share prices over the longer-term.

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Ranked: The World’s Top Diamond Mining Countries, by Carats and Value

Who are the leaders in rough diamond production and how much is their diamond output worth?

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A cropped chart showing the leaders in rough diamond mining and how much their diamond output is worth.

Ranked: World Diamond Mining By Country, Carat, and Value

Only 22 countries in the world engage in rough diamond production—also known as uncut, raw or natural diamonds—mining for them from deposits within their territories.

This chart, by Sam Parker illustrates the leaders in rough diamond production by weight and value. It uses data from Kimberly Process (an international certification organization) along with estimates by Dr. Ashok Damarupurshad, a precious metals and diamond specialist in South Africa.

Rough Diamond Production, By Weight

Russia takes the top spot as the world’s largest rough diamond producer, mining close to 42 million carats in 2022, well ahead of its peers.

ℹ️ Carat is the unit of measurement for the physical weight of diamonds. One carat equals 0.200 grams, which means it takes over 2,265 carats to equal 1 pound.

Russia’s large lead over second-place Botswana (24.8 million carats) and third-ranked Canada (16.2 million carats) indicates that the country’s diamond production is circumventing sanctions due to the difficulties in tracing a diamond’s origin.

Here’s a quick breakdown of rough diamond production in the world.

RankCountryRough Diamond
Production (Carats)
1🇷🇺 Russia41,923,910
2🇧🇼 Botswana24,752,967
3🇨🇦 Canada16,249,218
4🇨🇩 DRC9,908,998
5🇿🇦 South Africa9,660,233
6🇦🇴 Angola8,763,309
7🇿🇼 Zimbabwe4,461,450
8🇳🇦 Namibia2,054,227
9🇱🇸 Lesotho727,737
10🇸🇱 Sierra Leone688,970
11🇹🇿 Tanzania375,533
12🇧🇷 Brazil158,420
13🇬🇳 Guinea128,771
14🇨🇫 Central
African Republic
118,044
15🇬🇾 Guyana83,382
16🇬🇭 Ghana82,500
17🇱🇷 Liberia52,165
18🇨🇮 Cote D'Ivoire3,904
19🇨🇬 Republic of Congo3,534
20🇨🇲 Cameroon2,431
21🇻🇪 Venezuela1,665
22🇲🇱 Mali92
Total120,201,460

Note: South Africa’s figures are estimated.

As with most other resources, (oil, gold, uranium), rough diamond production is distributed unequally. The top 10 rough diamond producing countries by weight account for 99.2% of all rough diamonds mined in 2022.

Diamond Mining, by Country

However, higher carat mined doesn’t necessarily mean better value for the diamond. Other factors like the cut, color, and clarity also influence a diamond’s value.

Here’s a quick breakdown of diamond production by value (USD) in 2022.

RankCountryRough Diamond
Value (USD)
1🇧🇼 Botswana$4,975M
2🇷🇺 Russia$3,553M
3🇦🇴 Angola$1,965M
4🇨🇦 Canada$1,877M
5🇿🇦 South Africa$1,538M
6🇳🇦 Namibia$1,234M
7🇿🇼 Zimbabwe$424M
8🇱🇸 Lesotho$314M
9🇸🇱 Sierra Leone$143M
10🇹🇿 Tanzania$110M
11🇨🇩 DRC$65M
12🇧🇷 Brazil$30M
13🇱🇷 Liberia$18M
14🇨🇫 Central
African Republic
$15M
15🇬🇾 Guyana$14M
16🇬🇳 Guinea$6M
17🇬🇭 Ghana$3M
18🇨🇲 Cameroon$0.25M
19🇨🇬 Republic of Congo$0.20M
20🇨🇮 Cote D'Ivoire$0.16M
21🇻🇪 Venezuela$0.10M
22🇲🇱 Mali$0.06M
Total$16,290M

Note: South Africa’s figures are estimated. Furthermore, numbers have been rounded and may not sum to the total.

Thus, even though Botswana only produced 59% of Russia’s diamond weight in 2022, it had a trade value of nearly $5 billion, approximately 1.5 times higher than Russia’s for the same year.

Another example is Angola, which is ranked 6th in diamond production, but 3rd in diamond value.

Both countries (as well as South Africa, Canada, and Namibia) produce gem-quality rough diamonds versus countries like Russia and the DRC whose diamonds are produced mainly for industrial use.

Which Regions Produce the Most Diamonds in 2022?

Unsurprisingly, Africa is the largest rough diamond producing region, accounting for 51% of output by weight, and 66% by value.

RankRegionShare of Rough
Diamond Production (%)
Share of Rough
Diamond Value (%)
1Africa51.4%66.4%
2Europe34.9%32.9%
3North America13.5%52.8%
4South America0.2%2.4%

However diamond mining in Africa is a relatively recent phenomenon, fewer than 200 years old. Diamonds had been discovered—and prized—as far back as 2,000 years ago in India, later on spreading west to Egyptian pharaohs and the Roman Empire.

By the start of the 20th century, diamond production on a large scale took off: first in South Africa, and decades later in other African countries. In fact between 1889–1959, Africa produced 98% of the world’s diamonds.

And in the latter half of the 20th century, the term blood diamond evolved from diamonds mined in African conflict zones used to finance insurgency or crime.

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