Top Consumer Defensive Stocks by Operating Margin
Top consumer defensive companies ranked by operating margin, latest annual filings.
What Operating Margin Means for Consumer Defensive Companies
Operating margin in consumer defensive reflects how efficiently a staples business, whether packaged food, beverages, household goods, or grocery retail, converts steady demand into operating profit after raw material costs, marketing, distribution, and overhead. Branded packaged-goods leaders sit in the middle of the sector range, tobacco typically earns notoriously wide operating margins thanks to addictive demand and entrenched pricing, while grocery chains and discount retailers run on some of the thinnest margins in the listed market, built on volume rather than unit economics.
Why It Matters in Consumer Defensive
Because staples volume is relatively insensitive to the economic cycle, operating margin tends to move with commodity input discipline and the ability to pass cost through at shelf. Brands with durable pricing power protect margin when input prices spike, while private-label pressure compresses it. Still, currency translation and promotional timing can swing reported margin meaningfully quarter to quarter in global staples firms, which is one reason the trailing twelve-month figure is more informative than any single period.
What to Read Alongside
Pair operating margin with Gross Margin to isolate the pricing-versus-input-cost dynamic before marketing spend, Revenue to size the business and gauge volume stability, and Net Margin for the after-tax picture.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MO | Altria Group, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 42.52% | $126.62B |
| 2 | BTI | British American Tobacco p.l.c. | Consumer Defensive | 39.04% | $130.83B |
| 3 | PM | Philip Morris International Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 36.64% | $308.42B |
| 4 | STZ | Constellation Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 29.78% | $24.02B |
| 5 | MNST | Monster Beverage Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 29.17% | $89.50B |
| 6 | KO | The Coca-Cola Company | Consumer Defensive | 28.71% | $411.56B |
| 7 | ABEV | Ambev S.A. | Consumer Defensive | 26.42% | $43.01B |
| 8 | BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Consumer Defensive | 25.97% | $165.33B |
| 9 | BF | Brown-Forman Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 25.48% | $14.44B |
| 10 | LAUR | Laureate Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 25.33% | $4.56B |
| 11 | LOPE | Grand Canyon Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 24.04% | $3.00B |
| 12 | PG | The Procter & Gamble Company | Consumer Defensive | 22.69% | $383.36B |
| 13 | KDP | Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 21.53% | $49.85B |
| 14 | CVSA | Covista Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 19.62% | $3.67B |
| 15 | FIZZ | National Beverage Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 19.49% | $3.48B |
| 16 | IPAR | Interparfums, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 18.16% | $4.34B |
| 17 | LRN | Stride, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 17.90% | $3.15B |
| 18 | UL | Unilever PLC | Consumer Defensive | 17.89% | $142.12B |
| 19 | CHD | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 17.37% | $25.81B |
| 20 | CL | Colgate-Palmolive Company | Consumer Defensive | 16.22% | $76.76B |
| 21 | KVUE | Kenvue Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 15.96% | $37.11B |
| 22 | MKC | McCormick & Company, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 15.65% | $13.02B |
| 23 | BRBR | BellRing Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 15.43% | $1.07B |
| 24 | KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 14.29% | $66.54B |
| 25 | INGR | Ingredion Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 14.07% | $5.72B |
| 26 | STRA | Strategic Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 13.74% | $1.14B |
| 27 | CCEP | Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC | Consumer Defensive | 13.36% | $50.97B |
| 28 | MH | McGraw Hill, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 13.16% | $2.08B |
| 29 | COKE | Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 13.15% | $13.84B |
| 30 | MZTI | The Marzetti Company | Consumer Defensive | 12.37% | $2.86B |
| 31 | HSY | The Hershey Company | Consumer Defensive | 12.33% | $35.79B |
| 32 | PEP | PepsiCo, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.24% | $192.61B |
| 33 | PXED | Phoenix Education Partners, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.06% | $718.50M |
| 34 | CALM | Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 12.03% | $3.02B |
| 35 | DEO | Diageo plc | Consumer Defensive | 11.37% | $55.56B |
| 36 | EDU | New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.36% | $8.53B |
| 37 | OLLI | Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 11.24% | $5.37B |
| 38 | NOMD | Nomad Foods Limited | Consumer Defensive | 10.73% | $1.64B |
| 39 | POST | Post Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.80% | $3.65B |
| 40 | HLF | Herbalife Ltd. | Consumer Defensive | 9.55% | $1.60B |
| 41 | MDLZ | Mondelez International, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 9.21% | $83.57B |
| 42 | TAL | TAL Education Group | Consumer Defensive | 9.17% | $5.64B |
| 43 | LW | Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.94% | $7.61B |
| 44 | SENEA | Seneca Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 8.94% | $1.02B |
| 45 | CPB | The Campbell's Company | Consumer Defensive | 8.74% | $6.90B |
| 46 | PPC | Pilgrim's Pride Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 8.72% | $6.79B |
| 47 | DLTR | Dollar Tree, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.52% | $24.61B |
| 48 | SFD | Smithfield Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 8.32% | $7.60B |
| 49 | CENT | Central Garden & Pet Company | Consumer Defensive | 7.99% | $2.99B |
| 50 | SFM | Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.79% | $4.53B |
| 51 | JBSS | John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.59% | $642.67M |
| 52 | MICC | The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. | Consumer Defensive | 7.57% | $11.74B |
| 53 | SAM | The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 7.37% | $2.24B |
| 54 | FRPT | Freshpet, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 6.87% | $3.11B |
| 55 | CCU | Compañía Cervecerías Unidas S.A. | Consumer Defensive | 6.64% | $2.00B |
| 56 | AGRO | Adecoagro S.A. | Consumer Defensive | 6.61% | $1.30B |
| 57 | PRMB | Primo Brands Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 6.46% | $8.10B |
| 58 | HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 5.94% | $12.08B |
| 59 | UVV | Universal Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 5.84% | $982.37M |
| 60 | CELH | Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.61% | $8.06B |
| 61 | JJSF | J&J Snack Foods Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 5.33% | $1.68B |
| 62 | BGS | B&G Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.31% | $203.19M |
| 63 | EL | The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 5.18% | $39.88B |
| 64 | DG | Dollar General Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 5.16% | $29.51B |
| 65 | TGT | Target Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 4.88% | $71.97B |
| 66 | JBS | JBS N.V. | Consumer Defensive | 4.83% | $13.37B |
| 67 | GIS | General Mills, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.81% | $18.99B |
| 68 | AVO | Mission Produce, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.69% | $1.02B |
| 69 | NGVC | Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.66% | $659.35M |
| 70 | ELF | e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.50% | $6.87B |
| 71 | DAR | Darling Ingredients Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.46% | $7.92B |
| 72 | SPB | Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.45% | $1.99B |
| 73 | PSMT | PriceSmart, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.44% | $5.02B |
| 74 | NUS | Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.43% | $199.57M |
| 75 | EPC | Edgewell Personal Care Company | Consumer Defensive | 4.34% | $1.29B |
| 76 | WMT | Walmart Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 4.18% | $995.84B |
| 77 | SJM | The J. M. Smucker Company | Consumer Defensive | 3.98% | $13.95B |
| 78 | COST | Costco Wholesale Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 3.85% | $466.86B |
| 79 | BJ | BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.81% | $13.82B |
| 80 | SYY | Sysco Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 3.66% | $37.84B |
| 81 | CHEF | The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.50% | $4.51B |
| 82 | FLO | Flowers Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 3.31% | $1.42B |
| 83 | DMC | Del Monte Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 3.18% | $1.29B |
| 84 | USFD | US Foods Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | 3.04% | $22.90B |
| 85 | VLGEA | Village Super Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.67% | $610.32M |
| 86 | DOLE | Dole plc | Consumer Defensive | 2.43% | $1.31B |
| 87 | WMK | Weis Markets, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.29% | $1.92B |
| 88 | IMKTA | Ingles Markets, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | 2.20% | $1.56B |
| 89 | TSN | Tyson Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 2.02% | $21.00B |
| 90 | CHSCL | CHS Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 1.51% | – |
| 91 | UTZ | Utz Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 1.36% | $1.26B |
| 92 | PFGC | Performance Food Group Company | Consumer Defensive | 1.31% | $16.96B |
| 93 | KR | The Kroger Co. | Consumer Defensive | 1.28% | $39.98B |
| 94 | ACI | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.87% | $6.02B |
| 95 | UNFI | United Natural Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.68% | $2.72B |
| 96 | DDL | Dingdong (Cayman) Limited | Consumer Defensive | 0.54% | $391.40M |
| 97 | NWL | Newell Brands Inc. | Consumer Defensive | 0.54% | $2.33B |
| 98 | DIT | AMCON Distributing Company | Consumer Defensive | 0.45% | $60.81M |
| 99 | MAGN | Magnera Corporation | Consumer Defensive | 0.16% | $439.30M |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by operating margin as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $1 billion in annual revenue or above, so a small filer with a freak ratio cannot top the list.
- Value range: Only figures above 0% and up to 100% qualify.
- Market cap: stated at each company's latest close, which is newer than the annual figure ranked here.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Why do grocery chains report such thin operating margins?
Grocery is a volume business where competing retailers pass the bulk of wholesale pricing power directly to the shopper to defend traffic. Payroll, occupancy, and perishable waste dominate the cost base, and those costs scale closely with revenue. The category is structurally designed to turn cost savings into lower shelf prices rather than into operating margin expansion. Even very large, well-run grocers tend to land in single-digit operating margin territory as a result, with private-label mix and supply-chain efficiency being the main levers available.
How do staples firms protect operating margin when input costs rise?
Leading staples firms use a mix of hedging on key commodities, pack-size or price-point engineering that softens visible shelf price increases, productivity programs inside manufacturing and distribution, and gradual price realization negotiated through trade partners. Brands with genuine pricing power can eventually recover input cost inflation through shelf prices, though typically with a lag of several quarters. Weaker brands, facing private-label competition, often absorb a larger share of input cost spikes as margin compression rather than pass them through.