Top Industrials Stocks by Operating Margin
Top industrials companies ranked by operating margin, latest annual filings.
What Operating Margin Means for Industrials Companies
Operating margin in industrials is what survives after raw materials, factory labor, sales, engineering, and the depreciation of capital-heavy plant are deducted. The figure tends to compress when volumes dip because fixed overhead is spread over fewer units, and it expands sharply when demand recovers. Aerospace, defense, and specialty automation typically sit above the industrial average, while heavy equipment, construction, and commodity-exposed machinery tend to land well below that line.
Why It Matters in Industrials
Operating margin is the single cleanest readout of operating leverage on volume in a factory-heavy business: incremental orders fall through to profit once the fixed cost of the plant has been absorbed. Backlog quality and price discipline drive sustained margin expansion. Still, cyclicality distorts single-year reads, and operating margin fully embeds depreciation on plant that may be paid off in cash terms, so the figure can understate the cash profile of a mature, fully depreciated asset base.
What to Read Alongside
Pair operating margin with Gross Margin to see raw product economics before overhead, EBITDA to strip out the depreciation on plant, and CapEx to measure the ongoing cost of keeping the operating footprint in service.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DAC | Danaos Corporation | Industrials | 47.85% | $2.70B |
| 2 | TDG | TransDigm Group Incorporated | Industrials | 47.16% | $66.17B |
| 3 | ASR | Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. | Industrials | 45.64% | $7.91B |
| 4 | VRSK | Verisk Analytics, Inc. | Industrials | 43.74% | $26.25B |
| 5 | PAC | Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V. | Industrials | 42.46% | $14.79B |
| 6 | UNP | Union Pacific Corporation | Industrials | 40.17% | $172.38B |
| 7 | CNI | Canadian National Railway Company | Industrials | 38.07% | $74.40B |
| 8 | CP | Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited | Industrials | 37.20% | $80.15B |
| 9 | NSC | Norfolk Southern Corporation | Industrials | 35.76% | $71.86B |
| 10 | CPRT | Copart, Inc. | Industrials | 35.42% | $29.60B |
| 11 | CSX | CSX Corporation | Industrials | 32.08% | $90.99B |
| 12 | RELX | RELX PLC | Industrials | 31.56% | $69.71B |
| 13 | TRN | Trinity Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 30.10% | $2.30B |
| 14 | TRI | Thomson Reuters Corporation | Industrials | 28.52% | $48.78B |
| 15 | GGG | Graco Inc. | Industrials | 27.94% | $10.88B |
| 16 | OTTR | Otter Tail Corporation | Industrials | 26.60% | $3.29B |
| 17 | AWI | Armstrong World Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 26.59% | $7.16B |
| 18 | ITW | Illinois Tool Works Inc. | Industrials | 26.28% | $79.85B |
| 19 | AME | AMETEK, Inc. | Industrials | 25.81% | $52.44B |
| 20 | SNA | Snap-on Incorporated | Industrials | 25.75% | $18.94B |
| 21 | ADT | ADT Inc. | Industrials | 25.52% | $7.20B |
| 22 | NDSN | Nordson Corporation | Industrials | 25.49% | $17.26B |
| 23 | PAM | Pampa Energía S.A. | Industrials | 25.18% | $3.41B |
| 24 | CAAP | Corporación América Airports S.A. | Industrials | 24.89% | $4.01B |
| 25 | HWM | Howmet Aerospace Inc. | Industrials | 24.79% | $81.84B |
| 26 | ODFL | Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. | Industrials | 24.76% | $33.98B |
| 27 | URI | United Rentals, Inc. | Industrials | 24.68% | $65.36B |
| 28 | PH | Parker-Hannifin Corporation | Industrials | 23.57% | $115.73B |
| 29 | VLTO | Veralto Corporation | Industrials | 23.21% | $28.47B |
| 30 | CTAS | Cintas Corporation | Industrials | 23.14% | $88.29B |
| 31 | MLI | Mueller Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 22.94% | $11.54B |
| 32 | GPN | Global Payments Inc. | Industrials | 22.77% | $25.78B |
| 33 | HEI | HEICO Corporation | Industrials | 22.72% | $46.49B |
| 34 | CPA | Copa Holdings, S.A. | Industrials | 22.64% | $5.83B |
| 35 | RBC | RBC Bearings Incorporated | Industrials | 22.50% | $15.02B |
| 36 | CRS | Carpenter Technology Corporation | Industrials | 22.47% | $13.79B |
| 37 | TREX | Trex Company, Inc. | Industrials | 21.97% | $5.47B |
| 38 | HON | Honeywell International Inc. | Industrials | 21.71% | $69.74B |
| 39 | ZTO | ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. | Industrials | 21.33% | $15.53B |
| 40 | ALLE | Allegion plc | Industrials | 21.13% | $15.76B |
| 41 | HAYW | Hayward Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 20.79% | $3.38B |
| 42 | HUBB | Hubbell Incorporated | Industrials | 20.68% | $22.69B |
| 43 | PNR | Pentair plc | Industrials | 20.53% | $10.88B |
| 44 | ROK | Rockwell Automation, Inc. | Industrials | 20.41% | $41.74B |
| 45 | WMS | Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. | Industrials | 20.30% | $9.37B |
| 46 | IEX | IDEX Corporation | Industrials | 20.23% | $16.67B |
| 47 | FAST | Fastenal Company | Industrials | 20.19% | $60.80B |
| 48 | KMT | Kennametal Inc. | Industrials | 20.05% | $1.77B |
| 49 | LII | Lennox International Inc. | Industrials | 20.05% | $11.70B |
| 50 | AZUL | Azul S.A. | Industrials | 19.97% | $873.81M |
| 51 | CSL | Carlisle Companies Incorporated | Industrials | 19.97% | $14.52B |
| 52 | WNC | Wabash National Corporation | Industrials | 19.93% | $444.46M |
| 53 | MSA | MSA Safety Incorporated | Industrials | 19.83% | $6.55B |
| 54 | POWL | Powell Industries, Inc. | Industrials | 19.73% | $4.85B |
| 55 | DLB | Dolby Laboratories, Inc. | Industrials | 19.64% | $6.07B |
| 56 | SUNB | Sunbelt Rentals Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 19.55% | $31.57B |
| 57 | AOS | A. O. Smith Corporation | Industrials | 19.02% | $8.67B |
| 58 | TT | Trane Technologies plc | Industrials | 18.61% | $87.94B |
| 59 | MMM | 3M Company | Industrials | 18.55% | $95.49B |
| 60 | CR | Crane Company | Industrials | 18.40% | $11.63B |
| 61 | WTS | Watts Water Technologies, Inc. | Industrials | 18.38% | $11.55B |
| 62 | MWA | Mueller Water Products, Inc. | Industrials | 18.23% | $3.74B |
| 63 | CW | Curtiss-Wright Corporation | Industrials | 18.11% | $16.81B |
| 64 | WCN | Waste Connections, Inc. | Industrials | 18.06% | $47.31B |
| 65 | EFX | Equifax Inc. | Industrials | 18.03% | $22.27B |
| 66 | MIDD | The Middleby Corporation | Industrials | 17.96% | $6.17B |
| 67 | VRT | Vertiv Holdings Co | Industrials | 17.89% | $70.41B |
| 68 | ARXS | Arxis, Inc. | Industrials | 17.39% | $21.49B |
| 69 | ITT | ITT Inc. | Industrials | 17.38% | $18.34B |
| 70 | RSG | Republic Services, Inc. | Industrials | 17.35% | $75.20B |
| 71 | AERO | Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. | Industrials | 17.31% | $2.55B |
| 72 | ULS | UL Solutions Inc. | Industrials | 17.10% | $15.88B |
| 73 | WM | Waste Management, Inc. | Industrials | 17.09% | $93.95B |
| 74 | DOV | Dover Corporation | Industrials | 16.97% | $27.11B |
| 75 | LECO | Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. | Industrials | 16.96% | $14.91B |
| 76 | CAT | Caterpillar Inc. | Industrials | 16.50% | $255.63B |
| 77 | MAS | Masco Corporation | Industrials | 16.50% | $15.85B |
| 78 | ZWS | Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation | Industrials | 16.45% | $7.18B |
| 79 | LTM | LATAM Airlines Group S.A. | Industrials | 16.37% | $13.60B |
| 80 | STRL | Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | Industrials | 16.30% | $7.71B |
| 81 | HAFN | Hafnia Limited | Industrials | 16.20% | $5.02B |
| 82 | WAB | Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation | Industrials | 16.06% | $47.59B |
| 83 | AZZ | AZZ Inc. | Industrials | 16.04% | $3.76B |
| 84 | BRC | Brady Corporation | Industrials | 15.86% | $3.55B |
| 85 | NVT | nVent Electric plc | Industrials | 15.84% | $17.16B |
| 86 | FSS | Federal Signal Corporation | Industrials | 15.63% | $6.92B |
| 87 | CSW | CSW Industrials, Inc. | Industrials | 15.57% | $4.43B |
| 88 | RBA | RB Global, Inc. | Industrials | 15.54% | $17.32B |
| 89 | SPXC | SPX Technologies, Inc. | Industrials | 15.47% | $7.15B |
| 90 | DCI | Donaldson Company, Inc. | Industrials | 15.44% | $9.77B |
| 91 | AYI | Acuity Inc. | Industrials | 15.38% | $9.67B |
| 92 | RYAAY | Ryanair Holdings plc | Industrials | 15.27% | $30.71B |
| 93 | SKYW | SkyWest, Inc. | Industrials | 15.22% | $3.02B |
| 94 | IR | Ingersoll Rand Inc. | Industrials | 14.96% | $31.87B |
| 95 | KAI | Kadant Inc. | Industrials | 14.95% | $3.46B |
| 96 | MATX | Matson, Inc. | Industrials | 14.94% | $6.28B |
| 97 | CXT | Crane NXT, Co. | Industrials | 14.89% | $3.31B |
| 98 | OTIS | Otis Worldwide Corporation | Industrials | 14.78% | $30.06B |
| 99 | KEX | Kirby Corporation | Industrials | 14.75% | $6.39B |
| 100 | ZIM | ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. | Industrials | 14.72% | $3.37B |
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 does industrial operating margin swing so much across the cycle?
Industrial businesses carry a large fixed cost base in factories, equipment, and salaried engineering staff. When order volume rises, those costs are spread over more units, so each incremental sale carries a high contribution margin and operating margin expands quickly. When volume falls, the same fixed base is spread over fewer units and margin compresses sharply, even if gross margin per unit is stable. That mechanical volume leverage explains most of the observed swing in industrial operating margin across the cycle.
Why can operating margin understate the cash profile of a heavy industrial?
Operating margin includes depreciation, which is a non-cash charge reflecting historic investment in plant and equipment. A mature industrial with a fully paid-down asset base still books significant depreciation each year, depressing reported operating margin even as the business generates strong operating cash flow. That is one reason EBITDA, which adds depreciation back, and free cash flow are often read alongside operating margin to understand the cash economics of an industrial franchise.