Top Communication Services Stocks by R&D Spending
Top communication services companies ranked by R&D spending, latest annual filings.
What R&D Spending Means for Communication Services Companies
R&D spending in communication services splits along a clear line. Platform and interactive media companies look much like technology firms, putting heavy resources into engineering, recommendation systems, and infrastructure. Traditional telecom and content businesses spend comparatively little on formal R&D because network capacity lives in capex and content investment flows through programming or content amortization rather than a research line on the income statement.
Why It Matters in Communication Services
For platforms, sustained R&D underwrites engagement economics and the machine-learning systems that compound user value. For telcos, the comparable lever is network spectrum and fiber capex, not research spending, which is why sector rankings mix dissimilar business models into one table. Reading a platform's R&D next to a telecom's R&D without context tends to misstate the investment intensity of both.
What to Read Alongside
Pair R&D with Revenue for scale context, Free Cash Flow to see cash generation after investment, and Capex since network and content spending in this sector often matters more than formal research activity.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. | Communication Services | $61.09B | $4096.78B |
| 2 | META | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Communication Services | $57.37B | $1895.60B |
| 3 | NFLX | Netflix, Inc. | Communication Services | $3.39B | $297.14B |
| 4 | BIDU | Baidu, Inc. | Communication Services | $2.92B | $30.60B |
| 5 | NTES | NetEase, Inc. | Communication Services | $2.53B | $74.92B |
| 6 | SNAP | Snap Inc. | Communication Services | $1.79B | $8.95B |
| 7 | RBLX | Roblox Corporation | Communication Services | $1.57B | $35.00B |
| 8 | PINS | Pinterest, Inc. | Communication Services | $1.43B | $10.45B |
| 9 | RDDT | Reddit, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.78B | $29.24B |
| 10 | ROKU | Roku, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.73B | $22.79B |
| 11 | Z | Zillow Group, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.61B | $6.44B |
| 12 | TTD | The Trade Desk, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.53B | $6.00B |
| 13 | BILI | Bilibili Inc. | Communication Services | $0.51B | $6.18B |
| 14 | MTCH | Match Group, Inc | Communication Services | $0.45B | $9.29B |
| 15 | PLTK | Playtika Holding Corp. | Communication Services | $0.43B | $0.84B |
| 16 | WB | Weibo Corporation | Communication Services | $0.32B | $1.61B |
| 17 | YELP | Yelp Inc. | Communication Services | $0.30B | $0.96B |
| 18 | CRTO | Criteo S.A. | Communication Services | $0.28B | $0.81B |
| 19 | NYT | The New York Times Company | Communication Services | $0.26B | $9.98B |
| 20 | SIRI | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | Communication Services | $0.26B | $8.86B |
| 21 | JOYY | JOYY Inc. | Communication Services | $0.25B | $3.94B |
| 22 | IQ | iQIYI, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.24B | $0.97B |
| 23 | BZ | Kanzhun Limited | Communication Services | $0.24B | $6.57B |
| 24 | APP | AppLovin Corporation | Communication Services | $0.23B | $105.50B |
| 25 | IAC | People Inc | Communication Services | $0.20B | $3.14B |
| 26 | UPWK | Upwork Inc. | Communication Services | $0.19B | $1.02B |
| 27 | DV | DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.18B | $2.08B |
| 28 | NBIS | Nebius Group N.V. | Communication Services | $0.18B | $61.61B |
| 29 | ATHM | Autohome Inc. | Communication Services | $0.15B | $2.46B |
| 30 | TBLA | Taboola.com Ltd. | Communication Services | $0.15B | $0.92B |
| 31 | CARG | CarGurus, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.14B | $2.72B |
| 32 | NXDR | Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.14B | $0.92B |
| 33 | MGNI | Magnite, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.08B | $3.45B |
| 34 | HUYA | HUYA Inc. | Communication Services | $0.07B | $0.53B |
| 35 | IAS | Integral Ad Science Holding Corp. | Communication Services | $0.07B | $1.74B |
| 36 | ECHO | EchoStar Corporation | Communication Services | $0.07B | $26.96B |
| 37 | NRDS | NerdWallet, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.07B | $0.52B |
| 38 | ZD | Ziff Davis, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.06B | $1.95B |
| 39 | IDT | IDT Corporation | Communication Services | $0.05B | $1.69B |
| 40 | DJT | Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. | Communication Services | $0.04B | $2.52B |
| 41 | QNST | QuinStreet, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.04B | $0.82B |
| 42 | EVER | EverQuote, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.03B | $0.62B |
| 43 | GENI | Genius Sports Limited | Communication Services | $0.03B | $1.64B |
| 44 | IRDM | Iridium Communications Inc. | Communication Services | $0.02B | $5.12B |
| 45 | RUM | RUM Group Inc. | Communication Services | $0.02B | $4.10B |
| 46 | ANGX | Angel Studios, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.02B | $0.91B |
| 47 | GSAT | Globalstar, Inc. | Communication Services | $0.01B | $10.69B |
| 48 | IMAX | IMAX Corporation | Communication Services | $0.01B | $2.92B |
| 49 | ATEX | Anterix Inc. | Communication Services | $0.00B | $1.65B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by R&D spending 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 $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- 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.