Top Communication Services Stocks by Return on Equity
Top communication services companies ranked by return on equity, latest annual filings.
What Return on Equity Means for Communication Services Companies
Return on Equity divides net income by shareholder equity and measures how efficiently capital gets turned into profit. In communication services, the metric splits sharply along subsector lines. Legacy telcos often post elevated figures built largely on debt-financed buybacks and shrinking book value, while digital platforms tend to grow their equity base faster than earnings as retained profit gets reinvested into content, infrastructure, and acquisitions.
Why It Matters Less in Communication Services
Platform firms frequently show genuine scale-driven efficiency in Return on Equity, but the ratio can flatter legacy telcos in ways that overstate operational strength. Buybacks paired with rising debt produce optically impressive Return on Equity figures even as underlying subscriber bases decline. Meaningful comparison requires separating the two subsector patterns and weighing the ratio against subscriber growth, content investment, and capital-return history rather than at face value.
What to Read Alongside
Pair Return on Equity with Net Income to see absolute earnings, Long-term Debt to check how much leverage is supporting the ratio, and Gross Margin to judge the quality of underlying earnings.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LYV | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. | Communication Services | 183.01% | $39.57B |
| 2 | APP | AppLovin Corporation | Communication Services | 156.18% | $110.01B |
| 3 | MSGE | Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. | Communication Services | 144.57% | $3.79B |
| 4 | WMG | Warner Music Group Corp. | Communication Services | 56.41% | $14.33B |
| 5 | NFLX | Netflix, Inc. | Communication Services | 41.26% | $300.47B |
| 6 | TIGO | Millicom International Cellular S.A. | Communication Services | 37.61% | $15.83B |
| 7 | VEON | VEON Ltd. | Communication Services | 36.17% | $4.78B |
| 8 | JOYY | JOYY Inc. | Communication Services | 32.08% | $3.97B |
| 9 | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. | Communication Services | 31.83% | $4248.80B |
| 10 | CHTR | Charter Communications, Inc. | Communication Services | 31.06% | $13.42B |
| 11 | META | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Communication Services | 27.83% | $1876.48B |
| 12 | WLY | John Wiley & Sons, Inc. | Communication Services | 26.12% | $2.38B |
| 13 | QNST | QuinStreet, Inc. | Communication Services | 25.14% | $0.87B |
| 14 | IDT | IDT Corporation | Communication Services | 24.94% | $1.71B |
| 15 | NTES | NetEase, Inc. | Communication Services | 21.71% | $76.04B |
| 16 | CMCSA | Comcast Corporation | Communication Services | 20.64% | $79.56B |
| 17 | AMX | América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. | Communication Services | 20.60% | $66.67B |
| 18 | YELP | Yelp Inc. | Communication Services | 20.48% | $1.03B |
| 19 | TMUS | T-Mobile US, Inc. | Communication Services | 18.57% | $174.21B |
| 20 | IPG | The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. | Communication Services | 18.16% | $8.93B |
| 21 | RDDT | Reddit, Inc. | Communication Services | 18.09% | $29.95B |
| 22 | TTD | The Trade Desk, Inc. | Communication Services | 17.84% | $6.23B |
| 23 | T | AT&T Inc. | Communication Services | 17.36% | $171.99B |
| 24 | NYT | The New York Times Company | Communication Services | 16.85% | $10.56B |
| 25 | VZ | Verizon Communications Inc. | Communication Services | 16.65% | $192.99B |
| 26 | TKO | TKO Group Holdings, Inc. | Communication Services | 14.62% | $13.81B |
| 27 | FOX | Fox Corporation | Communication Services | 14.49% | $24.17B |
| 28 | BZ | Kanzhun Limited | Communication Services | 13.66% | $6.76B |
| 29 | EA | Electronic Arts Inc | Communication Services | 13.11% | $52.93B |
| 30 | CRTO | Criteo S.A. | Communication Services | 12.97% | $0.83B |
| 31 | WB | Weibo Corporation | Communication Services | 11.45% | $1.64B |
| 32 | DIS | The Walt Disney Company | Communication Services | 11.29% | $179.26B |
| 33 | AENT | Alliance Entertainment Holding Corporation | Communication Services | 11.20% | $0.26B |
| 34 | AMCX | AMC Global Media Inc. | Communication Services | 10.37% | $0.50B |
| 35 | CHT | Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. | Communication Services | 10.16% | $35.77B |
| 36 | KYIV | Kyivstar Group Ltd. | Communication Services | 9.55% | $3.01B |
| 37 | VSNT | Versant Media Group, Inc. | Communication Services | 9.04% | $4.66B |
| 38 | PINS | Pinterest, Inc. | Communication Services | 8.78% | $10.41B |
| 39 | BILI | Bilibili Inc. | Communication Services | 7.66% | $6.30B |
| 40 | SCHL | Scholastic Corporation | Communication Services | 7.56% | $0.66B |
| 41 | MOMO | Hello Group Inc. | Communication Services | 7.28% | $0.72B |
| 42 | FWONA | Formula One Group | Communication Services | 7.15% | $21.73B |
| 43 | TGNA | Tegna Inc | Communication Services | 6.97% | $3.24B |
| 44 | SIRI | Sirius XM Holdings Inc. | Communication Services | 6.96% | $8.94B |
| 45 | NWS | News Corporation | Communication Services | 6.72% | $17.35B |
| 46 | ANGI | Angi Inc. | Communication Services | 4.73% | $0.22B |
| 47 | TBLA | Taboola.com Ltd. | Communication Services | 4.66% | $0.97B |
| 48 | STGW | Stagwell Inc. | Communication Services | 4.04% | $2.08B |
| 49 | NXST | Nexstar Media Group, Inc. | Communication Services | 4.02% | $5.16B |
| 50 | ROKU | Roku, Inc. | Communication Services | 3.32% | $22.91B |
| 51 | ZD | Ziff Davis, Inc. | Communication Services | 2.70% | $2.00B |
| 52 | BIDU | Baidu, Inc. | Communication Services | 2.10% | $31.51B |
| 53 | WBD | Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | Communication Services | 2.02% | $77.30B |
| 54 | SPHR | Sphere Entertainment Co. | Communication Services | 1.50% | $5.10B |
| 55 | GCI | Gannett Co., Inc. | Communication Services | 1.13% | $0.67B |
| 56 | TDAY | USA TODAY Co., Inc. | Communication Services | 1.13% | $0.96B |
| 57 | Z | Zillow Group, Inc. | Communication Services | 0.47% | $6.96B |
| 58 | TDS | Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. | Communication Services | 0.42% | $4.22B |
No companies match this search.
Companies with return on equity above 500%, or shareholder equity below 1% of total assets, are excluded: when equity is near zero the ratio becomes unstable and unrepresentative. Ratio rankings also require at least $1B in annual revenue.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by return on equity 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 500% qualify.
- 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.