Highest R&D intensity among US companies
US public companies ranked by R&D intensity (R&D expense ÷ revenue) in their most recent fiscal year — a measure of how research-heavy a business is. The top three by r&d intensity are Meta Platforms, Inc. (28.5%) , INTEL CORP (26.1%) and Merck & Co., Inc. (24.3%) . Based on 24 companies' most recent fiscal year, from SEC 10-K filings.
Source: SEC EDGAR. Data as of 2026-06-18.
| Rank | Company | R&D intensity | R&D expense |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) | 28.5% | $57.37B |
| #2 | INTEL CORP (INTC) | 26.1% | $13.77B |
| #3 | Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) | 24.3% | $15.79B |
| #4 | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC (AMD) | 23.4% | $8.09B |
| #5 | QUALCOMM INC/DE (QCOM) | 20.4% | $9.04B |
| #6 | Oracle Corporation (ORCL) | 17.2% | $9.86B |
| #7 | CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. (CSCO) | 16.4% | $9.30B |
| #8 | Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) | 15.2% | $61.09B |
| #9 | Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) | 14.4% | $5.99B |
| #10 | INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP (IBM) | 12.3% | $8.32B |
| #11 | TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED (TXN) | 11.8% | $2.08B |
| #12 | MICROSOFT CORPORATION (MSFT) | 11.5% | $32.49B |
| #13 | NVIDIA CORP (NVDA) | 8.6% | $18.50B |
| #14 | Apple Inc. (AAPL) | 8.3% | $34.55B |
| #15 | Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) | 7.5% | $3.39B |
| #16 | Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) | 6.8% | $6.41B |
| #17 | Ford Motor Co (F) | 5.0% | $9.40B |
| #18 | THE BOEING COMPANY (BA) | 4.0% | $3.62B |
| #19 | GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY (GE) | 3.4% | $1.58B |
| #20 | PROCTER & GAMBLE CO (PG) | 2.5% | $2.10B |
| #21 | PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) | 0.9% | $839.0M |
| #22 | Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) | 0.4% | $1.20B |
| #23 | Chevron Corp (CVX) | 0.2% | $427.0M |
| #24 | Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | 0.1% | $109.0M |
Source: SEC EDGAR. Data as of 2026-06-18. Factual data compiled from SEC filings — not investment advice.
Other rankings
- Largest US companies by revenue
- Most profitable US companies by net income
- Highest net profit margin among large US companies
- Highest operating margin among large US companies
- Biggest R&D spenders among US companies
- Largest US companies by total assets
Frequently asked questions
Which company has the highest r&d intensity?
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) leads with 28.5% in its most recent fiscal year, among the 24 companies covered. Figures are from SEC 10-K filings.
What does this ranking measure?
US public companies ranked by R&D intensity (R&D expense ÷ revenue) in their most recent fiscal year — a measure of how research-heavy a business is. Values come from each company's most recent annual 10-K filing on SEC EDGAR. This is factual data, not investment advice.
Why are some well-known companies missing?
A company is dropped from a ranking when it does not tag the required US-GAAP concept in its XBRL filing (for example, banks often do not report an operating-income or R&D line). Those firms still appear on their own company pages.
Last updated: 2026-06-18