Yes, Apple’s profit margins are considered very high and industry-leading, with gross margins reaching a record 46.9% in early 2025. This success is driven by a high-margin services business (roughly 75% margin) and premium hardware pricing, maintaining net profit margins consistently above 20% since 2010.
In fiscal 2025, Apple's gross margin reached a record level of 46.9 percent, up from just under 40 percent in 2017. As our chart shows, the gross margin for Apple's products has remained relatively stable during that time, going from 35.7 percent in 2017 to 36.8 percent in 2025.
Apple's gross profit margin for fiscal years ending September 2021 to 2025 averaged 44.5%. Apple's operated at median gross profit margin of 44.1% from fiscal years ending September 2021 to 2025. Looking back at the last 5 years, Apple's gross profit margin peaked in September 2025 at 46.9%.
As a rule of thumb, 5% is a low margin, 10% is a healthy margin, and 20% is a high margin. But a one-size-fits-all approach isn't the best way to set goals for your business profitability. First, some companies are inherently high-margin or low-margin ventures. For instance, grocery stores and retailers are low-margin.
A 40% profit margin is generally considered excellent in most industries. However, what's considered good varies widely by sector—some industries operate with much lower margins while others, like certain tech sectors, may aim for higher profitability.
As in previous years, technology firms dominate the top of the ranking, with Alphabet earning $124.3 billion and Apple and Microsoft close behind.
Walmart Inc's profitability metrics show a mixed performance, with gross margin improving slightly to 24.91% in Q3 FY 2026, while operating margin declined to. The net margin increased to 3.31%, indicating better overall profitability.
Tesla's gross profit margin for fiscal years ending December 2020 to 2024 averaged 21.6%. Tesla's operated at median gross profit margin of 21.0% from fiscal years ending December 2020 to 2024. Looking back at the last 5 years, Tesla's gross profit margin peaked in December 2022 at 25.6%.
The #1 richest company depends on the metric, but currently Nvidia leads by market capitalization (total stock value), while Walmart is the largest by revenue (total sales), with Saudi Aramco often topping profit lists and holding massive oil reserves, making these key contenders for "richest" depending on definition.
Profit Margins
According to Costco Wholesale's latest annual financial reports, the company has an operating profit margin of 3.77%, which indicates the percentage of revenue that remains after deducting operating expenses, excluding interest and taxes.
If you invested $1,000 in Walmart (WMT) about 10 years ago (around mid-2015), your investment would have grown significantly, potentially reaching over $4,000 by mid-2025, representing a substantial gain of around 300%, largely due to strong performance, diversification, and successful e-commerce growth, outperforming the S&P 500 in that period.
A good profit margin varies by industry, but generally, a 10% net profit margin is considered average, 20% is good/high, and 5% is low, though service businesses can see 90%+ gross margins, while retail/grocery are much lower. Key factors like industry, business size, and costs (like inventory for retailers vs. low physical overhead for software/consulting) heavily influence what's realistic and healthy for your specific company.
The higher the price and the lower the cost, the higher the Profit Margin. In any case, your Profit Margin can never exceed 100 percent, which only happens if you're able to sell something that cost you nothing.