Biggest R&D spenders among US companies
US public companies ranked by total research & development expense in their most recent fiscal year, from SEC 10-K filings. The top three by r&d expense (latest fy) are Alphabet Inc. ($61.09B) , Meta Platforms, Inc. ($57.37B) and Apple Inc. ($34.55B) . 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 expense (latest FY) | R&D intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) | $61.09B | 15.2% |
| #2 | Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) | $57.37B | 28.5% |
| #3 | Apple Inc. (AAPL) | $34.55B | 8.3% |
| #4 | MICROSOFT CORPORATION (MSFT) | $32.49B | 11.5% |
| #5 | NVIDIA CORP (NVDA) | $18.50B | 8.6% |
| #6 | Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) | $15.79B | 24.3% |
| #7 | INTEL CORP (INTC) | $13.77B | 26.1% |
| #8 | Oracle Corporation (ORCL) | $9.86B | 17.2% |
| #9 | Ford Motor Co (F) | $9.40B | 5.0% |
| #10 | CISCO SYSTEMS, INC. (CSCO) | $9.30B | 16.4% |
| #11 | QUALCOMM INC/DE (QCOM) | $9.04B | 20.4% |
| #12 | INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP (IBM) | $8.32B | 12.3% |
| #13 | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC (AMD) | $8.09B | 23.4% |
| #14 | Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) | $6.41B | 6.8% |
| #15 | Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) | $5.99B | 14.4% |
| #16 | THE BOEING COMPANY (BA) | $3.62B | 4.0% |
| #17 | Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) | $3.39B | 7.5% |
| #18 | PROCTER & GAMBLE CO (PG) | $2.10B | 2.5% |
| #19 | TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED (TXN) | $2.08B | 11.8% |
| #20 | GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY (GE) | $1.58B | 3.4% |
| #21 | Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) | $1.20B | 0.4% |
| #22 | PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) | $839.0M | 0.9% |
| #23 | Chevron Corp (CVX) | $427.0M | 0.2% |
| #24 | Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | $109.0M | 0.1% |
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
- Highest R&D intensity among US companies
- Largest US companies by total assets
Frequently asked questions
Which company has the top r&d spenders?
Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) leads with $61.09B 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 total research & development expense in their most recent fiscal year, from SEC 10-K filings. 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