Visual Capitalist: U.S. Industries Where Companies Are Least Profitable

Ranked: U.S. Industries With the Lowest Profit Margins

Trade wars, AI battles, and real-world conflicts—it’s only February, but 2025 is shaping up to favor the bears over the bulls.

But even before these new disruptions, some sectors were already struggling.

This chart ranks U.S. industries by the lowest average net profit margins in 2024. Data is sourced from Damodaran Online, a database maintained by Aswath Damodaran, faculty at the NYU Stern School of Business.

U.S. Green Energy Isn’t Making Greenbacks Yet

U.S. companies in the broader green energy industry tend to lose money, with an average net margin of -19% in 2024.

With the demand for clean energy only increasing, it seems counterintuitive for companies to be struggling. As it happens, it’s mainly a macroeconomic problem.

Alternative energy companies face high upfront costs paired with long-term cash flows.

This becomes a significant issue as higher interest rates make it harder to finance projects that were initiated during periods of lower rates. Thus, the recent years of climbing interest rates have been particularly brutal for the sector.

Other Industries That Struggle to Make a Profit

Biotechnology is a surprising entry on this list, despite being a subsector of the larger pharmaceutical industry.

In fact, Big Pharma is known for big profits—often to the frustration of Americans who depend on its medications—so an average negative net margin stands out.

However, not all pharma companies operate the same way. This category includes smaller firms like Natera (DNA testing) and Galectin Therapeutics (cancer treatment). Additionally, with over 500 publicly listed companies, biotech has the most firms of any industry in the dataset.

SOURCE: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-u-s-industries-where-companies-are-least-profitable/