Industry benchmarks

Margins and multiples for 94 industries · January 2026

Industry	Companies	Gross margin	EBITDA margin	Net margin	EV/EBITDA	EV/Sales
Advertising	52	36.2%	14.1%	-0.3%	12.0×	2.1×
Aerospace/Defense	79	17.5%	10.7%	5.0%	21.6×	3.6×
Air Transport	23	24.8%	10.3%	2.5%	7.6×	1.0×
Apparel	35	56.9%	11.5%	3.9%	10.3×	1.6×
Auto & Truck	33	10.4%	7.5%	1.3%	47.8×	3.9×
Auto Parts	35	15.8%	9.0%	0.7%	6.4×	0.8×
Bank (Money Center)	15	100.0%	0.0%	28.9%	—	8.3×
Banks (Regional)	568	99.6%	0.0%	27.5%	—	4.3×
Beverage (Alcoholic)	14	47.0%	29.5%	0.6%	8.6×	2.5×
Beverage (Soft)	27	54.7%	22.8%	13.4%	16.9×	4.2×
Broadcasting	24	38.1%	18.2%	2.1%	7.8×	1.4×
Brokerage & Investment Banking	32	53.3%	0.0%	14.4%	—	5.8×
Building Materials	41	30.9%	17.3%	7.4%	11.6×	2.0×
Business & Consumer Services	155	33.4%	15.7%	7.0%	14.3×	2.5×
Cable TV	9	62.9%	32.4%	7.1%	6.2×	2.1×
Chemical (Basic)	29	9.3%	12.3%	-3.7%	8.6×	0.8×
Chemical (Diversified)	4	15.3%	9.7%	-5.3%	8.4×	0.8×
Chemical (Specialty)	59	35.1%	18.0%	2.9%	13.4×	2.6×
Coal & Related Energy	16	14.9%	13.0%	-2.1%	10.4×	2.5×
Computer Services	64	24.3%	9.0%	4.5%	14.1×	1.5×
Computers/Peripherals	36	38.4%	25.3%	17.8%	25.4×	6.6×
Construction Supplies	40	25.5%	19.5%	10.8%	16.8×	3.2×
Diversified	20	25.8%	31.3%	16.4%	11.4×	3.1×
Drugs (Biotechnology)	496	60.8%	15.4%	-5.0%	15.8×	7.9×
Drugs (Pharmaceutical)	228	71.7%	33.6%	18.5%	15.2×	6.2×
Education	32	45.8%	16.6%	8.8%	9.3×	2.0×
Electrical Equipment	112	31.8%	12.7%	0.9%	24.6×	4.4×
Electronics (Consumer & Office)	8	38.8%	-2.6%	-9.4%	30.7×	0.9×
Electronics (General)	114	26.8%	12.4%	6.5%	20.0×	3.2×
Engineering/Construction	48	15.5%	8.0%	5.9%	17.2×	1.7×
Entertainment	92	41.4%	17.8%	4.4%	19.4×	4.3×
Environmental & Waste Services	53	36.3%	21.0%	8.2%	15.6×	3.7×
Farming/Agriculture	35	13.1%	8.0%	3.9%	16.0×	1.3×
Financial Services (Non-bank & Insurance)	176	69.2%	21.0%	22.2%	57.5×	18.9×
Food Processing	78	23.2%	15.3%	2.8%	10.0×	1.5×
Food Wholesalers	13	15.4%	3.7%	1.2%	11.1×	0.5×
Furn/Home Furnishings	27	30.3%	9.8%	1.1%	11.3×	1.3×
Green & Renewable Energy	15	55.2%	58.5%	-10.8%	13.4×	7.9×
Healthcare Information and Technology	115	48.3%	20.5%	7.4%	21.3×	5.3×
Healthcare Products	204	54.0%	20.3%	9.6%	19.8×	4.8×
Healthcare Support Services	104	12.1%	3.9%	1.3%	11.2×	0.5×
Homebuilding	30	22.7%	14.1%	9.5%	8.9×	1.2×
Hospitals/Healthcare Facilities	31	39.1%	15.8%	6.3%	8.9×	1.7×
Hotel/Gaming	63	60.9%	24.4%	10.4%	14.9×	4.3×
Household Products	110	51.0%	22.3%	11.7%	13.2×	3.1×
Information Services	15	34.1%	17.3%	6.5%	11.5×	2.2×
Insurance (General)	21	44.7%	23.6%	12.4%	15.8×	4.3×
Insurance (Life)	20	30.0%	11.5%	7.8%	12.5×	1.3×
Insurance (Prop/Cas.)	57	30.2%	14.7%	11.1%	8.4×	1.5×
Investments & Asset Management	283	69.8%	11.7%	18.4%	38.0×	5.5×
Machinery	105	37.5%	19.6%	10.6%	16.2×	3.4×
Metals & Mining	73	34.7%	29.4%	10.5%	11.4×	4.0×
Office Equipment & Services	14	41.4%	14.3%	4.4%	8.6×	1.4×
Oil/Gas (Integrated)	4	36.1%	21.7%	8.3%	8.2×	1.8×
Oil/Gas (Production and Exploration)	142	57.2%	43.2%	14.6%	5.1×	2.7×
Oil/Gas Distribution	23	43.4%	32.7%	13.4%	11.6×	4.4×
Oilfield Services/Equipment	97	11.1%	7.8%	2.3%	8.6×	0.7×
Packaging & Container	19	24.3%	14.4%	4.5%	9.7×	1.5×
Paper/Forest Products	6	17.1%	14.6%	3.4%	8.2×	1.0×
Power	46	43.6%	35.3%	12.7%	12.4×	4.7×
Precious Metals	56	55.0%	34.6%	28.6%	10.7×	6.0×
Publishing & Newspapers	19	50.4%	13.2%	8.2%	11.2×	1.7×
Real Estate (Development)	14	35.3%	24.9%	7.0%	10.2×	3.0×
Real Estate (General/Diversified)	12	51.2%	27.2%	23.8%	17.3×	6.8×
Real Estate (Operations & Services)	54	32.2%	4.0%	1.2%	22.0×	1.5×
Recreation	49	39.8%	16.6%	-4.7%	10.4×	1.9×
Reinsurance	1	13.2%	6.0%	3.9%	8.7×	0.7×
REITs	190	58.1%	43.8%	13.2%	19.9×	10.7×
Restaurant/Dining	64	32.2%	19.5%	9.4%	17.5×	4.2×
Retail (Automotive)	34	22.0%	7.2%	3.4%	14.8×	1.3×
Retail (Building Supply)	14	34.2%	14.2%	7.8%	14.4×	2.3×
Retail (Distributors)	62	30.6%	11.4%	6.0%	13.7×	1.9×
Retail (General)	23	33.2%	10.1%	5.6%	17.4×	2.1×
Retail (Grocery and Food)	15	26.3%	5.4%	1.3%	8.9×	0.5×
Retail (REITs)	26	78.6%	67.2%	23.0%	16.7×	12.0×
Retail (Special Lines)	94	35.3%	9.8%	5.2%	11.5×	1.6×
Rubber & Tires	3	18.0%	8.7%	-9.5%	6.7×	0.6×
Semiconductor	66	59.0%	36.8%	30.4%	34.8×	15.7×
Semiconductor Equipment	31	46.3%	29.1%	21.3%	24.7×	7.6×
Shipbuilding & Marine	8	27.1%	20.4%	9.5%	8.0×	1.7×
Shoe	11	43.9%	11.9%	6.3%	16.9×	2.0×
Software (Entertainment)	77	66.5%	34.9%	29.9%	22.0×	9.1×
Software (Internet)	29	62.6%	9.5%	-0.9%	30.3×	9.6×
Software (System & Application)	309	71.7%	35.9%	25.5%	24.5×	11.4×
Steel	19	12.3%	10.6%	1.9%	11.6×	1.2×
Telecom (Wireless)	12	63.0%	34.6%	12.2%	9.0×	3.7×
Telecom Equipment	57	58.1%	23.9%	16.1%	24.1×	6.5×
Telecom Services	39	58.8%	34.7%	14.2%	6.5×	2.6×
Tobacco	10	64.3%	42.2%	26.7%	13.5×	6.4×
Transportation	19	24.1%	9.8%	8.2%	12.6×	1.6×
Transportation (Railroads)	4	51.0%	49.2%	24.7%	13.5×	6.7×
Trucking	26	21.2%	15.6%	3.8%	10.4×	1.7×
Utility (General)	14	44.2%	34.9%	14.2%	13.7×	5.3×
Utility (Water)	14	59.0%	45.7%	21.2%	14.1×	7.2×

Source: Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern. Banks have no EBITDA multiple: interest is their business, not a financing cost.

Frequently asked questions

Where do these industry benchmarks come from?

From Professor Aswath Damodaran’s datasets at NYU Stern, updated January 2026: aggregate figures for thousands of U.S. public companies in 94 industries.

Which margin should I compare my business with?

Gross margin shows pricing against direct costs, EBITDA margin shows how much of each sale the business keeps before financing and tax, and net margin is what is left at the end. Lenders and buyers look at EBITDA first.