2026 Damodaran EBIT and EBITDA margins by industry
Aswath Damodaran (NYU Stern) publishes a free annual dataset of operating margins by industry. The January 2026 update covers 94 US industry buckets. The two figures below are his "Pre-tax Unadjusted Operating Margin" (EBIT margin: total operating income divided by total revenue) and his "EBITDA/Sales" column (aggregate EBITDA divided by revenue) - both value-weighted aggregates across every US firm in the sector, not medians of company-level ratios. Stock-based compensation and R&D are left as expensed, so the operating-margin column maps closely to reported GAAP EBIT margin; the gap between the two columns is the sector's aggregate depreciation and amortisation load[Damodaran].
How to cite the dataset
Damodaran, A. (2026). Margins by Sector (US): January 2026 update. NYU Stern School of Business. Retrieved fromstern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/datafile/margin.html.
Full table: all 94 US industries
EBIT (operating) margin is the Pre-tax Unadjusted Operating Margin column and EBITDA/Sales is the EBITDA-margin column of the January 2026 update. Banks, brokerages and money-center financials read 0.00% because Damodaran's operating-margin definition does not apply to a revenue line built from interest and fees (see why NIM replaces EBIT for banks).
| Industry | EBIT margin | EBITDA/Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising | 10.07% | 14.06% |
| Aerospace/Defense | 8.65% | 10.69% |
| Air Transport | 5.32% | 10.27% |
| Apparel | 9.11% | 11.47% |
| Auto & Truck | 2.32% | 7.49% |
| Auto Parts | 5.67% | 9.04% |
| Bank (Money Center) | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Banks (Regional) | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Beverage (Alcoholic) | 22.76% | 29.52% |
| Beverage (Soft) | 20.53% | 22.78% |
| Broadcasting | 12.33% | 18.21% |
| Brokerage & Investment Banking | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Building Materials | 12.64% | 17.32% |
| Business & Consumer Services | 12.27% | 15.65% |
| Cable TV | 18.49% | 32.37% |
| Chemical (Basic) | 2.67% | 12.34% |
| Chemical (Diversified) | 3.29% | 9.68% |
| Chemical (Specialty) | 12.17% | 18.01% |
| Coal & Related Energy | -4.02% | 13.04% |
| Computer Services | 7.41% | 8.98% |
| Computers/Peripherals | 22.48% | 25.32% |
| Construction Supplies | 15.23% | 19.46% |
| Diversified | 22.73% | 31.27% |
| Drugs (Biotechnology) | 8.97% | 15.38% |
| Drugs (Pharmaceutical) | 29.54% | 33.59% |
| Education | 14.01% | 16.57% |
| Electrical Equipment | 9.53% | 12.65% |
| Electronics (Consumer & Office) | -4.49% | -2.65% |
| Electronics (General) | 10.42% | 12.36% |
| Engineering/Construction | 6.49% | 7.96% |
| Entertainment | 10.60% | 17.77% |
| Environmental & Waste Services | 14.61% | 20.99% |
| Farming/Agriculture | 5.45% | 8.04% |
| Financial Svcs. (Non-bank & Insurance) | 18.48% | 21.02% |
| Food Processing | 10.63% | 15.25% |
| Food Wholesalers | 2.61% | 3.71% |
| Furn/Home Furnishings | 6.59% | 9.75% |
| Green & Renewable Energy | 19.87% | 58.45% |
| Healthcare Products | 15.34% | 20.34% |
| Healthcare Support Services | 3.00% | 3.87% |
| Healthcare Information and Technology | 14.71% | 20.50% |
| Homebuilding | 12.57% | 14.14% |
| Hospitals/Healthcare Facilities | 13.36% | 15.80% |
| Hotel/Gaming | 19.39% | 24.45% |
| Household Products | 18.62% | 22.34% |
| Information Services | 11.89% | 17.28% |
| Insurance (General) | 21.31% | 23.57% |
| Insurance (Life) | 10.61% | 11.50% |
| Insurance (Prop/Cas.) | 15.25% | 14.73% |
| Investments & Asset Management | 25.50% | 11.65% |
| Machinery | 15.86% | 19.62% |
| Metals & Mining | 23.85% | 29.36% |
| Office Equipment & Services | 10.73% | 14.33% |
| Oil/Gas (Integrated) | 11.25% | 21.67% |
| Oil/Gas (Production and Exploration) | 25.42% | 43.21% |
| Oil/Gas Distribution | 25.78% | 32.74% |
| Oilfield Svcs/Equip. | 4.65% | 7.76% |
| Packaging & Container | 9.58% | 14.36% |
| Paper/Forest Products | 6.34% | 14.65% |
| Power | 21.47% | 35.33% |
| Precious Metals | 40.39% | 34.62% |
| Publishing & Newspapers | 9.98% | 13.18% |
| R.E.I.T. | 24.64% | 43.79% |
| Real Estate (Development) | 21.53% | 24.95% |
| Real Estate (General/Diversified) | 21.45% | 27.19% |
| Real Estate (Operations & Services) | 2.85% | 3.96% |
| Recreation | 9.69% | 16.64% |
| Reinsurance | 7.21% | 5.96% |
| Restaurant/Dining | 15.79% | 19.47% |
| Retail (Automotive) | 6.24% | 7.24% |
| Retail (Building Supply) | 11.94% | 14.21% |
| Retail (Distributors) | 10.10% | 11.37% |
| Retail (General) | 6.80% | 10.11% |
| Retail (Grocery and Food) | 2.29% | 5.40% |
| Retail (REITs) | 40.25% | 67.17% |
| Retail (Special Lines) | 7.73% | 9.85% |
| Rubber& Tires | 2.24% | 8.73% |
| Semiconductor | 35.33% | 36.77% |
| Semiconductor Equip | 26.17% | 29.06% |
| Shipbuilding & Marine | 12.60% | 20.41% |
| Shoe | 9.03% | 11.87% |
| Software (Entertainment) | 33.85% | 34.90% |
| Software (Internet) | 3.69% | 9.52% |
| Software (System & Application) | 32.98% | 35.93% |
| Steel | 4.10% | 10.58% |
| Telecom (Wireless) | 20.98% | 34.57% |
| Telecom. Equipment | 20.70% | 23.95% |
| Telecom. Services | 20.47% | 34.70% |
| Tobacco | 43.54% | 42.22% |
| Transportation | 7.57% | 9.83% |
| Transportation (Railroads) | 37.41% | 49.19% |
| Trucking | 6.89% | 15.58% |
| Utility (General) | 23.49% | 34.92% |
| Utility (Water) | 33.72% | 45.73% |
What the Jan-2026 table shows
- The widest EBIT margins sit in Tobacco (43.5%), Retail REITs (40.3%), Precious Metals (40.4%), Railroads (37.4%), Semiconductor (35.3%) and System & Application software (33.0%).
- The thinnest positive margins are in Retail Grocery/Food (2.3%), Rubber & Tyres (2.2%), Auto & Truck (2.3%), Food Wholesalers (2.6%) and Basic Chemicals (2.7%); a handful of sectors (Coal, Consumer Electronics) are negative in aggregate.
- Internet software reads just 3.7% on an unadjusted basis because heavy stock-based-comp and R&D expense is left in, versus 18.6% once pre-SBC operating income is used, the largest adjustment gap in the table.
- The widest gaps between EBIT margin and EBITDA/Sales sit in capital-intensive sectors, where depreciation dominates: Green & Renewable Energy (19.9% vs 58.5%), Retail REITs (40.3% vs 67.2%), REITs (24.6% vs 43.8%), Cable TV (18.5% vs 32.4%) and Wireless Telecom (21.0% vs 34.6%). That gap is the sector's aggregate D&A load.
- Financials (regional and money-center banks, brokerages) show 0.00% by construction, not because they are unprofitable.