CompaniesRanked

2874 companies · fiscal year 2025 · SEC EDGAR · September 25, 2026

Companies that spend the most on research and development

Research and development expense is what the company charged to R&D in the income statement for the year. Most companies report no R&D at all — the line is absent rather than zero — so this ranking covers the roughly 40% of filers that do. Figures are for fiscal year 2025 and are read directly from each company's SEC filings; the source column on every row links to the document.

Ranks 1–100 of 1270 · Fiscal year 2025 · Data as of September 25, 2026

Alphabet (GOOGL) tops the list with $61.1B in r&d expense for fiscal 2025, ahead of Meta Platforms ($57.4B) and Apple ($34.6B). The top 10 together report $274B in r&d expense; the gap between #1 and #10 is ×4.85. 1270 SEC filers report r&d expense; the list shows the top 100. The last place on the list, Thermo Fisher Scientific, comes in at $1.4B.

R&D expense
#CompanyR&D expenseYoY15-year trend
1AlphabetGOOGLUSTechnology$61.1B+23.8%
2Meta PlatformsMETAUSTechnology$57.4B+30.8%
3AppleAAPLUSTechnology$34.6B+10.1%
4MicrosoftMSFTUSTechnology$32.5B+10.1%
5NVIDIANVDAUSTechnology$18.5B+43.2%
6MerckMRKUSHealthcare$15.8B−12.0%
7AstraZenecaAZNGBHealthcare$14.2B+4.8%
8IntelINTCUSTechnology$13.8B−16.8%
9Eli LillyLLYUSHealthcare$13.3B+21.3%
10StellantisSTLANLConsumer discretionary$12.6B+101.2%
11BroadcomAVGOUSTechnology$11.0B+17.9%
12PfizerPFEUSHealthcare$10.4B−3.6%
13OracleORCLUSTechnology$10.3B+4.2%
14Bristol Myers SquibbBMYUSHealthcare$10.0B−10.8%
15GSKGSKGBHealthcare$9.9B+21.3%
16Alibaba GroupBABAHKTechnology$9.6B+22.5%
17Ford MotorFUSConsumer discretionary$9.4B+17.5%
18Cisco SystemsCSCOUSTechnology$9.3B+16.5%
19AbbVieABBVUSHealthcare$9.1B−28.9%
20QualcommQCOMUSTechnology$9.0B+1.7%
21International Business MachinesIBMUSTechnology$8.3B+11.2%
22Advanced Micro DevicesAMDUSTechnology$8.1B+25.3%
23Novo Nordisk A SNVODKHealthcare$7.9B+13.0%
24SAPSAPDETechnology$7.5B+6.3%
25AmgenAMGNUSHealthcare$7.3B+21.9%
26General MotorsGMUSConsumer discretionary$7.2B−2.7%
27TeslaTSLAUSConsumer discretionary$6.4B+41.2%
28SalesforceCRMUSTechnology$6.0B+9.1%
29Regeneron PharmaceuticalsREGNUSHealthcare$5.9B+14.0%
30Gilead SciencesGILDUSHealthcare$5.8B−1.8%
31NokiaNOKFITechnology$5.5B+12.3%
32ASML HoldingASMLNLIndustrials$5.3B+14.0%
33Ericsson LM TelephoneERICSETechnology$5.0B−1.5%
34Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTXUSHealthcare$3.9B+7.7%
35Micron TechnologyMUUSTechnology$3.8B+10.7%
36BoeingBAUSIndustrials$3.6B−5.2%
37Applied MaterialsAMATUSTechnology$3.6B+10.4%
38Uber TechnologiesUBERUSTechnology$3.4B+9.4%
39NetflixNFLXUSCommunication services$3.4B+15.9%
40JD.comJDCNConsumer discretionary$3.2B+36.3%
41Dell TechnologiesDELLUSTechnology$3.1B+2.6%
42ModernaMRNAUSHealthcare$3.1B−31.1%
43ServiceNowNOWUSTechnology$3.0B+16.4%
44Abbott LaboratoriesABTUSHealthcare$2.9B+3.4%
45IntuitINTUUSTechnology$2.9B+6.3%
46BaiduBIDUCNTechnology$2.9B−3.6%
47BlockXYZUSTechnology$2.9B−0.2%
48MedtronicMDTIEHealthcare$2.9B+5.2%
49RTXRTXUSIndustrials$2.8B−4.3%
50Arm HoldingsARMGBTechnology$2.8B+34.0%
51WorkdayWDAYUSTechnology$2.7B+2.0%
52AtlassianTEAMUSTechnology$2.7B+22.2%
53NetEaseNTESCNTechnology$2.5B+5.5%
54Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHPEUSTechnology$2.5B+12.1%
55SynopsysSNPSUSTechnology$2.5B+19.1%
56BiontechBNTXDEHealthcare$2.4B−2.5%
57Lam ResearchLRCXUSIndustrials$2.4B+13.3%
58NXP SemiconductorsNXPINLTechnology$2.4B+0.6%
59PDD HoldingsPDDIETechnology$2.4B+36.0%
60AirbnbABNBUSIndustrials$2.4B+14.5%
61DeereDEUSIndustrials$2.3B+0.9%
62MercadolibreMELIUYTechnology$2.3B+17.3%
63Trip.com GroupTCOMSGTechnology$2.2B+20.2%
64CaterpillarCATUSIndustrials$2.1B+1.9%
65Beone MedicinesONCCHHealthcare$2.1B+9.9%
66Procter & GamblePGUSConsumer staples$2.1B+5.0%
67Texas InstrumentsTXNUSTechnology$2.1B+6.3%
68Marvell TechnologyMRVLUSTechnology$2.1B+6.4%
69Boston ScientificBSXUSHealthcare$2.1B+27.1%
70IncyteINCYUSHealthcare$2.1B−21.4%
71STMicroelectronicsSTMNLTechnology$2.0B−1.6%
72Lockheed MartinLMTUSIndustrials$2.0B+25.0%
73Palo Alto NetworksPANWUSTechnology$2.0B+9.6%
74SnowflakeSNOWUSTechnology$2.0B+10.4%
75Koninklijke PhilipsPHGNLHealthcare$1.9B+1.6%
76Honeywell InternationalHONUSIndustrials$1.8B+24.6%
77SnapSNAPUSTechnology$1.8B+6.0%
78BiogenBIIBUSHealthcare$1.8B−10.2%
79Analog DevicesADIUSTechnology$1.8B+18.7%
80Coinbase GlobalCOINUSFinancials$1.7B+13.8%
81Rivian AutomotiveRIVNUSConsumer discretionary$1.7B+3.4%
82AutodeskADSKUSTechnology$1.6B+10.6%
83eBayEBAYUSTechnology$1.6B+11.0%
84StrykerSYKUSHealthcare$1.6B+10.7%
85Li AutoLICNConsumer discretionary$1.6B+6.7%
86General DynamicsGDUSIndustrials$1.6B+4.4%
87GenmabGMABDKHealthcare$1.6B+13.6%
88HPHPQUSTechnology$1.6B−2.3%
89DanaherDHRUSTechnology$1.6B+0.9%
90General ElectricGEUSTechnology$1.6B+22.9%
91Spotify TechnologySPOTLUCommunication services$1.6B−2.1%
92RobloxRBLXUSTechnology$1.6B+8.6%
93DatadogDDOGUSTechnology$1.5B+34.3%
94ShopifySHOPCATechnology$1.5B+12.4%
95Sarepta TherapeuticsSRPTUSHealthcare$1.5B+89.2%
96NIONIOCNConsumer discretionary$1.5B−15.1%
97CortevaCTVAUSConsumer staples$1.5B+5.1%
98DoorDashDASHUSTechnology$1.4B+22.5%
99PinterestPINSUSTechnology$1.4B+15.1%
100Thermo Fisher ScientificTMOUSTechnology$1.4B+0.5%

All figures from SEC filings · FY2025 · 100

see sources

Download this data as a CSV →

Embed this table

Free to use on any site. The table updates itself whenever the data is rebuilt — you paste it once. The only condition is that you keep the credit line below the table, so readers can reach the source.

<iframe src="https://companiesranked.com/embed/en/companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development" title="Companies that spend the most on research and development" width="100%" height="478" loading="lazy" style="max-width:680px;border:1px solid #e5e2dc;border-radius:6px"></iframe>
<p style="max-width:680px;font:13px system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://companiesranked.com/en/companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development">Companies that spend the most on research and development</a> — CompaniesRanked, compiled from SEC EDGAR filings</p>

Open the embed on its own →

Cite this page

Ready-made references for the figures on this page, as published on September 25, 2026.

Wikipedia

{{cite web |title=Companies that spend the most on research and development |url=https://companiesranked.com/en/companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development |website=CompaniesRanked |date=2026-09-25 |language=en}}

APA 7

CompaniesRanked. (September 25, 2026). Companies that spend the most on research and development. CompaniesRanked. https://companiesranked.com/en/companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development

BibTeX

@misc{companiesranked-en-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development-2026,
  author       = {{CompaniesRanked}},
  title        = {{Companies that spend the most on research and development}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://companiesranked.com/en/companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development}},
  note         = {Compiled from SEC EDGAR XBRL filings; data as of 2026-09-25},
  urldate      = {2026-09-25}
}

The figures are rebuilt with every data refresh, so the reference carries the publication date. Add your own access date if your style requires one.

By sector

By country