The 2025 Vici 500 Is Here: Profit Still Wins
by Vici Partners team members Anoushka Barkawitz and Alec Hudnut
We all know the Fortune 500. Every year, it ranks the biggest companies in America by revenue—and every year, it’s treated like the ultimate scoreboard for business success. Make the list, and you’ve made it.
But here’s the problem: revenue alone doesn’t tell you who’s winning. It tells you who’s big, not who’s strong.
At Vici Partners, we believe profitability is a better metric—because the dollars left in the bank at the end of the year are what matter most. Profits give you the power to reinvest, outlast downturns, beat competitors, and build long-term value. If your margins are thin and your earnings weak, it doesn’t matter how massive your top line is—you’re playing defense, not offense.
So three years ago, we launched the Vici 500—our profitability-first view of the Fortune 500. It’s a simple but powerful shift: instead of ranking companies by how much they sell, we rank them by how much they keep. Net income over noise. Strength over scale.
This year, we’re back with the 2025 edition. We’ve pulled the latest Fortune 500 data and re-ranked the list based on net profit. We highlight the top 10 profit engines, those making the most money and also, the highest percentage margin operators who squeeze the most from every dollar sold.
The results speak for themselves: the companies with the most profit—not the most revenue—are the ones built to win the long game.
Let’s take a look at who’s actually winning in 2025.
Here’s the current Fortune 500 list (you will need a subscription; for a while, it was only $1 for a trial): https://fortune.com/ranking/fortune500/2025/
First, Who Gets Cut?
Many Fortune 500 companies don’t make it into the Vici 500. Why? Because they didn’t earn a dime. All the companies below posted negative net income in 2025. That’s right—losing money at scale. Which is impressive in its own way, but not the kind of impressive we’re after.
These companies fall off the list automatically: BrightSpring Health Services, Par Pacific, Lumen Technologies, Dana, Altice USA, United Natural Foods, EchoStar, KeyCorp, Newell Brands, Caesars Entertainment, Whirlpool, Advance Auto Parts, Kyndryl Holdings, Owens & Minor, AGCO, Icahn Enterprises, Wayfair, Community Health Systems, PBF Energy, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Delek US Holdings, Viatris, Baxter International, Cleveland-Cliffs, Endeavor, JetBlue Airways, Western Digital, VF, QVC Group, AIG, Celanese, Sirius XM Holdings, Avis Budget Group, TIAA, Hertz Global Holdings, Dollar Tree, Paramount Global, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Warner Bros. Discovery, Boeing, and Intel.
The above names had the scale to be on the Fortune list. But in terms of profit? They’re not in the game at all.
The Top 10 by Revenue (Millions)
Let’s look at who tops the 2025 Fortune 500, ranked by revenue (rounded):
1. Walmart – $681,000
2. Amazon – $638,000
3. UnitedHealth Group – $400,300
4. Apple – $391,000
5. CVS Health – $372,800
6. Berkshire Hathaway – $371,400
7. Alphabet – $350,000
8. Exxon Mobil – $349,600
9. McKesson – $309,000
10. Cencora – $294,000
Big numbers, no doubt. Impressive scale. But when you stack these against profitability, the leaderboard shifts dramatically.
The Real Power Players: Top 10 by Profit (Millions)
Now here’s the 2025 Vici 500 Top 10—ranked by net income:
1. Alphabet – $100,118
2. Apple – $93,736
3. Berkshire Hathaway – $88,995
4. Microsoft – $88,136
5. Nvidia – $72,880
6. Meta Platforms – $62,360
7. Amazon – $59,248
8. JPMorgan Chase – $58,471
9. Exxon Mobil – $33,680
10. Bank of America – $27,132
Together, these ten companies generated over $685 billion in net profit last year. That’s 36.7%
of all profits earned by the entire Fortune 500. It quite literally pays to be at the top of this list.
A Deeper Look: Alphabet vs. Walmart
Let’s compare the traditional #1 with the Vici 500 leader.
Walmart sits atop the Fortune 500 with $681 billion in revenue—but earns just $19.4 billion in net income. That’s a slim net income margin of 2.9%. Walmart’s scale is massive, but it operates on thin margins and relies on high volume and tight cost control to stay profitable.
Alphabet, meanwhile, brings in $350 billion in revenue—roughly half of Walmart’s top line—but delivers a staggering $100.1 billion in net profit. That’s a net income margin of 28.6%. Alphabet ranks just #7 in revenue, but it rockets to #1 when it comes to what matters most: the bottom line.
In other words: Walmart sells more. Alphabet keeps more.
That’s the core of the Vici 500 philosophy. Revenue shows reach, but profit shows strength. The Fortune 500 rewards companies for how much they sell. The Vici 500 rewards them for how efficiently they turn sales into lasting value.
Because in the end, it’s not about how big you look—it’s about how well you perform.
Small Footprint, Big Profits: The Margin Masters
Not every giant wears size 100 shoes. Some of the most profitable companies in the Fortune 500 don’t top the revenue charts—but they excel where it counts: net income margin. These are the firms turning every dollar of sales into gold.
Here are the top 10 companies by net income margin:
1. Nvidia – 55.8%
2. Altria – 55.2%
3. Visa – 55.0%
4. Mastercard – 45.7%
5. Prologis – 45.5%
6. Meta Platforms – 38.0%
7. Microsoft – 36.0%
8. Ball – 33.0%
9. FM Global – 33.0%
10. Palo Alto Networks – 32.2%
What do they have in common? Strong pricing power, lean operations, and in many cases, intangible assets—like software, data, or brands—that scale without heavy costs. They prove you don’t need to sell the most—you just need to keep the most.
So—Which List Would You Rather Be On?
The Fortune 500 celebrates scale. The Vici 500 celebrates performance. And in a world where economic shocks are the norm, performance is everything.
If you’re a CEO, board member, investor, or operator, you need to ask:
Are we chasing size… or building strength?
Are we bragging about revenue… or building durable profit engines?
Because at the end of the day, it’s not about how much you make. It’s about how much you keep.
If you’re ready to stop leaving money on the table, it’s time to work with Vici Partners. We’ll show you how top companies maximize earnings—and help you join them at the top of the Vici 500.
Ready to join the ranks of the most profitable? Schedule a meeting with Alec here
Connect with us here: www.vicipartners.com
Alec Hudnut is Managing Partner at Vici Partners. He can be reached at ahudnut@vicipartners.com.
Anoushka Barkawitz is a Research Associate at Vici Partners, an earnings growth consulting firm.