What are we looking for?
U.S. large-cap companies that are translating artificial intelligence investment into rising profit per employee.
The screen
Global capital expenditure on AI is projected to exceed US$500-billion in 2026, as enterprises race to build out compute capacity and incorporate AI into their operations. The narrative is shifting from how much companies are spending on AI to whether that spending is generating returns. Profit per employee is a clean indicator of successful AI investments, as it captures whether new technology is enabling firms to produce more with fewer resources. Companies that combine heavy investment into research and development and capital expenditures with growing profit per employee are best positioned to compound those gains over time.
Using FactSet’s screening tool, I identified U.S. large-cap companies capitalizing on AI by applying the following criteria:
- Included in the S&P 500 index
- Market capitalization greater than US$10-billion
- Sales per employee greater than US$1-million
- Net income per employee greater than US$200,000
- Year-over-year growth in sales and net income per employee, capital expenditures, and research and development
The 10 remaining companies were ranked by year-over-year growth in net income per employee.
What we found
Broadcom Inc. AVGO-Q, a global semiconductor and infrastructure software company, ranked first with year-over-year net income per employee growth of 320.4 per cent, well above the group average of 76.4 per cent. The company reported quarterly revenue of US$19.31-billion on March 4, 2026, with AI semiconductor revenue doubling over the previous year to US$8.4-billion. Growth is expected to accelerate, as chief executive officer Hock Tan stated on the earnings call that the company expects AI chip revenue to exceed US$100-billion in 2027, supported by a backlog of specialized chips worth US$73-billion ordered by hyperscalers such as Google, Meta and OpenAI. The board also authorized a new US$10-billion share repurchase program.
Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR-Q, a data analytics and artificial intelligence software company founded with early backing from the CIA’s venture capital arm, ranked second with year-over-year net income per employee growth of 212.5 per cent. Roughly 54 per cent of its 2025 revenue came from government contracts, with its software embedded across the Pentagon, the CIA, the U.S. Army, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Internal Revenue Service. The company reported quarterly revenue of US$1.41-billion on Feb. 2, 2026, up 70 per cent year-over-year and the highest growth rate in its history as a public company. The classified nature of much of its government work creates high switching costs, providing a difficult-to-disrupt competitive moat.
The information in this article is not investment advice. The author assumes no liability for any consequence relating directly or indirectly to any action or inaction taken based on the information contained above.
Disclosure: The author personally owns shares in Meta, Alphabet, Palantir and Apple.
Arjun Deiva, CFA, is an MBA Candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.