Narrow Moat Stocks: Competitive Advantages Under Pressure
A narrow moat means the competitive advantage exists but may be under pressure. These companies still earn above-average returns — but the trend direction matters enormously. Watch for moat erosion before it becomes obvious to the market.
All Narrow Moat Stocks
These companies have moat ratings between 2.0 and 3.4 stars — they earn above-average returns but with less consistency or durability than wide-moat peers. The key question for each: is the moat widening (opportunity) or narrowing (risk)?
American Airlines Group Inc. Common Stock
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. Common Stock
AbbVie Inc.
Airbnb, Inc.
Abbott Laboratories
Accenture plc
Adobe Inc.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Autodesk, Inc.
C3.ai, Inc.
Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Astera Labs, Inc.
Align Technology, Inc.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Amgen Inc.
Antero Resources Corporation
Arm Holdings plc
Broadcom Inc.
Axon Enterprise, Inc.
AutoZone, Inc.
The Boeing Company
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.
Becton, Dickinson and Company
Bloom Energy Corporation
Biogen Inc.
Smartbird, Inc
Booking Holdings Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
BioNTech SE
Boston Scientific Corporation
British American Tobacco p.l.c.
ConAgra Brands, Inc.
Carrier Global Corporation
Cerebras Systems Inc.
Cameco Corporation
Carnival Corporation Ltd.
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
CDW Corporation Common Stock
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
Charter Communications, Inc.
The Cigna Group
Ciena Corporation
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
Coherent Corp.
ConocoPhillips
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Corpay, Inc.
The Campbell's Company
Copart, Inc.
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd
Salesforce, Inc.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.
CoreWeave, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc.
CSX Corporation
Chevron Corporation
DoorDash, Inc.
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
Datadog, Inc.
Dell Technologies Inc.
D.R. Horton, Inc.
Danaher Corporation
Walt Disney Company (The)
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.
DraftKings Inc.
Dow Inc.
Dynatrace, Inc.
Devon Energy Corporation
DexCom, Inc.
Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. (T
Elevance Health, Inc.
Emerson Electric Co.
EOG Resources, Inc.
Energy Transfer LP
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.
Ford Motor Company
Diamondback Energy, Inc.
Fastenal Company
Freeport-McMoRan, Inc.
FedEx Corporation
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.
Fiserv, Inc.
Fabrinet
General Dynamics Corporation
GoDaddy Inc.
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.
Gen Digital Inc.
GE Vernova Inc.
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
General Mills, Inc.
General Motors Company
GameStop Corp.
Global Payments Inc.
Grab Holdings Limited
Halliburton Company
Home Depot, Inc. (The)
Hims & Hers Health, Inc.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Honeywell International Inc.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
Hormel Foods Corporation
The Hershey Company
HubSpot, Inc.
International Business Machines Corporation
Illumina, Inc.
Intel Corporation
Intuit Inc.
IonQ, Inc.
IQVIA Holdings Inc.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
Jabil Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Joby Aviation, Inc.
The Kraft Heinz Company
KLA Corporation
Kinder Morgan, Inc.
Lucid Group, Inc.
Lennar Corporation
Centrus Energy Corp.
L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
Lumentum Holdings Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
lululemon athletica inc.
Mastercard Incorporated
Marriot International Class A Common Stock
McDonald's Corporation
MongoDB, Inc.
Mondelez International, Inc.
Medtronic plc.
MercadoLibre, Inc.
MGM Resorts International
McCormick & Company, Incorporated
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.
3M Company
Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
Moderna, Inc.
Marvell Technology, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Strategy Inc
Micron Technology, Inc.
Nebius Group N.V.
Newmont Corporation
Cloudflare, Inc.
NIKE, Inc.
ServiceNow, Inc.
Norfolk Southern Corporation
Nucor Corporation
nVent Electric plc
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.
Okta, Inc.
ON Semiconductor Corporation
Oracle Corporation
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc.
Otis Worldwide Corporation
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
UiPath, Inc.
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pfizer, Inc.
Palantir Technologies Inc.
Phillips 66
Quanta Services, Inc.
PayPal Holdings, Inc.
D-Wave Quantum Inc.
QUALCOMM Incorporated
Restaurant Brands International
Quantum Computing Inc.
Roblox Corporation
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rigetti Computing, Inc.
Rivian Automotive, Inc.
Rocket Lab Corporation
Roku, Inc.
Republic Services, Inc.
RTX Corporation
Starbucks Corporation
Sea Limited
SolarEdge Technologies, Inc.
Shopify Inc.
The J. M. Smucker Company
SLB N.V.
Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Summit Therapeutics Inc.
NuScale Power Corporation
Semtech Corporation
Snap Inc.
Sandisk Corporation
Snowflake Inc.
Synopsys, Inc.
SoundHound AI, Inc.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
S&P Global Inc.
Spotify Technology S.A.
Steel Dynamics, Inc.
Constellation Brands, Inc.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.
Stryker Corporation
Symbotic Inc.
Sysco Corporation
AT&T Inc.
Atlassian Corporation
Teradyne, Inc.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc
T-Mobile US, Inc.
Toast, Inc.
Tesla, Inc.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
Tyson Foods, Inc.
The Trade Desk, Inc.
TTM Technologies, Inc.
Twilio Inc.
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Unity Software Inc.
Uber Technologies, Inc.
Ulta Beauty, Inc.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
Union Pacific Corporation
United Parcel Service, Inc.
Universal Corporation
Visa Inc.
Valero Energy Corporation
Vulcan Materials Company
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
Viatris Inc.
Verizon Communications Inc.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technolo
Waters Corporation
Waste Connections, Inc.
Workday, Inc.
Western Digital Corporation
The Williams Companies, Inc.
Walmart Inc.
Wolfspeed, Inc.
Wynn Resorts, Limited
ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation
XPO, Inc.
Block, Inc.
Yum! Brands, Inc.
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.
Zoom Communications, Inc.
Zscaler, Inc.
Why Narrow Moats Deserve Special Attention
Narrow-moat stocks sit in the most dynamic part of the competitive landscape. They earn above-average returns today, but the durability of those returns is uncertain. This creates both opportunity and risk.
The opportunity: if the company is actively strengthening its competitive position, a narrow moat can widen. Investing early in a widening moat is one of the highest-return strategies in value investing — you get a future wide-moat business at a narrow-moat price.
The risk: if the moat is narrowing, the company's profitability will converge toward its cost of capital. The stock price follows — often sharply, as the market tends to overshoot in both directions during competitive transitions.
Signals of Moat Erosion
Watch for these warning signs in narrow-moat companies:
- Declining ROIC trend — returns on invested capital falling for 3+ consecutive years, even if still above cost of capital
- Gross margin compression — the company is being forced to compete on price rather than differentiation
- Rising customer churn — switching costs are declining as competitors offer easier migration paths
- Increased capex without margin improvement — spending more to maintain position but not earning returns
- Market share losses — competitors are gaining ground despite the company's investment efforts
Narrow moat vs. value trap: A narrow-moat stock is not the same as a value trap. Value traps are cheap because the business is failing. Narrow-moat stocks may be fairly valued — the question is whether the current profitability level is sustainable. Check the Z-Score: a narrow-moat stock with a safe Z-Score is a competitive dynamics question. A narrow-moat stock in the distress zone is a survival question.
How to Use This Page
- Click through to each ticker page to see the ROIC trend chart — is ROIC improving or declining over 10 years?
- Check the Z-Score — financial health separates "competitive transition" from "distress."
- Compare with sector peers on the wide moat list — is the company's competitive position unusual for its industry, or is the entire sector under pressure?
- For stocks where the narrow moat is widening and the valuation is attractive, these may be the best risk-adjusted opportunities in the coverage universe.
Stocks that meet this criteria
Agilent Technologies, Inc.
American Airlines Group Inc. Common Stock
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. Common Stock
AbbVie Inc.
Airbnb, Inc.
Abbott Laboratories
Accenture plc
Adobe Inc.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Autodesk, Inc.
C3.ai, Inc.
Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Astera Labs, Inc.
Align Technology, Inc.
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Amgen Inc.
Antero Resources Corporation
Arm Holdings plc
Broadcom Inc.
Axon Enterprise, Inc.
AutoZone, Inc.
The Boeing Company
BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc.
Becton, Dickinson and Company
Bloom Energy Corporation
Biogen Inc.
Smartbird, Inc
Booking Holdings Inc.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
BioNTech SE
Boston Scientific Corporation
British American Tobacco p.l.c.
ConAgra Brands, Inc.
Carrier Global Corporation
Cerebras Systems Inc.
Cameco Corporation
Carnival Corporation Ltd.
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
CDW Corporation Common Stock
C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc.
Charter Communications, Inc.
The Cigna Group
Ciena Corporation
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
Coherent Corp.
ConocoPhillips
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Corpay, Inc.
The Campbell's Company
Copart, Inc.
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd
Salesforce, Inc.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.
CoreWeave, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc.
CSX Corporation
Chevron Corporation
DoorDash, Inc.
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
Datadog, Inc.
Dell Technologies Inc.
D.R. Horton, Inc.
Danaher Corporation
Walt Disney Company (The)
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.
DraftKings Inc.
Dow Inc.
Dynatrace, Inc.
Devon Energy Corporation
DexCom, Inc.
Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. (T
Elevance Health, Inc.
Emerson Electric Co.
EOG Resources, Inc.
Energy Transfer LP
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.
Ford Motor Company
Diamondback Energy, Inc.
Fastenal Company
Freeport-McMoRan, Inc.
FedEx Corporation
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.
Fiserv, Inc.
Fabrinet
General Dynamics Corporation
GoDaddy Inc.
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.
Gen Digital Inc.
GE Vernova Inc.
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
General Mills, Inc.
General Motors Company
GameStop Corp.
Global Payments Inc.
Grab Holdings Limited
Halliburton Company
Home Depot, Inc. (The)
Hims & Hers Health, Inc.
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.
Honeywell International Inc.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company
Hormel Foods Corporation
The Hershey Company
HubSpot, Inc.
International Business Machines Corporation
Illumina, Inc.
Intel Corporation
Intuit Inc.
IonQ, Inc.
IQVIA Holdings Inc.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
Jabil Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Joby Aviation, Inc.
The Kraft Heinz Company
KLA Corporation
Kinder Morgan, Inc.
Lucid Group, Inc.
Lennar Corporation
Centrus Energy Corp.
L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
Lumentum Holdings Inc.
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Lowe's Companies, Inc.
lululemon athletica inc.
Mastercard Incorporated
Marriot International Class A Common Stock
McDonald's Corporation
MongoDB, Inc.
Mondelez International, Inc.
Medtronic plc.
MercadoLibre, Inc.
MGM Resorts International
McCormick & Company, Incorporated
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.
3M Company
Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
Moderna, Inc.
Marvell Technology, Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Strategy Inc
Micron Technology, Inc.
Nebius Group N.V.
Newmont Corporation
Cloudflare, Inc.
NIKE, Inc.
ServiceNow, Inc.
Norfolk Southern Corporation
Nucor Corporation
nVent Electric plc
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc.
Okta, Inc.
ON Semiconductor Corporation
Oracle Corporation
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc.
Otis Worldwide Corporation
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
UiPath, Inc.
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pfizer, Inc.
Palantir Technologies Inc.
Phillips 66
Quanta Services, Inc.
PayPal Holdings, Inc.
D-Wave Quantum Inc.
QUALCOMM Incorporated
Restaurant Brands International
Quantum Computing Inc.
Roblox Corporation
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rigetti Computing, Inc.
Rivian Automotive, Inc.
Rocket Lab Corporation
Roku, Inc.
Republic Services, Inc.
RTX Corporation
Starbucks Corporation
Sea Limited
SolarEdge Technologies, Inc.
Shopify Inc.
The J. M. Smucker Company
SLB N.V.
Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Summit Therapeutics Inc.
NuScale Power Corporation
Semtech Corporation
Snap Inc.
Sandisk Corporation
Snowflake Inc.
Synopsys, Inc.
SoundHound AI, Inc.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
S&P Global Inc.
Spotify Technology S.A.
Steel Dynamics, Inc.
Constellation Brands, Inc.
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.
Stryker Corporation
Symbotic Inc.
Sysco Corporation
AT&T Inc.
Atlassian Corporation
Teradyne, Inc.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc
T-Mobile US, Inc.
Toast, Inc.
Tesla, Inc.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
Tyson Foods, Inc.
The Trade Desk, Inc.
TTM Technologies, Inc.
Twilio Inc.
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Unity Software Inc.
Uber Technologies, Inc.
Ulta Beauty, Inc.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
Union Pacific Corporation
United Parcel Service, Inc.
Universal Corporation
Visa Inc.
Valero Energy Corporation
Vulcan Materials Company
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
Viatris Inc.
Verizon Communications Inc.
Westinghouse Air Brake Technolo
Waters Corporation
Waste Connections, Inc.
Workday, Inc.
Western Digital Corporation
The Williams Companies, Inc.
Walmart Inc.
Wolfspeed, Inc.
Wynn Resorts, Limited
ExxonMobil Holdings Corporation
XPO, Inc.
Block, Inc.
Yum! Brands, Inc.
Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.
Zoom Communications, Inc.
Zscaler, Inc.
Common questions
What defines a narrow moat?
A moat rating between 2.0 and 3.5 stars in our system. These companies earn above-average ROIC but with less consistency, weaker margin trends, or lower implied switching costs compared to wide-moat peers.
Is a narrow moat good or bad?
It depends on direction. A narrow moat that is widening (improving ROIC, expanding margins) is an opportunity — you may be buying a future wide-moat stock at a narrow-moat price. A narrow moat that is narrowing (declining ROIC, compressing margins) is a warning — the competitive position is eroding.
How is narrow moat different from value trap?
A narrow moat is about competitive dynamics — the company's ability to sustain above-average returns. A value trap is about financial health and valuation — the company is distressed and overpriced. A narrow-moat stock with a safe Z-Score is a competitive question. A narrow-moat stock in the distress zone is a survival question.
Other research engines
Wide Moat Stocks
Companies with the strongest and most stable competitive advantages.
Moat Ratings Hub
The three-factor moat methodology and all moat research tools.
Types of Economic Moats
Understand the five moat sources: network effects, switching costs, brand, scale, and regulation.