Who Has the Biggest Profits, Big Oil or Big Media?

[Guest slamminshaun]

The media have repeatedly given air time to charges that the oil companies are taking advantage of consumers and earning unfair profits. Throughout the year reporters have alleged "oil companies...are making massive profits," "oil companies have watched their profits soar" and "record profits for the oil producers." But how do these oil profits compare to those of the media companies, themselves?

Looking at both industries, three of the top five companies with the highest profit margins were media companies. Comparing the average profit margin for the top five in each oil and media was complicated by the fact that Viacom, which owns CBS, actually lost money for the period covered by Yahoo’s numbers. The average of the four profitable media companies was a profit margin of 8.83%. Throwing Viacom’s zero into the average pulls it down to 7.06%. While the top five oil companies averaged a profit margin of 8.13%. With an average profit margin of 8.83% maybe ABC, NBC, CNN and Fox could be a little less greedy and reduce the number of commercials they sell.

[Guest General]

I wonder how much of a difference it would be to put an actual dollar amount instead of just a percent ???

[Guest Spankmeister]

Number one....yes, these are just percentages, not actual dollar amounts...

Number two....One is entertainment, one is actually providing a NEEDED resource...like electricity or natural gas...in many states (like Michigan where I am from) those are REGULATED industries because they are NEEDS rather than LUXURIES

This arguement has no actual merit...look at the technology companies...I bet a lot of them have much higher percentages, but again, they are not providing something that is NEEDED.

Many people can live without their cable TV, we all know how things grind to a halt without gasoline or electricity...

[Guest slamminshaun]

Hey, don't get me wrong. I think the big oil giants make more then enough. As a proud SUV owner, I'd like nothing more then for these guys to take one on the chin so I can get a little relief at the pump....

The point was, the media (specifically journalistic media) has been obsessed with the increased PERCENTAGES of profit the oil companies have been making. If they're so noble, why don't they reduce their profit margins instead of constantly downsizing and kicking low and middle income wage earners to the street? The New York Times has done a great job of sending regular folks packing, all the while their CEO is claiming more and more stock options and has a salary somewhere around $450,000 per year.

[Guest endymion]

Who has the biggest profits, or who has the biggest profit margins? There are much higher margins in other industries.

In the software industry, for example, my small firm operated at over a 1000% profit margin for three years straight during the boom. That's a crazy margin but the amount of money involved was relatively low since my firm is so tiny.

Other software industry gross margins from a random Google hit for "microsoft profit margins":

Microsoft 2004: 84%

Electronic Arts: 64%

Oracle Corporation: 80%

Those are three companies with huge gross revenues, so those high margins actually mean something.

Are high margins evil? I don't think so personally? Why would they be? High margins mean that there's somebody with half a brain steering the ship. High margins that lead to healthy profit are the true goal of every enterprise, so is it bad to succeed?

[Guest slamminshaun]

If the oil companies have to go with negative margins in order to get gas prices back to where they were, should they still be pressured to do it? I've been looking and looking and looking to find out where they'd be financially if they were to simply roll prices back, but that kind of information doesn't appear to be readily available.

[Guest endymion]

If the oil companies have to go with negative margins in order to get gas prices back to where they were' date=' should they still be pressured to do it?[/quote']

You just proposed nationalizing the oil industry, Mr Chavez.

[Guest slamminshaun]

If the oil companies have to go with negative margins in order to get gas prices back to where they were, should they still be pressured to do it?

You just proposed nationalizing the oil industry, Mr Chavez.

I didn't propose anything, simply asked a question.

[Guest michael^heaven]

---If we're talking big business...don't forget about the drug companies...

<>Pfizer, Inc.-87.6%

<>Merck & Co., Inc.-84.8%

<>GlaxoSmithKline-82.1%

<>AstraZeneca-81.6%

<>Bristol Myers Squibb Co.-81.3%

<>Eli Lilly & Co.-80.5%

<>Johnson & Johson-76.6%

[Guest dirtyhouse777]

---If we're talking big business...don't forget about the drug companies...

<>Pfizer, Inc.-87.6%

<>Merck & Co., Inc.-84.8%

<>GlaxoSmithKline-82.1%

<>AstraZeneca-81.6%

<>Bristol Myers Squibb Co.-81.3%

<>Eli Lilly & Co.-80.5%

<>Johnson & Johson-76.6%

holy shit