ADM vs Cargill: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
ADM had $80.3B of annual revenue in FY2025 and $1.1B of net income. Cargill had $164B of annual revenue in FY2025.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
ADM
Revenue fell from $93.935 billion in 2023 to $85.530 billion in 2024 and $80.269 billion in 2025. Net income fell from $3.483 billion in 2023 to $1.800 billion in 2024 and $1.078 billion in 2025, according to ADM's 2025 Form 10-K. Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) is a cornerstone of global agricultural processing, maintaining a strong market valuation typically over $30 billion.
Cargill
Cargill reported annual revenues of $165.0 billion in fiscal 2022 and hit a record $177.0 billion in fiscal 2023 as the war in Ukraine triggered historic price volatility across global grain markets. In fiscal 2024, as agricultural commodity prices retreated toward historic averages, Cargill's revenue moderated to approximately $160.0 billion, and stabilized around $164.0 billion in fiscal 2025. Although Cargill stopped reporting full public quarterly net earnings after 2020, its annual net profits historically range between $3.5 billion and $6.7 billion during peak agricultural cycle environments.
Revenue and profit by year
ADM
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $80.3B | $1.1B | 1.3% | -6.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $85.5B | $1.8B | 2.1% | -8.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $93.9B | $3.5B | 3.7% | -7.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $101.6B | $4.3B | 4.3% | +19.1% | Source |
| FY2021 | $85.2B | $2.7B | 3.2% | +32.5% | Source |
| FY2020 | $64.4B | $1.8B | 2.8% | -0.5% | Source |
| FY2019 | $64.7B | $1.4B | 2.1% | +0.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $64.3B | $1.8B | 2.8% | +5.8% | Source |
| FY2017 | $60.8B | $1.6B | 2.6% | -2.4% | Source |
| FY2016 | $62.3B | $1.3B | 2.1% | — | Source |
Cargill
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $164B | — | — | +2.5% | |
| FY2024 | $160B | — | — | -9.6% | |
| FY2023 | $177B | — | — | +7.3% | |
| FY2022 | $165B | — | — | — |
Where the revenue comes from
ADM
- Ag Services and Oilseeds
Not reported as a percentage
Originates, stores, transports and merchandises agricultural commodities and processes oilseeds into oils and protein meals.
- Carbohydrate Solutions
Not reported as a percentage
Processes corn and wheat into sweeteners, starches, flour, ethanol and other food and industrial products.
- Nutrition
Not reported as a percentage
Supplies human nutrition flavors and specialty ingredients plus animal nutrition products and solutions.
Cargill
- Core Agribusiness, Global Commodity Merchandising, Animal Nutrition & Food Ingredients Platform Operations
~48% of Total Net Revenue
Direct software licensing, enterprise subscription access, platform usage fees, or primary transaction commissions derived from Cargill, Incorporated's flagship commercial solutions.
- Enterprise Solutions & Value-Added Services
~28% of Total Net Revenue
Custom enterprise deployments, premium capability tiers, specialized API integrations, and dedicated technical client support contracts.
- Ancillary Services & Strategic Ecosystem Billing
~14% of Total Net Revenue
Complementary service fees, partner ecosystem revenue sharing, financing fees, and transactional processing services.
- Professional Services, Maintenance & Support
~10% of Total Net Revenue
Onboarding implementation, specialized compliance consulting, customer training programs, and annual service-level agreement retainers.
Business model and strategy
ADM
How it makes money
ADM buys, stores, transports and merchandises agricultural commodities, then processes oilseeds, corn, wheat and other inputs into oils, protein meals, sweeteners, starches, ethanol, flavors and nutrition products. Earnings depend on commodity merchandising, processing volumes and margins, logistics performance, and sales of higher-value ingredients across its three reportable segments.
Growth strategy
ADM's stated priorities include improving manufacturing performance, reducing costs, simplifying its portfolio, maintaining capital discipline and developing higher-value food, feed and bioeconomy products from its agricultural processing base.
Competitive advantage
ADM's competitive position comes from its integrated crop-origination, storage, transportation, processing and ingredient-development network. The same network lets ADM route commodities between origins and end markets and supply both bulk products and formulated nutrition ingredients.
Cargill
How it makes money
Cargill generates revenue by sourcing, transporting, storing, processing, and trading agricultural commodities and formulated food ingredients.
Growth strategy
Cargill grows through strategic mega-acquisitions that consolidate protein and bio-industrial capabilities (such as the $4.5 billion joint acquisition of Sanderson Farms and the $1 billion purchase of Croda's bio-based industrial business) alongside expanding integrated deep-water port handling facilities in South America and Southeast Asia.
Competitive advantage
Cargill's formidable economic moat is built on its irreplaceable physical infrastructure and asymmetric global information advantage.
Questions about ADM vs Cargill
Which company has higher revenue — Archer-Daniels-Midland Company or Cargill, Incorporated?
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company had $80.3B (FY2025), while Cargill, Incorporated had $164.0B (FY2025). By latest annual revenue, Cargill, Incorporated is the larger business, with Archer-Daniels-Midland Company showing a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Archer-Daniels-Midland Company vs Cargill, Incorporated?
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a market capitalisation of $39.2B. A public market cap figure for Cargill, Incorporated was not available (it may be privately held).
How does revenue per employee compare for Archer-Daniels-Midland Company and Cargill, Incorporated?
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has $1.93M / employee in revenue per employee, while Cargill, Incorporated has $1.02M / employee. Headcounts may use different dates, so the ratio alone does not establish which business operates more efficiently.
How do Archer-Daniels-Midland Company and Cargill, Incorporated make money?
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company and Cargill, Incorporated generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company: ADM buys, stores, transports and merchandises agricultural commodities, then processes oilseeds, corn, wheat and other inputs into oils, protein meals, sweeteners, starches, ethanol, flavors and nutrition products. Cargill, Incorporated: Cargill generates revenue by sourcing, transporting, storing, processing, and trading agricultural commodities and formulated food ingredients.
Is Archer-Daniels-Midland Company bigger than Cargill, Incorporated?
By last reported revenue, Cargill, Incorporated ($164.0B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ($80.3B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the ADM vs Cargill overview