Overheads larger than gross profit
47 companies with revenue above $500m spend more on selling, general and administrative costs than they earn in gross profit.
Gross profit is what a company has available to cover everything that is not the direct cost of what it sells. SG&A is usually the largest claim on it. When SG&A alone exceeds the whole of gross profit, the business is losing money at the operating line before research, restructuring or interest are considered.
For a young company scaling towards profitability this is the expected position and says little. For a mature company at this revenue scale it describes either a cost base built for a larger business than the one that now exists, or a product that cannot be sold profitably at its current price.
Which one it is shows in the direction of travel. Compare revenue growth against SG&A growth: overheads falling faster than revenue is a company correcting, and the reverse is a company that has not started.
What this is usually called
SG&A covers selling, general and administrative expense, sometimes split into selling and marketing and general and administrative. Analysts call the ratio to revenue operating leverage when it falls as revenue grows, and bloat or a heavy cost base when it does not. Where SG&A exceeds gross profit the company has negative operating income, also written as an operating loss.
The question, as a query
Below is the query as a reader would type it. Edit the numbers to move the threshold and the answer changes with them.
sga > gross_profit AND revenue > 500m| Company | Revenue | Net income | Gross margin | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KHCKraft Heinz Co | $24.94B | -$5.85B | 33.3% | $3.66B |
| CLFCLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. | $18.61B | -$1.48B | -4.6% | -$1.02B |
| WLKWESTLAKE CORP | $11.17B | -$1.51B | 7.3% | -$530.00M |
| RIVNRivian Automotive, Inc. / DE | $5.39B | -$3.65B | 2.7% | -$2.49B |
| UAAUnder Armour, Inc. | $4.97B | -$495.64M | 45.5% | -$162.16M |
| RYZRyerson Holding Corp | $4.57B | -$56.40M | 17.1% | $35.50M |
| OPENOpendoor Technologies Inc. | $4.37B | -$1.30B | 8.0% | $1.04B |
| JELDJELD-WEN Holding, Inc. | $3.21B | -$621.21M | 16.0% | -$124.62M |
| TSEOQTrinseo PLC | $2.97B | -$545.60M | 5.6% | Unavailable |
| TROXTronox Holdings plc | $2.90B | -$470.00M | 9.3% | Unavailable |
| DNOWDNOW Inc. | $2.82B | -$89.00M | 17.0% | $134.00M |
| RXTRackspace Technology, Inc. | $2.69B | -$225.80M | 18.9% | $90.60M |
| VHIVALHI INC /DE/ | $2.08B | -$57.60M | 14.2% | -$82.10M |
| KROKRONOS WORLDWIDE INC | $1.86B | -$110.90M | 11.5% | -$40.40M |
| TBITrueBlue, Inc. | $1.62B | -$47.96M | 22.8% | -$73.72M |
| LCIDLucid Group, Inc. | $1.35B | -$2.70B | -92.8% | -$3.80B |
| SFIXStitch Fix, Inc. | $1.35B | -$12.61M | 43.7% | Unavailable |
| SPWHSPORTSMAN'S WAREHOUSE HOLDINGS, INC. | $1.21B | -$50.06M | 30.9% | $8.88M |
| PLCEChildrens Place, Inc. | $1.21B | -$88.26M | 29.9% | -$9.26M |
| WESTWestrock Coffee Co | $1.19B | -$90.44M | 12.7% | -$107.81M |
| SEDGSOLAREDGE TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | $1.18B | -$405.45M | 16.6% | $80.79M |
| SAILSailPoint, Inc. | $1.07B | -$270.05M | 64.5% | $64.60M |
| FIGFigma, Inc. | $1.06B | -$1.25B | 82.4% | $246.24M |
| GHGuardant Health, Inc. | $982.02M | -$416.28M | 64.5% | -$233.07M |
| ICHRICHOR HOLDINGS, LTD. | $947.65M | -$52.78M | 9.3% | -$6.28M |
| WRBYWarby Parker Inc. | $871.90M | $1.64M | 54.0% | $43.74M |
| NEOGNEOGEN CORP | $870.40M | -$7.90M | 46.9% | Unavailable |
| SLNDSouthland Holdings, Inc. | $772.17M | -$306.54M | -20.1% | $12.74M |
| WOLFWOLFSPEED, INC. | $757.60M | -$1.61B | -16.1% | -$1.98B |
| TET1 Energy Inc. | $755.30M | Unavailable | 7.4% | $16.66M |
| UPWheels Up Experience Inc. | $736.50M | -$294.22M | 10.0% | -$259.92M |
| NEONEOGENOMICS INC | $727.33M | -$108.02M | 43.2% | -$21.78M |
| PLUGPLUG POWER INC | $709.92M | -$1.63B | -34.1% | -$647.00M |
| NTSKNetskope Inc | $709.00M | -$679.39M | 68.1% | $15.15M |
| NAVNNavan, Inc. | $702.26M | -$398.03M | 71.3% | $32.75M |
| CATOCATO CORP | $653.81M | -$5.91M | 34.0% | -$5.22M |
| CVGICommercial Vehicle Group, Inc. | $649.00M | -$22.78M | 10.5% | $33.99M |
| APLDApplied Digital Corp. | $611.31M | Unavailable | 35.1% | Unavailable |
| OPKOPKO HEALTH, INC. | $606.88M | -$225.68M | 33.9% | Unavailable |
| INSMINSMED Inc | $606.42M | -$1.28B | 79.7% | -$967.58M |
Showing the 40 largest by revenue of 47. Open the full list in the screener.
What this does not show
Companies allocate costs between cost of revenue and SG&A differently, and some include research within SG&A rather than separately. The comparison is sharpest within an industry.
The measures behind this
Selling, general & administrative Gross profit Operating income
Related findings
- Growing revenue while the margin erodes
- Above 80% gross margin, and why health insurers are on the list
Citing this
SequelSEC, “Overheads larger than gross profit”, 13 November 2026. https://sequelsec.com/findings/sga-above-gross-profit
Figures are recomputed on every view from SEC filings, so a number quoted from this page should carry the date it was read.