![]() The company's municipal waste disposal contracts give it market exclusivity for three to eight years and because it owns landfills that competitors have to use to dispose of their trash, it profits from charging them tipping fees. The waste disposal market is more fragmented than in the past, but Waste Management (NYSE: WM) still wields considerable might. But advances, including 1 gigabit download speeds and its acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2013, should help insulate it against that risk. ![]() New technologies could emerge that cause Comcast to lose customers. ![]() In 2017, its sales grew 5.1% to $84.5 billion and its adjusted earnings per share grew 18.4% to $2.06. Those four railroads recorded over $60 billion in combined profit-friendly revenue in 2017 and absent a recession that derails demand for commodities, it's likely the industry's revenue will continue to climb.ĪLSO READ: Not Even a Congested Rail Network Could Slow Down Norfolk Southern's Earnings GrowthĬable companies compete against wireless, fiber, and satellite for television, phone, and consumer services, but despite that competition, cable operators still benefit from near-monopolies in many markets due to massive investments in infrastructure.Ĭomcast (NYSE: CMCSA) is one of the biggest cable companies in the U.S., and despite the availability of other options, it still added over 200,000 new subscribers last year and it serves nearly 30 million people this year. is CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) and Burlington Northern, a Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK-B) company, is Union Pacific 's (NYSE: UNP) only major competitor in the western United States. railroad market is highly-profitable and dominated by big companies with near-monopolies.įor instance, Norfolk Southern 's (NYSE: NSC) only major competition in the eastern U.S. In the past, railroads were highly regulated however, regulations have been easing since the 1970s, and that's allowed railroad companies to exit unprofitable lines, boost prices, and merge together. It's true that railroads compete with trucks, planes, and boats for shipments, but most railroads make their money by transporting commodities like coal that are hard or expensive to transport by other methods. Some states have opened their power markets to third-party competition, but that hasn't happened in North Carolina, and even if it does, Duke Energy will still own the transmission lines, so it won't be left out in the cold. In 2017, Duke Energy's operating revenue and net income were $23.6 billion and $3.1 billion in 2017, respectively. For instance, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is one of the biggest utilities in the country and 40% of its customers are in North Carolina, where the company's market share is about 95%.ĭuke Energy's prices are regulated by the states it operates in, but historically, these regulators have approved reasonable, regular increases that provide consistent revenue and profit growth. As of July, its shares were yielding 4.8%.īuilding a power utility is so expensive that states have allowed utilities to operate as near-monopolies for decades. Odds are that cigarette use will continue dropping, but Altria's market position gives it pricing power, and that should allow it to continue paying investors a Treasury-trouncing dividend. As a result, volume for its MarkTen e-cigarette brand grew 60% in 2017. In the past, Altria's used its profitability to diversify into beer and wine, but lately, it's investing in e-cigarettes. ![]() share of the cigarette market is 50.7%, and in 2017, it reported $25.6 billion in revenue and net earnings of $10.2 billion. Regulation, legislation, taxation, and lawsuits have made it so that only the biggest tobacco companies can survive, and when it comes to big tobacco in the U.S., no one is bigger than Altria (NYSE: MO), the maker of Marlboro cigarettes.Īltria's U.S. Read on to find out if these near-monopolies ought to be in your portfolio.ĪLSO READ: 3 High-Yield Stocks With Virtual Monopolies ![]() Because near-monopolies have more pricing power than they'd have otherwise, they can be smart investments. Although pure monopolies are illegal, there are some near-monopolies that are the result of government policies and consumer behavior. When a company exclusively controls the supply or trade of a product or service, it's called a monopoly, and because monopolies can increase prices without losing market share, the Federal Trade Commission is tasked with preventing them from forming. ![]()
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