Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ADM

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
64/100
Moderate

About Archer-Daniels-Midland Company

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company provides human and animal nutrition ingredients and solutions in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds; Carbohydrate Solutions; and Nutrition. The company engages in the origination, merchandising, transportation, and storage of agricultural raw materials, as well as the crushing and processing … Full ADM analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 1.00), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • Cash Generation Consistent Cash generation is consistent (score 0.81), indicating reliable business model.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
65

Where ADM ranks in Farm Products

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ranks #6 of 29 scored companies in Farm Products by moat score — the top 21%. The widest moat in the group is Smithfield Foods, Inc. (SFD) at 80/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near ADM in Farm Products
# Company Moat score Rating
2 Vital Farms, Inc. VITL 77/100 Strong
3 Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. CALM 77/100 Strong
4 Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. FDP 76/100 Strong
5 Village Farms International, In VFF 74/100 Moderate
6 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ADM 64/100 Moderate
7 Dole plc DOLE 63/100 Moderate
8 Adecoagro S.A. AGRO 62/100 Moderate
9 CHS Inc CHSCM 61/100 Moderate
10 CHS Inc - Preferred CHSCN 61/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How ADM scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 65 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 78 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 74 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 58 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 53 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 58 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding ADM's moat

What is Archer-Daniels-Midland Company's moat score?

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) scores 64 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #6 of 29 scored companies in Farm Products, the top 21%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 28 companies in Farm Products. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (78/100) and its weakest is Resilience (53/100).

How does Archer-Daniels-Midland Company compare with other Farm Products companies?

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ranks #6 of 29 scored companies in Farm Products by moat score. The widest moat in Farm Products is Smithfield Foods, Inc. (SFD) at 80/100. The companies ranked closest are Village Farms International, In (VFF) at 74 just above it and Dole plc (DOLE) at 63 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 28 companies in Farm Products. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Archer-Daniels-Midland Company scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Archer-Daniels-Midland Company?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and ADM scores: Pricing Power (65), Cost Advantage (78), Customer Stickiness (74), Capital Efficiency (58), Resilience (53), Scale & Market Position (58). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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