Does Automatic Data Processing have an economic moat?
Likely
Automatic Data Processing earns 46.1% a year on the money invested in it and keeps 46% of every sale after production costs, the numbers of a business competitors struggle to copy.
The numbers behind it
Return on invested capital, average of recent years46.1%
Return on invested capital, latest year44.4%
Gross margin46.4%Share of each sale left after production costs
Net margin20.1%
How we decide
A moat shows up in the numbers as high returns that last. We call it likely when the average return on invested capital over recent years is at least 15% and the gross margin at least 40%, and possible from 10%. The numbers can't show where a moat comes from (brand, network, patents), only that one seems to exist.
More questions about Automatic Data Processing
Data as of Nov 13, 2026.