What share of the US stock market is halal? A sector breakdown

"There must be very few halal stocks" — we hear this a lot. We checked it with our own screener's data rather than a guess. All figures below were taken from our public API as of October 5, 2026. By the time you read this they will have moved somewhat — screening is updated daily. Live counts: methodology.

The big picture

The analysis covers 5,403 active NASDAQ, NYSE and NYSE American stocks that have a verdict:

• 1,384 are halal — about 26%, i.e. one in four;
• 3,716 are rejected — 69%;
• 299 are doubtful — 5.5%;
• 4 are awaiting manual review.

The live statistics on the methodology page show a slightly larger universe: they also count "undetermined" stocks with insufficient data or a stale report (124 on October 5). Here we only took stocks that have a verdict and a page.

By sector: the gap is huge

The halal share ranges from close to 50% down to almost zero depending on the sector:

• Technology — 49.5% (383 of 774);
• Basic materials — 44.1% (120 / 272);
• Industrials — 39.1% (266 / 681);
• Energy — 32.7% (70 / 214);
• Consumer defensive — 31.6% (71 / 225);
• Consumer cyclical — 26.5% (134 / 505);
• Healthcare — 26.3% (268 / 1,019);
• Communication services — 19.5% (48 / 246);
• Utilities — 5.9% (6 / 101);
• Real estate — 5.4% (13 / 240);
• Financial services — 0.5% (5 / 1,067).

Another 59 stocks had no sector data from the source — none of them is marked halal. The reason is simple: if we can't check the business, we don't call it halal.

Financials: almost all on business activity

Financial services is one of the largest sectors in the universe, yet it has just 5 halal stocks. Of the 1,021 rejected, 958 stopped at the first step — business activity — before the ratios were even looked at: banks, insurance, credit services, asset management. The sector also contains 303 "shell companies" (mostly SPACs — companies with no business yet, whose cash sits in a trust earning interest).

The remaining 5 are financial data and ratings firms (for example S&P Global, Moody's, MSCI): they don't lend money, they sell data and indices. See each one's page for its current status.

Utilities and real estate: debt

In these two sectors the problem isn't the business, it's debt. Power and gas utilities and real estate trusts (REITs) are usually financed with heavy interest-bearing debt. Among rejected utilities, 84 of 93 failed the debt ratio; in real estate, 194 of 212. Mortgage REITs are rejected on business activity itself.

Healthcare: cash

Healthcare is the second-largest sector by number of stocks after financials (1,019), but only 26% are halal. The main reason is biotech: only 80 of 574 biotech companies are halal. Many biotechs don't sell a drug yet and keep investors' money in deposits and bonds. As a result:

• the cash and interest-bearing assets ratio crosses the limit — 468 of the sector's 656 ratio rejections are for this reason;
• a company with zero revenue ends up with all its income coming from interest — we mark 120 such stocks "doubtful" (69 of them biotech).

Why cash counts at all is covered in a separate article: Why a company's cash affects its halal status.

What usually fails a stock

Splitting the 3,716 rejected stocks by reason:

• 30% (1,125) — prohibited business activity (banking, insurance, alcohol, gambling, etc. — full list: blocked activities);
• 70% (2,591) — a clean business, but at least one financial ratio failed.

Among the ratio rejections (a stock can fail more than one):

• debt ratio — 65% (1,692);
• cash and interest-bearing assets — 49% (1,268);
• non-halal income — 17% (451);
• 753 stocks failed two or three ratios at once.

So most rejected stocks aren't "haram businesses" — they're ordinary companies loaded with debt or interest-bearing cash. The exact limits and how they're calculated: methodology.

"Doubtful" — 299 stocks

The doubtful group isn't uniform either:

• 175 — the business needs clarification (defence, capital markets, some REITs, disputed areas like film and music);
• 120 — zero revenue, income comes only from interest;
• 4 — no sector data.

The second group can change over time: once the company starts selling, the stock is re-assessed. Stocks whose latest financial report is too old aren't in this group at all — they are "undetermined" and get re-checked as soon as a new report comes out.

Larger companies are more often halal

Grouping by market capitalisation (49 stocks had no market cap data):

• above $100B — 57% halal (89 / 155);
• $10–100B — 44% (318 / 721);
• $2–10B — 30% (332 / 1,092);
• $300M – 2B — 19% (277 / 1,426);
• below $300M — 19% (368 / 1,960).

61 of the 100 largest companies are halal. Why: 38 of the 89 halal companies above $100B are in technology, and with a huge market cap their debt and cash ratios come out small. Below $2B, the most common industries are biotech (481), SPACs (301) and regional banks (211).

The practical takeaway: "there are very few halal stocks" is partly true by count (one in four), but wrong by choice — among the market's largest and most familiar companies, halal ones are the majority.

How to read these numbers

• It's a snapshot, not a video. New reports come out every quarter and market caps move — dozens of stocks join and leave the list every month. For example: September 2026: stocks that left and joined the halal list.
• A sector share doesn't pick stocks. "Half of technology is halal" doesn't mean every tech stock is halal. Check each stock individually.
• We stay on the strict side. When data is missing, we don't say "halal". That's why our numbers may not match other screeners exactly; on the differences: AAOIFI Standard No. 21 in plain words.

The largest companies on the current halal list are public: halal stocks. The full list and sector filters are in the Screener section of the dashboard — open an account.

We plan to update this analysis every six months.

This article is for information only and is not a fatwa. Consult your own scholar for a final religious ruling. Not investment advice either.