I spend most of my time hunting for companies nobody’s talking about.
Not the Tesla’s or Apple’s of the world—those get enough attention. I’m looking for companies with near-monopolies in narrow, defensible niches. Companies where switching costs are enormous. Where they control chokepoints in global value chains. Where their customers have no realistic alternative.
These are what I call “invisible monopolies.” They operate in boring industries. They don’t make headlines. Most investors have never heard of them.
But they generate extraordinary returns precisely because they’re invisible.
Last year, I identified seven of these companies that met my strict criteria: 60%+ market share in their core segment, pricing power that borders on absurd, structural tailwinds that won’t reverse, and capital efficiency that makes them cash-generating machines.
Some of these you might recognize if you dig deep into industrial supply chains. Others are so obscure that even industry insiders struggle to name their competitors—because there aren’t any competitors worth naming.
Today, I’m walking you through all seven. Two of them are revealed below in the free section. The remaining five are reserved for Macro Notes subscribers in the premium section, along with my detailed thesis on why each one represents a compelling opportunity in 2026.
Let’s start with two perfect examples.
Monopoly #1: HEICO Corporation (HEI) — The Aerospace Aftermarket Giant Nobody Notices
When people think about aerospace, they think Boeing, Airbus, maybe Lockheed Martin if they’re defense-oriented.
Nobody thinks about HEICO.
And that’s precisely why it’s interesting.
HEICO is the world’s largest manufacturer of FAA-approved replacement parts for aircraft engines and components—outside of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) themselves. They don’t build planes. They don’t make engines from scratch. They make the parts that keep those planes flying when the OEM parts are too expensive or take too long to source.
Here’s the beautiful part of their business model: airlines operate on razor-thin margins. When a part needs replacement, they have two choices. Pay OEM prices—which can be 3-10x higher—or buy from HEICO, who offers FAA-approved alternatives at 30-70% discounts.
The switching decision isn’t even close. HEICO wins almost every time.
The company just reported their fiscal 2025 results (ending October 31, 2025), and the numbers are staggering:
Net income up 34% to a record $690.4 million ($4.90 per diluted share)
Net sales grew from $26.2 million in 1990 to $4.485 billion in 2025
Their Flight Support Group (70% of sales) continues accelerating as commercial aviation fully recovers post-pandemic
Operating margins remain exceptionally strong: 23.5-24.5% in FSG, with expansion driven by favorable product mix
But here’s what most people miss: HEICO isn’t just riding the aerospace recovery. They’re building a compounding machine through disciplined M&A. They’ve completed 107 acquisitions since 1990. In fiscal 2025 alone, they closed five acquisitions and announced two more expected to close in Q1 2026, including the EthosEnergy deal.
Management has been clear: the M&A pipeline is “as big as it’s ever been.” They maintain net debt at just 1.6x EBITDA, giving them enormous firepower. And sellers prefer transacting with HEICO because they know how to integrate without destroying value.
The invisible monopoly aspect? HEICO operates in thousands of micro-niches within aerospace parts. In many of these niches, they’re the only non-OEM alternative. And because their parts represent a tiny fraction of an airline’s total operating costs, price increases flow through almost automatically.
Analysts have raised price targets repeatedly in recent weeks—Truist to $391, Deutsche Bank to $375, RBC Capital to $375. The stock trades around $335-340 as I write this.
The structural tailwinds are undeniable:
Global aircraft fleet continues expanding (more planes = more parts demand)
Aging fleet means more maintenance cycles
Defense spending surge benefits their Electronic Technologies Group (30% of sales)
Commercial aviation traffic has fully recovered and is growing
HEICO has compounded its bottom line at 18% annually for 35 years. Management targets 15-20% annual net income growth going forward.
That’s not a growth story. That’s a compounding machine disguised as an aerospace parts supplier.
Monopoly #2: VeriSign (VRSN) — The Internet’s Invisible Toll Booth
Let me ask you a simple question: How many .com domains exist on the internet?
As of Q3 2025, VeriSign manages 171.9 million .com and .net domain registrations. That’s a 1.4% year-over-year increase, driven partly by AI-related demand as developers rush to secure domain names for new machine learning ventures.
Here’s what makes VeriSign extraordinary: they are the exclusive operator of the .com and .net domain registries. Not one of several operators. The only operator.
Every single .com domain renewal—billions of dollars annually—flows through VeriSign. There is no alternative. There is no competitor. There is no disruption on the horizon.
This is a regulated monopoly with a contract that extends through November 2030. And starting in 2026, VeriSign is permitted to increase the wholesale price of .com domains by up to 7% annually.
Think about that pricing power for a second.
They can raise prices 7% per year on a product with near-zero elasticity (nobody’s giving up their .com domain over a price increase), near-zero marginal costs (it costs essentially nothing to maintain a domain registration), and 100% operational accuracy maintained for over 28 consecutive years.
The business model is absurd:
Operating margins consistently above 60%
Free cash flow projected to reach $1.16 billion in 2026
Minimal capital expenditure requirements
Revenue from registry services alone (they don’t do anything else)
Net debt-to-EBITDA under 2x
VeriSign’s stock reached an all-time high of approximately $310.60 in July 2025 before correcting to the $240 range in late 2025 amid broader tech sector cooling. Analysts have set a median 2026 price target of $297.50, implying 22.5% upside from current levels around $242.
Q3 2025 results (reported in October 2025) showed:
Revenue of $419.1 million (beating estimates of $416.58 million)
EPS of $2.27 (above the projected $2.25)
171.9 million domain name base (+1.4% YoY)
7.3% year-over-year revenue growth
The key catalyst for 2026? The expected price increase. Management will provide formal guidance when they report full-year 2025 results on February 5, 2026. If they confirm the anticipated 7% wholesale price hike, the stock likely reprices higher immediately.
The risks are minimal. Yes, new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are launching. Yes, there’s regulatory scrutiny. But .com is .com. It’s the internet’s default. Nobody’s switching from .com to .xyz or .shop at scale. The network effect is too strong.
VeriSign isn’t flashy. It’s not growing at 50% annually. It’s just a toll booth on the internet—one that prints cash, raises prices predictably, and operates with zero serious competition.
That’s exactly what I look for in an invisible monopoly.
What’s Coming in the Premium Section
Those two examples—HEICO and VeriSign—represent the kind of invisible monopolies that have made my subscribers outsized returns over the years.
But they’re just the beginning.
In the premium section below, I reveal five additional invisible monopolies that I’m watching closely in 2026. These companies operate in even more obscure corners of the industrial economy, where competition is essentially non-existent and pricing power is extraordinary:
Monopoly #3: The Connector Nobody Sees — A company that dominates a specific type of industrial connector used in mission-critical applications across aerospace, defense, and energy. Their products are too small to matter in terms of cost but too important to fail. Switching is effectively impossible once installed. Market cap under $5 billion.
Monopoly #4: The Industrial Filtration Giant — They don’t make headlines, but they make the filters that keep the world’s heavy equipment, data centers, and manufacturing facilities running. Recurring revenue model built on consumable replacement cycles. 40+ years of consecutive dividends.
Monopoly #5: The Specialty Chemical Company — Operating in a narrow chemical niche where they control 70%+ global market share. Their customers are locked in due to regulatory approvals and product specifications. Margin expansion story that most investors are completely missing.
Monopoly #6: The Construction Materials Monopoly — They make a specific building product that’s required by code in most jurisdictions. Boring as hell. Extraordinarily profitable. Trading at a fraction of its intrinsic value because nobody pays attention to construction materials stocks.
Monopoly #7: The Equipment Leasing Platform — A business model so simple it’s hard to believe it works: they lease essential industrial equipment to customers who have no choice but to rent. High switching costs, predictable cash flows, and a massive runway for consolidation through M&A.
Each of these companies meets my strict criteria for invisible monopolies:
60%+ market share in their core segment
Structural tailwinds (not cyclical)
Pricing power that’s either contractual or effectively uncontested
Capital-light operations generating substantial free cash flow
Trading at reasonable valuations relative to their competitive position
I’ll walk you through the full investment thesis for each one, including:
Why their competitive moat is defensible
What structural trends are driving demand
How they’re positioned for 2026 specifically
What could go wrong (there are always risks)
Whether I’m personally invested
These aren’t speculative bets. These are compounding machines that operate in the shadows of the global economy. Most investors will never find them because they’re too busy chasing the latest AI startup or tech IPO.
But if you’re serious about finding mispriced opportunities that the market has overlooked—and generating returns that don’t depend on getting the macro call exactly right—these seven invisible monopolies are exactly where you should be looking.
Premium - 5 Additional Invisible Monopolies
If you’re reading this, you’re a Macro Notes subscriber. That means you understand that the best returns come from companies nobody’s watching.
Let’s dive into the five remaining invisible monopolies on my 2026 watchlist.