Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew's revenue rose 6.1% to $6.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 12.9%, up from 11.3% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $852 million, up 40.6%. It paid out $832 million in dividends and buybacks, 98% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 0.3%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on equity is net income as a share of shareholders' equity.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share fell 2.2% a year and net income 2.5% a year, while buybacks cut the share count by 2%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 1,285 | 350 | 302 | 619 | 557 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Debt to equity | — | — | — | — | — |
| Interest coverage | 7.4x | 5.6x | 3.2x | 4.5x | 5.7x |
| Current ratio | 2.1x | 2.2x | 1.8x | 2.9x | 2.6x |
| Quick ratio | 1.2x | 1.0x | 0.7x | 1.3x | 1.2x |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | — | — | — |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| F-score | — | — | — |
| Accruals ratio | −3.5% | −5.7% | −6.3% |
Compare
Put Smith & Nephew side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith & Nephew | FY25 | 6.1% | 12.9% | 13.8% | — | — | — | |
| Edwards Lifesciences | FY25 | 11.6% | 20.8% | 22.0% | 15.7% | −2.5x | 5 | Compare |
| Steris | FY26 | 8.7% | 18.6% | 16.4% | 9.6% | 0.9x | 9 | Compare |
| ResMed | | FY26 | 9.8% | 33.4% | 29.2% | 26.7% | −0.4x | 6 | Compare |
| Dexcom | FY25 | 15.6% | 19.6% | 23.1% | 44.9% | −0.6x | 8 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 4,669 | 4,765 | 4,904 | 5,138 | 4,560 | 5,212 | 5,215 | 5,549 | 5,810 | 6,164 |
| Revenue growth | 0.8% | 2.1% | 2.9% | 4.8% | −11.2% | 14.3% | 0.1% | 6.4% | 4.7% | 6.1% |
| Gross profit | 3,397 | 3,517 | 3,606 | 3,800 | 3,164 | 3,669 | 3,675 | 3,819 | 4,046 | 4,192 |
| Research and development | 230 | 223 | 246 | 292 | 307 | 356 | 345 | 339 | 289 | 296 |
| Operating income | 801 | 934 | 863 | 815 | 295 | 593 | 450 | 425 | 657 | 794 |
| Net income | 784 | 767 | 663 | 600 | 448 | 524 | 223 | 263 | 412 | 625 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 0.88 | 0.88 | 75.70 | 0.60 | 0.51 | 0.60 | 0.26 | 0.30 | 0.47 | 0.72 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 893 | 875 | 876 | 877 | 877 | 878 | 873 | 873 | 876 | 873 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 849 | 1,090 | 931 | 1,168 | 935 | 877 | 468 | 608 | 987 | 1,285 |
| Capital expenditure | 392 | 376 | 347 | 408 | 443 | 408 | 358 | 427 | 381 | 433 |
| Free cash flow | 457 | 714 | 584 | 760 | 492 | 469 | 110 | 181 | 606 | 852 |
| Dividends paid | 279 | 269 | 321 | 318 | 328 | 329 | 327 | 327 | 327 | 330 |
| Share buybacks | 368 | 52 | 48 | 63 | 16 | 0 | 158 | 0 | 0 | 502 |
| Acquisitions | 214 | 159 | 29 | 869 | 170 | 285 | 113 | 21 | 186 | 9 |
| Stock-based compensation | 27 | 31 | 35 | 32 | 26 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 40 | 43 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 38 | 155 | 333 | 257 | 1,751 | 1,285 | 350 | 302 | 619 | 557 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 1,650 | 1,450 | 1,465 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total assets | 7,344 | 7,866 | 8,059 | 9,299 | 11,012 | 10,920 | 9,966 | 9,987 | 10,354 | 10,457 |
| Total liabilities | 3,386 | 3,222 | 3,185 | 4,158 | 5,733 | 5,352 | 4,707 | 4,770 | 5,089 | 5,168 |
| Shareholders' equity | 3,958 | 4,644 | 4,874 | 5,141 | 5,279 | 5,568 | 5,259 | 5,217 | 5,265 | 5,289 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 72.8% | 73.8% | 73.5% | 74.0% | 69.4% | 70.4% | 70.5% | 68.8% | 69.6% | 68.0% |
| Operating margin | 17.2% | 19.6% | 17.6% | 15.9% | 6.5% | 11.4% | 8.6% | 7.7% | 11.3% | 12.9% |
| Net margin | 16.8% | 16.1% | 13.5% | 11.7% | 9.8% | 10.1% | 4.3% | 4.7% | 7.1% | 10.1% |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.8% | 15.0% | 11.9% | 14.8% | 10.8% | 9.0% | 2.1% | 3.3% | 10.4% | 13.8% |
| Return on capital | — | 14.2% | 12.3% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on equity | 19.8% | 17.8% | 13.9% | 12.0% | 8.6% | 9.7% | 4.1% | 5.0% | 7.9% | 11.8% |
| Return on assets | 10.8% | 10.1% | 8.3% | 6.9% | 4.4% | 4.8% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 4.0% | 6.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.3x | 0.9x | 0.9x | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |