Watsco
Watsco's revenue fell 5.0% to $7.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 9.9%, down from 10.3% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $535 million, down 28.0%. It paid out $474 million in dividends and buybacks, 89% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 1.0%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 10.1% a year and net income 11.8% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 16% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Watsco yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Watsco's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Watsco's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $535M, net cash of $254M at December 31, 2025 and 38 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Watsco: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, -0.2% a year, kept between 0% and 20%; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 9% for a business of moderate risk (Trading Companies & Distributors); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $305.33
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Watsco's earnings per share of $11.62 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 26.7×, the middle of Watsco's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Industrials median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 10%, 9% and 8%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $305.33
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Watsco's P/E at the last close
- 26.3×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| FastenalFAST | $52.47 | $1.23 | 42.7× |
| Applied Industrial TechnologiesAIT | $324.68 | $10.95 | 29.7× |
| WatscoWSO | $305.33 | $11.62 | 26.3× |
| Core & MainCNM | $42.38 | $2.43 | 17.4× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 118 | 148 | 210 | 782 | 733 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 370 | 334 | 405 | 448 | 479 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 251 | 187 | 195 | −334 | −254 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.4x | 0.2x | 0.2x | −0.4x | −0.3x |
| Debt to equity | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x |
| Interest coverage | 688.4x | 237.2x | 78.6x | 806.8x | 1,033.5x |
| Current ratio | 2.7x | 2.5x | 3.4x | 3.1x | 4.1x |
| Quick ratio | 1.2x | 1.0x | 1.5x | 1.7x | 2.2x |
Insider trades
No officer, director or 10% owner of Watsco reported buying or selling its shares on the open market between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026.
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 | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | — | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| F-score | — | 4 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −0.7% | −5.8% | −1.6% |
Compare
Put Watsco 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watsco | FY25 | −5.0% | 9.9% | 7.4% | 20.1% | −0.3x | 6 | |
| Core & Main | FY25 | 2.8% | 9.4% | 7.9% | 13.7% | 2.1x | 7 | Compare |
| Fastenal | FY25 | 8.7% | 20.2% | 12.8% | 34.2% | −0.1x | 7 | Compare |
| AerCap | FY25 | 6.5% | — | — | 8.5% | 4.9x | — | Compare |
| Applied Industrial Technologies | FY26 | 8.8% | 11.1% | 9.3% | 20.8% | 0.2x | 7 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 4,221 | 4,342 | 4,547 | 4,770 | 5,055 | 6,280 | 7,274 | 7,284 | 7,618 | 7,239 |
| Revenue growth | 2.6% | 2.9% | 4.7% | 4.9% | 6.0% | 24.2% | 15.8% | 0.1% | 4.6% | −5.0% |
| Gross profit | 1,035 | 1,066 | 1,120 | 1,157 | 1,223 | 1,668 | 2,030 | 1,992 | 2,045 | 2,030 |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 346 | 354 | 372 | 367 | 401 | 628 | 832 | 795 | 782 | 720 |
| Net income | 183 | 208 | 243 | 246 | 270 | 419 | 601 | 536 | 536 | 497 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 5.15 | 5.81 | 6.49 | 6.50 | 7.01 | 10.78 | 15.41 | 13.67 | 13.30 | 12.25 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 33 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 35 | 35 | — | 36 | 38 | 38 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 282 | 306 | 171 | 336 | 534 | 350 | 572 | 562 | 773 | 570 |
| Capital expenditure | 44 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 26 | 36 | 36 | 30 | 34 |
| Free cash flow | 238 | 289 | 153 | 318 | 518 | 324 | 536 | 526 | 743 | 535 |
| Dividends paid | 128 | 164 | 209 | 241 | 266 | 294 | 332 | 383 | 424 | 474 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 6 | 60 | 0 | 130 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 19 |
| Stock-based compensation | 12 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 22 | 25 | 29 | 30 | 35 | 35 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 56 | 80 | 83 | 74 | 146 | 118 | 148 | 210 | 782 | 733 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 236 | 22 | 136 | 381 | 216 | 370 | 334 | 405 | 448 | 479 |
| Total assets | 1,875 | 2,047 | 2,161 | 2,556 | 2,484 | 3,086 | 3,488 | 3,729 | 4,480 | 4,415 |
| Total liabilities | 623 | 496 | 559 | 841 | 705 | 1,088 | 1,240 | 1,113 | 1,415 | 1,193 |
| Shareholders' equity | 1,006 | 1,298 | 1,348 | 1,435 | 1,487 | 1,665 | 1,889 | 2,230 | 2,657 | 2,781 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 24.5% | 24.5% | 24.6% | 24.2% | 24.2% | 26.6% | 27.9% | 27.4% | 26.8% | 28.1% |
| Operating margin | 8.2% | 8.2% | 8.2% | 7.7% | 7.9% | 10.0% | 11.4% | 10.9% | 10.3% | 9.9% |
| Net margin | 4.3% | 4.8% | 5.3% | 5.2% | 5.3% | 6.7% | 8.3% | 7.4% | 7.0% | 6.9% |
| Free cash flow margin | 5.6% | 6.7% | 3.4% | 6.7% | 10.2% | 5.2% | 7.4% | 7.2% | 9.8% | 7.4% |
| Return on capital | 16.8% | 17.9% | 19.0% | 16.3% | 16.8% | 24.4% | 30.1% | 24.3% | 22.4% | 20.1% |
| Return on equity | 18.6% | 18.1% | 18.4% | 17.7% | 18.4% | 26.6% | 33.8% | 26.0% | 21.9% | 18.3% |
| Return on assets | 10.0% | 10.6% | 11.6% | 10.4% | 10.7% | 15.0% | 18.3% | 14.9% | 13.1% | 11.2% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.5x | −0.1x | 0.1x | 0.8x | 0.2x | 0.4x | 0.2x | 0.2x | −0.4x | −0.3x |