Kadant vs Protolabs
Kadant reported revenue of $1.1 billion in fiscal 2025, 2.0 times Protolabs' $533 million in fiscal 2025. Kadant's revenue fell 0.1% in its latest year, and Protolabs' grew 6.4%. Kadant had an operating margin of 14.9%, against 4.7% at Protolabs. Free cash flow was $154 million at Kadant and $60 million at Protolabs. Their fiscal years end in different months (January 3 and December 31), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Kadant | Protolabs | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Jan 3, 2026 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $1.1B | $533M |
| Revenue growth | −0.1% | 6.4% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 10.6% | 4.2% |
| Gross margin | 45.2% | 44.5% |
| Operating margin | 14.9% | 4.7% |
| Net margin | 9.7% | 4.0% |
| Free cash flow | $154M | $60M |
| Free cash flow margin | 14.7% | 11.2% |
| Return on capital | 9.9% | — |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.2x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $16M | $43M |
| Change in diluted share count | 0.2% | −3.8% |
| Last close | $292.74 | $65.69 |
| P/E at the last close | 31.5× | 45.9× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | sold $1.5 million | bought $101,230, sold $3.3 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 of 9 | — |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
KadantProtolabs
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
KadantProtolabs
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
KadantProtolabs