CTAS
Cintas · Industrials · Diversified Support Services
$205.23
52w 161.16 – 219.17
20y monthly, adjusted
Mkt cap
$81.5B
P/E
40.5
P/FCF
43.1
FCF yield
2.3%
ROE
38.9%
Shldr yield
2.0%
div 0.9% + bb 1.2%
What today's price assumes
At $81.5B, the market is pricing in 18.1% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 25.7% per year — expectations are roughly in line with history.
Simple DCF per-share range: $72 · $162 · $233 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.
Historical multiple lens
At its own median P/OCF of 20.3× across 17 years, CTAS would trade near $117/share (25th–75th percentile: $66–$162); it trades at 35.8× today.
Assumes the historical multiple regime persists — re-ratings can be permanent.
Growth record
Compound annual growth rates from as-filed 10-K data, split-adjusted
Rev 3y
+8.5%
Rev 5y
+9.6%
Rev 10y
+8.9%
EPS 5y
+13.4%
EPS 10y
+12.0%
FCF 5y
+9.1%
FCF 10y
+25.7%
Fundamentals
Fiscal 2009–2026, from SEC filings
Revenue
Net income
Free cash flow
Diluted shares (lower is better)
Margins
Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)
Cash vs long-term debt
Quarterly
Discrete quarters from 10-Q filings; Q4 derived as fiscal year minus Q1–Q3. OCF is unwound from the year-to-date figures 10-Qs report. Compare to the same quarter a year ago — most businesses are seasonal.
Revenue by quarter
Net income by quarter
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY | Net income | YoY | EPS | OCF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1'27 | $3.0B | +10.9% | $551.7M | +12.3% | 1.36 | $572.3M |
| Q4'26 * | $2.9B | +8.9% | $511.0M | +14.0% | 1.26 | $709.1M |
| Q3'26 | $2.8B | +8.9% | $502.5M | +8.4% | 1.24 | $621.5M |
| Q2'26 | $2.8B | +9.3% | $495.3M | +10.4% | 1.21 | $531.2M |
| Q1'26 | $2.7B | +8.7% | $491.1M | +8.7% | 1.20 | $414.5M |
| Q4'25 * | $2.7B | +8.0% | $448.3M | +8.2% | 1.08 | $640.3M |
| Q3'25 | $2.6B | +8.4% | $463.5M | +16.6% | 1.13 | $620.5M |
| Q2'25 | $2.6B | +7.8% | $448.5M | +19.7% | 1.09 | $444.7M |
| Q1'25 | $2.5B | +6.8% | $452.0M | +17.4% | 1.10 | $460.4M |
| Q4'24 * | $2.5B | +8.2% | $414.3M | +19.7% | 1.00 | $681.8M |
| Q3'24 | $2.4B | +9.9% | $397.6M | +22.0% | 0.96 | $657.1M |
| Q2'24 | $2.4B | +9.3% | $374.6M | +15.5% | 0.90 | $392.7M |
| Q1'24 | $2.3B | +8.1% | $385.1M | +9.5% | 0.93 | $336.9M |
Track record
Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.
| Series | 3y | 5y | 10y | 15y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | +8.5% | +9.6% | +8.9% | +7.5% |
| Operating cash flow | +12.8% | +10.8% | +17.2% | +13.5% |
| Free cash flow | +14.4% | +9.1% | +25.7% | +17.9% |
| EPS (diluted) | +14.7% | +13.4% | +12.0% | +17.7% |
| Equity | +10.0% | +6.9% | +10.8% | +5.5% |
| LT debt | −16.9% | −2.7% | +3.2% | +0.7% |
| Diluted shares | −0.6% | −0.8% | −0.6% | −2.3% |
| Stock price | +18.3% | +14.6% | +23.9% | +26.3% |
$100, 3 years ago
$166vs $192 in SPY
18.3% vs 24.4%/yr
$100, 5 years ago
$198vs $181 in SPY
14.6% vs 12.6%/yr
$100, 10 years ago
$856vs $428 in SPY
23.9% vs 15.6%/yr
$100, 15 years ago
$3,320vs $803 in SPY
26.3% vs 14.9%/yr
The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)
Last 5 years
$5.78
$30.6B created / $5.3B retained
Last 10 years
$7.23
$59.6B created / $8.2B retained
Quality & capital discipline
Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital
Cash ROIC
34.7%
OCF ÷ (equity + debt)
OCF / EV yield
2.8%
MC vs 10× OCF
3.56
≤1 = priced under 10× OCF
Debt / FCF
0.8y
SBC / FCF
6.8%
Owner earnings
$1.8B
OCF − capex − SBC
OE yield
2.2%
Share count 5y
−2.4%
per year; negative = buybacks
Capital intensity
15.5%
net PP&E ÷ revenue
Sales efficiency
$0.10
new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y
Growth engine (5y): reinvested 15.0% of operating cash flow at an incremental return of 63.5% — an organically fundable growth rate of about 9.5% per year (growth ≈ reinvestment rate × incremental ROIC).
Checklist
24 of 27 checks pass · 89%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.
Growth & Consistency
7/7
- pass
Revenue growth
9.6% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%
- pass
EPS growth
13.4% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%
- pass
FCF growth
9.1% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%
- pass
Revenue rises consistently
9 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years
- pass
FCF consistently positive
10 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years
- pass
Profitable every year
10 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10
- pass
Cash flow keeps up with sales
10.8% vs 9.6% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR
Profitability
7/7
- pass
Net margin
17.8% · ≥ 8%
- pass
Operating margin
23.1% · ≥ 10%
- pass
Gross margin stable or rising
50.7% vs 47.3% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y
- pass
Return on equity
38.9% · ≥ 12%
- pass
Cash ROIC
34.7% · ≥ 12%
- pass
FCF margin
16.7% · ≥ 5%
- pass
Earnings back their cash
OCF $2.3B vs NI $2.0B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)
Balance Sheet
4/5
- pass
Debt payable from cash flow
0.8y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF
- fail
Cash cushion
20% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt
- pass
Leverage
0.28 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity
- pass
Equity positive and compounding
$5.1B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y
- pass
Interest burden
4% · interest ≤ 15% of operating income
Capital Allocation
4/4
- pass
Share count flat or shrinking
-2.4% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y
- pass
Stock comp restrained
7% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF
- pass
Distributions funded by FCF
88% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF
- pass
Repurchases are a habit
10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years
Valuation Discipline
2/4
- fail
FCF yield
2.3% · ≥ 3%
- fail
Earnings multiple
40.5 · P/E ≤ 25
- pass
Price asks less than history delivered
18.1% vs 25.7% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR
- pass
Shareholder yield
2.0% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap
Financial data
As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.
| FY | Revenue | Gross profit | Op income | Net income | EPS | OCF | CapEx | FCF | Dividends | Buybacks | SBC | Cash | LT debt | Equity | Shares |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 11,265 | 5,708 | 2,607 | 2,000 | 4.91 | 2,276 | 395 | 1,881 | 701 | 952 | 128 | 289 | 1,429 | 5,140 | 406 |
| 2025 | 10,340 | 5,174 | 2,360 | 1,812 | 4.40 | 2,166 | 409 | 1,757 | 612 | 935 | 128 | 264 | 2,425 | 4,684 | 410 |
| 2024 | 9,597 | 4,686 | 2,069 | 1,572 | 3.79 | 2,069 | 409 | 1,659 | 531 | 700 | 117 | 342 | 2,026 | 4,316 | 413 |
| 2023 | 8,816 | 4,173 | 1,803 | 1,348 | 3.25 | 1,586 | 331 | 1,255 | 450 | 399 | 104 | 124 | 2,486 | 3,864 | 414 |
| 2022 | 7,854 | 3,632 | 1,587 | 1,236 | 2.97 | 1,538 | 241 | 1,297 | 375 | 1,526 | 109 | 90 | 2,484 | 3,308 | 414 |
| 2021 | 7,116 | 3,315 | 1,385 | 1,111 | 2.61 | 1,361 | 143 | 1,217 | 451 | 554 | 112 | 494 | 1,643 | 3,688 | 422 |
| 2020 | 7,085 | 3,234 | 1,163 | 876 | 2.07 | 1,291 | 230 | 1,061 | 268 | 465 | 115 | 145 | 2,540 | 3,235 | 419 |
| 2019 | 6,892 | 3,129 | 1,134 | 885 | 2.04 | 1,068 | 277 | 791 | 221 | 1,016 | 139 | 97 | 2,538 | 3,003 | 429 |
| 2018 | 6,477 | 2,909 | 950 | 843 | 1.93 | 964 | 272 | 692 | 176 | 127 | 113 | 139 | 2,535 | 3,017 | 430 |
| 2017 | 5,323 | 2,380 | 774 | 481 | 1.12 | 764 | 273 | 491 | 142 | 21 | 89 | 169 | 2,771 | 2,303 | 422 |
| 2016 | 4,796 | 2,101 | 769 | 694 | 1.58 | 466 | 275 | 190 | 115 | 780 | 79 | 139 | 1,044 | 1,843 | 431 |
| 2015 | 4,370 | 1,893 | 684 | 431 | 0.93 | 580 | 218 | 363 | 202 | 552 | 47 | 417 | 1,300 | 1,932 | 461 |
| 2014 | 4,194 | 1,750 | 603 | 374 | 0.78 | 606 | 146 | 460 | 93 | 371 | 30 | 513 | 1,300 | 2,193 | 477 |
| 2013 | 4,246 | 1,753 | 566 | 315 | 0.64 | 553 | 196 | 356 | 80 | 216 | 23 | 352 | 1,301 | 2,201 | 488 |
| 2012 | 4,102 | 1,739 | 540 | 298 | 0.58 | 470 | 161 | 309 | 71 | 392 | 20 | 340 | 1,059 | 2,139 | 510 |
| 2011 | 3,810 | 1,609 | 440 | 247 | 0.43 | 341 | 183 | 158 | 72 | 444 | 15 | 438 | 1,285 | 2,303 | 574 |
| 2010 | 3,547 | 1,498 | 391 | 216 | 0.36 | 566 | 111 | 455 | 74 | 1 | 15 | 411 | 785 | 2,534 | 599 |
| 2009 | 3,775 | — | 409 | 226 | 0.38 | 524 | 160 | 363 | 72 | 26 | 12 | 130 | — | 2,367 | — |
Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.