MMarketMath

JCI

Slow growerQuality: Medium (59/100)1 red flag

Johnson Controls · Industrials · Building Products

$142.99

52w 103.82 – 157.06

20y monthly, adjusted

Mkt cap

$87.2B

P/E

27.7

P/FCF

43.1

FCF yield

2.3%

ROE

25.5%

Shldr yield

7.6%

div 1.1% + bb 6.6%

What today's price assumes

At $87.2B, the market is pricing in 18.2% annual free-cash-flow growth for the next decade (10% discount rate, 2.5% terminal growth). Over the last ten years, FCF actually grew 16.4% per year — the price asks for acceleration beyond the historical record.

Simple DCF per-share range: $53 · $119 · $164 (4% / base / optimistic growth). An estimate, not a target.

Adjust the assumptions yourself →

Historical multiple lens

At its own median P/OCF of 16.1× across 18 years, JCI would trade near $67/share (25th–75th percentile: $47–$79); it trades at 34.2× 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

+4.6%

Rev 5y

+1.1%

Rev 10y

+3.3%

EPS 5y

+43.0%

EPS 10y

+7.9%

FCF 5y

+0.8%

FCF 10y

+16.4%

Fundamentals

Fiscal 2007–2025, from SEC filings

Revenue

2007: $18.5B
2008: $19.7B
2009: $16.9B
2010: $11.0B
2011: $10.6B
2012: $9.9B
2013: $10.1B
2014: $38.7B
2015: $17.1B
2016: $20.8B
2017: $22.8B
2018: $23.4B
2019: $24.0B
2020: $22.3B
2021: $23.7B
2022: $20.6B
2023: $22.3B
2024: $23.0B
2025: $23.6B
$0$10.0B$20.0B$30.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Net income

2007: −$1.7B
2008: $1.6B
2009: −$1.8B
2010: $1.1B
2011: $1.7B
2012: $472.0M
2013: $536.0M
2014: $1.2B
2015: $1.6B
2016: −$868.0M
2017: $1.6B
2018: $2.2B
2019: $5.7B
2020: $631.0M
2021: $1.6B
2022: $1.5B
2023: $1.8B
2024: $1.7B
2025: $3.3B
$0$2.0B$4.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Free cash flow

2007: $1.1B
2008: −$1.6B
2009: $1.7B
2010: $520.0M
2011: $290.0M
2012: $261.0M
2013: $432.0M
2014: $1.2B
2015: $465.0M
2016: $659.0M
2017: −$389.0M
2018: $875.0M
2019: $1.2B
2020: $2.0B
2021: $2.0B
2022: $750.0M
2023: $1.4B
2024: $1.1B
2025: $2.1B
−$1.0B$0$1.0B$2.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Diluted shares (lower is better)

2007: 495.0M
2008: 488.0M
2009: 473.0M
2010: 488.0M
2011: 479.0M
2012: 463.0M
2013: 472.0M
2014: 674.8M
2015: 661.5M
2016: 672.6M
2017: 944.6M
2018: 931.7M
2019: 874.3M
2020: 753.6M
2021: 721.1M
2022: 699.6M
2023: 687.4M
2024: 676.0M
2025: 654.1M
0250.0M500.0M750.0M
07
11
15
19
23

Margins

0%20%40%07101316192225
Net marginFCF marginGross margin

Capital returned (dividends + buybacks)

2007: $791.0M
2008: $484.0M
2009: $388.0M
2010: $1.3B
2011: $1.8B
2012: $961.0M
2013: $588.0M
2014: $1.8B
2015: $2.0B
2016: $1.4B
2017: $1.4B
2018: $1.3B
2019: $6.9B
2020: $3.0B
2021: $2.1B
2022: $2.4B
2023: $1.6B
2024: $2.2B
2025: $7.0B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
07
11
15
19
23

Cash vs long-term debt

$0$5.0B$10.0B07101316192225
CashLT 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

Q2'23: $6.7B
Q3'23: $7.1B
Q4'23: $2.4B
Q1'24: $5.2B
Q2'24: $5.6B
Q3'24: $5.9B
Q4'24: $6.2B
Q1'25: $5.4B
Q2'25: $5.7B
Q3'25: $6.1B
Q4'25: $6.4B
Q1'26: $5.8B
Q2'26: $6.1B
$0$2.0B$4.0B$6.0B
23
24
24
25
26

Net income by quarter

Q2'23: $133.0M
Q3'23: $1.0B
Q4'23: $549.0M
Q1'24: $374.0M
Q2'24: −$277.0M
Q3'24: $975.0M
Q4'24: $633.0M
Q1'25: $419.0M
Q2'25: $478.0M
Q3'25: $701.0M
Q4'25: $1.7B
Q1'26: $524.0M
Q2'26: $613.0M
$0$500.0M$1.0B$1.5B
23
24
24
25
26
QuarterRevenueYoYNet incomeYoYEPSOCF
Q2'26$6.1B+8.2%$613.0M+28.2%1.00
Q1'26$5.8B+6.8%$524.0M+25.1%0.85
Q4'25 *$6.4B+3.1%$1.7B+167.5%2.61
Q3'25$6.1B+2.6%$701.0M−28.1%1.07
Q2'25$5.7B+1.4%$478.0M0.72
Q1'25$5.4B+4.2%$419.0M+12.0%0.63
Q4'24 *$6.2B+155.6%$633.0M+15.3%0.93$996.0M
Q3'24$5.9B−17.3%$975.0M−7.1%1.45$1.0B
Q2'24$5.6B−16.3%−$277.0M−308.3%-0.41−$203.0M
Q1'24$5.2B−14.2%$374.0M+216.9%0.55−$246.0M
Q4'23 *$2.4B+18.5%$549.0M−27.9%0.80$1.0B
Q3'23$7.1B+7.8%$1.0B+176.8%1.53$813.0M
Q2'23$6.7B+9.6%$133.0M+1109.1%0.19$314.0M

Track record

Compound annual growth by period. For debt and share count, negative is the good direction.

Series3y5y10y15y
Revenue+4.6%+1.1%+3.3%+5.2%
Operating cash flow+27.3%+0.6%+4.8%+7.4%
Free cash flow+41.4%+0.8%+16.4%+9.8%
EPS (diluted)+31.9%+43.0%+7.9%+5.3%
Equity−7.4%−5.8%+2.3%−0.6%
LT debt+7.4%+4.1%+4.8%+5.4%
Diluted shares−2.2%−2.8%−0.1%+2.0%
Stock price+36.5%+16.0%+15.8%+16.7%

$100, 3 years ago

$254vs $176 in SPY

36.5% vs 20.7%/yr

$100, 5 years ago

$210vs $181 in SPY

16.0% vs 12.6%/yr

$100, 10 years ago

$435vs $412 in SPY

15.8% vs 15.2%/yr

$100, 15 years ago

$1,019vs $813 in SPY

16.7% vs 15.0%/yr

The $1 test — market value created per $1 of earnings retained (Buffett's hurdle: at least $1)

Last 5 years

$8.51

$45.8B created / $5.4B retained

Last 10 years

$5.49

$56.6B created / $10.3B retained

Quality & capital discipline

Cash-based returns and how management deploys capital

Cash ROIC

11.5%

OCF ÷ (equity + debt)

OCF / EV yield

2.6%

MC vs 10× OCF

3.58

≤1 = priced under 10× OCF

Debt / FCF

4.3y

SBC / FCF

6.6%

Owner earnings

$2.0B

OCF − capex − SBC

OE yield

2.2%

Share count 5y

+1.6%

per year; negative = buybacks

Capital intensity

9.3%

net PP&E ÷ revenue

Sales efficiency

$-0.68

new PP&E per $1 new revenue, 5y

Checklist

12 of 25 checks pass · 48%. Checks with structurally missing inputs are excluded.

Growth & Consistency

4/7

  • Revenue growth

    1.1% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • EPS growth

    43.0% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    pass
  • FCF growth

    0.8% · 5y CAGR ≥ 5%

    fail
  • Revenue rises consistently

    7 of 9 · up in ≥ 7 of last 10 years

    pass
  • FCF consistently positive

    9 of 10 · positive in ≥ 8 of last 10 years

    pass
  • Profitable every year

    9 of 10 · net income > 0 in ≥ 8 of last 10

    pass
  • Cash flow keeps up with sales

    0.6% vs 1.1% · OCF CAGR ≥ 0.9× revenue CAGR

    fail

Profitability

4/6

  • Net margin

    13.9% · ≥ 8%

    pass
  • Operating margin

    · ≥ 10%

    na
  • Gross margin stable or rising

    36.4% vs 34.4% · no drop > 2 pts over 3y

    pass
  • Return on equity

    25.5% · ≥ 12%

    pass
  • Cash ROIC

    11.5% · ≥ 12%

    fail
  • FCF margin

    9.0% · ≥ 5%

    pass
  • Earnings back their cash

    OCF $2.6B vs NI $3.3B · OCF ≥ net income (latest FY)

    fail

Balance Sheet

1/4

  • Debt payable from cash flow

    4.3y · LT debt ≤ 3× FCF

    fail
  • Cash cushion

    4% · cash ≥ 50% of LT debt

    fail
  • Leverage

    0.71 · LT debt ≤ 1.5× equity

    pass
  • Equity positive and compounding

    $12.9B · equity > 0 and grew over ~5y

    fail
  • Interest burden

    · interest ≤ 15% of operating income

    na

Capital Allocation

2/4

  • Share count flat or shrinking

    1.6% · ≤ +0.5%/yr over ~5y

    fail
  • Stock comp restrained

    7% · SBC ≤ 15% of FCF

    pass
  • Distributions funded by FCF

    329% · dividends + buybacks ≤ 100% of FCF

    fail
  • Repurchases are a habit

    10 of 10 · buybacks in ≥ 5 of last 10 years

    pass

Valuation Discipline

1/4

  • FCF yield

    2.3% · ≥ 3%

    fail
  • Earnings multiple

    27.7 · P/E ≤ 25

    fail
  • Price asks less than history delivered

    18.2% vs 16.4% · implied FCF growth ≤ historical FCF CAGR

    fail
  • Shareholder yield

    7.6% · dividends + buybacks ≥ 2% of market cap

    pass

Red flags

Mechanical checks — a flag is a question to investigate, not a verdict

Distributions exceed FCF

Dividends plus buybacks exceeded free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.

Financial data

As filed in 10-Ks; per-share figures split-adjusted. $ in millions.

FYRevenueGross profitOp incomeNet incomeEPSOCFCapExFCFDividendsBuybacksSBCCashLT debtEquityShares
202523,5968,5923,2915.032,5544342,1209765,9911403799,19512,927654
202422,9528,0771,7052.521,5684941,0741,0001,2461076068,56816,098676
202322,3317,8041,8492.691,8564461,4109806251078288,46216,545687
202220,6377,0901,5322.191,2374877509161,441982,0297,42616,268700
202123,6688,0591,6372.272,5515521,9997621,307761,3367,50617,562721
202022,3177,4116310.842,4794432,0367902,204741,9517,52617,447754
201923,9687,6935,6746.491,7435861,1579205,983952,8056,70819,766874
201823,4007,6672,1622.321,5206458759543001061859,62321,164932
201722,8357,5301,6111.71371760-38970265113430111,96420,447945
201620,8375,654-868-1.291,9081,24965991550114257911,05324,118673
201517,1004,5311,5632.361,6001,1354656571,362905535,74510,335662
201438,7496,3051,2151.802,3951,1991,1965681,2498236411,270675
201310,0587125361.14701269432288300635631,4635,098472
20129,8925784721.025562952614615001408441,4914,994463
201110,5579821,7193.596613712904581,30008444,10614,149479
201011,0206151,1302.318713515204169001208444,18814,084488
200916,882-1,506-1,798-3.802,3877021,685388992,1154,27412,941473
200819,7331,8961,5533.19-912722-1,6342921921041,5193,70915,494488
200718,477-1,732-1,742-3.521,8146661,1487911,89415,624495

Some concepts are structurally absent for certain industries (banks report no gross profit or capex). Missing ≠ zero.