Core & Main vs WESCO International
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The short version
- WESCO International is the larger business, with $23.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.6B for Core & Main, about 3.1 times as much.
- WESCO International grew revenue faster (7.8%, against 2.8%).
- Core & Main kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (9.4% operating margin, against 5.2%).
- Core & Main turned more of its sales into free cash flow (7.9% FCF margin, against 0.1%).
- Core & Main earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.7%, against 9.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of WESCO International’s earnings: a P/E of 22.0x against 17.3x for Core & Main.
| Latest fiscal year | CNM · FY25 | WCC · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.1B | $15.7B |
| Revenue | $7.6B | $23.5B |
| Free cash flow | $604M | $25.2M |
| Net income | $441M | $640M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.8% | 7.8% |
| 5-year growth | 16.0% | 13.8% |
| Share count change | −1.8% | −2.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 26.9% | 21.2% |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | 5.2% |
| Net margin | 5.8% | 2.7% |
| FCF margin | 7.9% | 0.1% |
| Return on capital | 13.7% | 9.4% |
| Return on equity | 23.9% | 12.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.9B | $5.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 3.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $155M | $163M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 17.3x | 22.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
CNM —
WCC $7.3B
FY17
CNM —
WCC $7.7B
FY18
CNM —
WCC $8.2B
FY19
CNM $3.4B
WCC $8.4B
FY20
CNM $3.6B
WCC $12.3B
FY21
CNM $5.0B
WCC $18.2B
FY22
CNM $6.7B
WCC $21.4B
FY23
CNM $6.7B
WCC $22.4B
FY24
CNM $7.4B
WCC $21.8B
FY25
CNM $7.6B
WCC $23.5B
CNM
WCC
Operating margin
FY16
CNM —
WCC 4.5%
FY17
CNM —
WCC 4.2%
FY18
CNM —
WCC 4.3%
FY19
CNM 4.6%
WCC 4.1%
FY20
CNM 5.1%
WCC 2.8%
FY21
CNM 8.5%
WCC 4.4%
FY22
CNM 11.7%
WCC 6.7%
FY23
CNM 11.0%
WCC 6.3%
FY24
CNM 9.7%
WCC 5.6%
FY25
CNM 9.4%
WCC 5.2%
CNM
WCC
Free cash flow
FY16
CNM —
WCC $282M
FY17
CNM —
WCC $128M
FY18
CNM —
WCC $261M
FY19
CNM $180M
WCC $180M
FY20
CNM $202M
WCC $487M
FY21
CNM −$51.0M
WCC $12.4M
FY22
CNM $376M
WCC −$88.4M
FY23
CNM $1.0B
WCC $401M
FY24
CNM $586M
WCC $1.0B
FY25
CNM $604M
WCC $25.2M
CNM
WCC
Return on capital
FY16
CNM —
WCC 7.9%
FY17
CNM —
WCC 6.2%
FY18
CNM —
WCC 8.5%
FY19
CNM —
WCC 8.1%
FY20
CNM —
WCC 5.0%
FY21
CNM —
WCC 8.0%
FY22
CNM 18.2%
WCC 12.4%
FY23
CNM 16.8%
WCC 11.3%
FY24
CNM 14.6%
WCC 9.6%
FY25
CNM 13.7%
WCC 9.4%
CNM
WCC
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.