Generac vs Lincoln Electric
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The short version
- Lincoln Electric is the larger business, with $4.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.2B for Generac.
- Lincoln Electric grew revenue faster (5.6%, against −2.0%).
- Lincoln Electric kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (17.0% operating margin, against 6.9%).
- Lincoln Electric turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.6% FCF margin, against 6.4%).
- Lincoln Electric earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (24.5%, against 6.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Generac’s earnings: a P/E of 43.0x against 25.5x for Lincoln Electric.
| Latest fiscal year | GNRC · FY25 | LECO · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $11.1B | $14.1B |
| Revenue | $4.2B | $4.2B |
| Free cash flow | $268M | $534M |
| Net income | $160M | $521M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −2.0% | 5.6% |
| 5-year growth | 11.1% | 9.8% |
| Share count change | −1.8% | −2.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 38.3% | 36.3% |
| Operating margin | 6.9% | 17.0% |
| Net margin | 3.8% | 12.3% |
| FCF margin | 6.4% | 12.6% |
| Return on capital | 6.5% | 24.5% |
| Return on equity | 6.2% | 37.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.0B | $841M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $148M | $507M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 43.0x | 25.5x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
FY16
GNRC $1.4B
LECO $2.3B
FY17
GNRC $1.7B
LECO $2.6B
FY18
GNRC $2.0B
LECO $3.0B
FY19
GNRC $2.2B
LECO $3.0B
FY20
GNRC $2.5B
LECO $2.7B
FY21
GNRC $3.7B
LECO $3.2B
FY22
GNRC $4.6B
LECO $3.8B
FY23
GNRC $4.0B
LECO $4.2B
FY24
GNRC $4.3B
LECO $4.0B
FY25
GNRC $4.2B
LECO $4.2B
GNRC
LECO
FY16
GNRC 14.0%
LECO 12.5%
FY17
GNRC 14.9%
LECO 14.4%
FY18
GNRC 17.7%
LECO 12.4%
FY19
GNRC 16.9%
LECO 12.4%
FY20
GNRC 19.3%
LECO 10.6%
FY21
GNRC 19.3%
LECO 14.3%
FY22
GNRC 12.4%
LECO 16.3%
FY23
GNRC 9.6%
LECO 17.1%
FY24
GNRC 12.5%
LECO 15.9%
FY25
GNRC 6.9%
LECO 17.0%
GNRC
LECO
FY16
GNRC $211M
LECO $263M
FY17
GNRC $224M
LECO $273M
FY18
GNRC $200M
LECO $258M
FY19
GNRC $248M
LECO $334M
FY20
GNRC $424M
LECO $292M
FY21
GNRC $301M
LECO $303M
FY22
GNRC −$27.7M
LECO $312M
FY23
GNRC $393M
LECO $577M
FY24
GNRC $605M
LECO $482M
FY25
GNRC $268M
LECO $534M
GNRC
LECO
FY16
GNRC 10.0%
LECO 20.1%
FY17
GNRC 14.9%
LECO 21.7%
FY18
GNRC 19.3%
LECO 23.0%
FY19
GNRC 18.8%
LECO 23.0%
FY20
GNRC 22.8%
LECO 17.1%
FY21
GNRC 24.7%
LECO 29.8%
FY22
GNRC 13.7%
LECO 29.2%
FY23
GNRC 7.9%
LECO 28.7%
FY24
GNRC 11.3%
LECO 23.7%
FY25
GNRC 6.5%
LECO 24.5%
GNRC
LECO
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.