Hubbell vs Xylem
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The short version
- Xylem is the larger business, with $9.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.8B for Hubbell, about 1.5 times as much.
- Xylem grew revenue faster (5.5%, against 3.8%).
- Hubbell kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.7% operating margin, against 13.5%).
- Hubbell turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.0% FCF margin, against 10.1%).
- Hubbell earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (18.7%, against 8.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Hubbell’s earnings: a P/E of 26.5x against 25.9x for Xylem.
| Latest fiscal year | HUBB · FY25 | XYL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $23.9B | $25.7B |
| Revenue | $5.8B | $9.0B |
| Free cash flow | $875M | $910M |
| Net income | $887M | $957M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.8% | 5.5% |
| 5-year growth | 9.7% | 13.1% |
| Share count change | −0.9% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 35.3% | 38.5% |
| Operating margin | 20.7% | 13.5% |
| Net margin | 15.2% | 10.6% |
| FCF margin | 15.0% | 10.1% |
| Return on capital | 18.7% | 8.1% |
| Return on equity | 24.5% | 8.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.8B | $1.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.3x | 0.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $225M | $406M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 26.5x | 25.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
HUBB $3.5B
XYL $3.8B
FY17
HUBB $3.7B
XYL $4.7B
FY18
HUBB $4.5B
XYL $5.2B
FY19
HUBB $3.9B
XYL $5.2B
FY20
HUBB $3.7B
XYL $4.9B
FY21
HUBB $4.2B
XYL $5.2B
FY22
HUBB $4.9B
XYL $5.5B
FY23
HUBB $5.4B
XYL $7.4B
FY24
HUBB $5.6B
XYL $8.6B
FY25
HUBB $5.8B
XYL $9.0B
HUBB
XYL
Operating margin
FY16
HUBB 14.0%
XYL 10.8%
FY17
HUBB 14.1%
XYL 11.7%
FY18
HUBB 12.4%
XYL 12.6%
FY19
HUBB 13.4%
XYL 9.3%
FY20
HUBB 13.4%
XYL 7.5%
FY21
HUBB 12.7%
XYL 11.3%
FY22
HUBB 14.3%
XYL 11.3%
FY23
HUBB 19.1%
XYL 8.9%
FY24
HUBB 19.4%
XYL 11.8%
FY25
HUBB 20.7%
XYL 13.5%
HUBB
XYL
Free cash flow
FY16
HUBB $344M
XYL $373M
FY17
HUBB $299M
XYL $516M
FY18
HUBB $421M
XYL $349M
FY19
HUBB $505M
XYL $613M
FY20
HUBB $565M
XYL $641M
FY21
HUBB $424M
XYL $330M
FY22
HUBB $507M
XYL $388M
FY23
HUBB $715M
XYL $566M
FY24
HUBB $811M
XYL $942M
FY25
HUBB $875M
XYL $910M
HUBB
XYL
Return on capital
FY16
HUBB 16.2%
XYL 9.0%
FY17
HUBB 13.1%
XYL 9.1%
FY18
HUBB 15.2%
XYL 13.5%
FY19
HUBB 12.2%
XYL 10.0%
FY20
HUBB 11.6%
XYL 7.5%
FY21
HUBB 12.7%
XYL 11.5%
FY22
HUBB 16.6%
XYL 11.4%
FY23
HUBB 19.9%
XYL 7.8%
FY24
HUBB 18.3%
XYL 7.1%
FY25
HUBB 18.7%
XYL 8.1%
HUBB
XYL
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.