Hexcel
HXL · Aerospace & Defense
$79.62
2.0%MSA Safety
MSA · Office Services & Supplies
$182.26
1.2%The short version
- Hexcel is the larger business, with $1.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.9B for MSA Safety.
- MSA Safety grew revenue faster (3.7%, against −0.5%).
- MSA Safety kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (19.8% operating margin, against 9.1% operating margin).
- MSA Safety turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.8% FCF margin, against 8.3% FCF margin).
- MSA Safety earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (17.3%, against 6.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Hexcel’s earnings: a P/E of 35.9x against 22.7x for MSA Safety.
| Latest fiscal year | HXL · FY25 | MSA · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $6.1B | $7.1B |
| Revenue | $1.9B | $1.9B |
| Free cash flow | $157M | $295M |
| Net income | $109M | $279M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −0.5% | 3.7% |
| 5-year growth | 4.7% | 6.8% |
| Share count change | −3.6% | −0.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 23.0% | 46.5% |
| Operating margin | 9.1% | 19.8% |
| Net margin | 5.8% | 14.9% |
| FCF margin | 8.3% | 15.8% |
| Return on capital | 6.5% | 17.3% |
| Return on equity | 7.9% | 22.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $922M | $416M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 0.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $508M | $172M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 35.9x | 22.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
FY16
HXL $2.0B
MSA $1.1B
FY17
HXL $2.0B
MSA $1.2B
FY18
HXL $2.2B
MSA $1.4B
FY19
HXL $2.4B
MSA $1.4B
FY20
HXL $1.5B
MSA $1.3B
FY21
HXL $1.3B
MSA $1.4B
FY22
HXL $1.6B
MSA $1.5B
FY23
HXL $1.8B
MSA $1.8B
FY24
HXL $1.9B
MSA $1.8B
FY25
HXL $1.9B
MSA $1.9B
HXL
MSA
FY16
HXL 18.0%
MSA 14.0%
FY17
HXL 17.8%
MSA 3.3%
FY18
HXL 17.0%
MSA 12.8%
FY19
HXL 18.1%
MSA 13.4%
FY20
HXL 0.9%
MSA 12.8%
FY21
HXL 3.9%
MSA 1.6%
FY22
HXL 11.1%
MSA 15.7%
FY23
HXL 12.0%
MSA 12.9%
FY24
HXL 9.8%
MSA 21.5%
FY25
HXL 9.1%
MSA 19.8%
HXL
MSA
FY16
HXL $73.5M
MSA $109M
FY17
HXL $151M
MSA $207M
FY18
HXL $237M
MSA $230M
FY19
HXL $287M
MSA $128M
FY20
HXL $214M
MSA $158M
FY21
HXL $124M
MSA $155M
FY22
HXL $96.8M
MSA $115M
FY23
HXL $149M
MSA $50.1M
FY24
HXL $203M
MSA $242M
FY25
HXL $157M
MSA $295M
HXL
MSA
FY16
HXL 14.6%
MSA 11.6%
FY17
HXL 14.7%
MSA 4.0%
FY18
HXL 13.4%
MSA 14.8%
FY19
HXL 14.5%
MSA 15.8%
FY20
HXL 0.5%
MSA 13.3%
FY21
HXL 1.7%
MSA 1.8%
FY22
HXL 6.4%
MSA 13.7%
FY23
HXL 8.8%
MSA 8.4%
FY24
HXL 7.4%
MSA 20.3%
FY25
HXL 6.5%
MSA 17.3%
HXL
MSA
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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.