Core & Main vs United Rentals
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Core & Main and United Rentals side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- United Rentals is the larger business, with $16.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.6B for Core & Main, about 2.1 times as much.
- United Rentals grew revenue faster (4.9%, against 2.8%).
- United Rentals kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (24.7% operating margin, against 9.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of United Rentals’s earnings: a P/E of 28.6x against 17.4x for Core & Main.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Core & Main
CNM
4/10
5-year growthReturn on capitalPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA
United Rentals
URI
6/10
Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginReturn on equityShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CNM FY25 | URI FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.2B | $70.7B |
| Revenue | $7.6B | $16.1B |
| Free cash flow | $604M | — |
| Net income | $441M | $2.5B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.8% | 4.9% |
| 5-year growth | 16.0% | 13.6% |
| Share count change | −1.8% | −3.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 26.9% | 38.2% |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | 24.7% |
| Net margin | 5.8% | 15.5% |
| FCF margin | 7.9% | — |
| Return on capital | 13.7% | 13.4% |
| Return on equity | 23.9% | 28.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.9B | $13.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $155M | $2.4B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 17.4x | 28.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 5 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.