Arrow Electronics vs CDW
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The short version
- Arrow Electronics is the larger business, with $30.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $22.4B for CDW.
- Arrow Electronics grew revenue faster (10.5%, against 6.8%).
- CDW kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (7.4% operating margin, against 2.7%).
- CDW turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.9% FCF margin, against −0.1%).
- CDW earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.4%, against 7.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of CDW’s earnings: a P/E of 19.8x against 13.4x for Arrow Electronics.
| Latest fiscal year | ARW · FY25 | CDW · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $10.9B | $21.0B |
| Revenue | $30.9B | $22.4B |
| Free cash flow | −$37.2M | $1.1B |
| Net income | $571M | $1.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 10.5% | 6.8% |
| 5-year growth | 1.5% | 4.0% |
| Share count change | −2.9% | −2.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 11.2% | 21.7% |
| Operating margin | 2.7% | 7.4% |
| Net margin | 1.9% | 4.8% |
| FCF margin | −0.1% | 4.9% |
| Return on capital | 7.3% | 16.4% |
| Return on equity | 9.3% | 43.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.8B | $5.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.9x | 2.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $162M | $982M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 13.4x | 19.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
ARW $23.5B
CDW $13.7B
FY17
ARW $26.6B
CDW $14.8B
FY18
ARW $29.7B
CDW $16.2B
FY19
ARW $28.9B
CDW $18.0B
FY20
ARW $28.7B
CDW $18.5B
FY21
ARW $34.5B
CDW $20.8B
FY22
ARW $37.1B
CDW $23.7B
FY23
ARW $33.1B
CDW $21.4B
FY24
ARW $27.9B
CDW $21.0B
FY25
ARW $30.9B
CDW $22.4B
ARW
CDW
Operating margin
FY16
ARW 3.7%
CDW 6.0%
FY17
ARW 3.6%
CDW 5.8%
FY18
ARW 3.9%
CDW 6.1%
FY19
ARW 0.4%
CDW 6.3%
FY20
ARW 3.1%
CDW 6.4%
FY21
ARW 4.5%
CDW 6.8%
FY22
ARW 5.6%
CDW 7.3%
FY23
ARW 4.4%
CDW 7.9%
FY24
ARW 2.8%
CDW 7.9%
FY25
ARW 2.7%
CDW 7.4%
ARW
CDW
Free cash flow
FY16
ARW $195M
CDW $541M
FY17
ARW −$79.4M
CDW $697M
FY18
ARW $137M
CDW $820M
FY19
ARW $715M
CDW $791M
FY20
ARW $1.2B
CDW $1.2B
FY21
ARW $336M
CDW $685M
FY22
ARW −$112M
CDW $1.2B
FY23
ARW $622M
CDW $1.5B
FY24
ARW $1.0B
CDW $1.2B
FY25
ARW −$37.2M
CDW $1.1B
ARW
CDW
Return on capital
FY16
ARW 10.0%
CDW 12.4%
FY17
ARW 8.0%
CDW 17.0%
FY18
ARW 11.9%
CDW 18.8%
FY19
ARW 1.1%
CDW 21.7%
FY20
ARW 9.8%
CDW 23.4%
FY21
ARW 16.9%
CDW 19.4%
FY22
ARW 19.7%
CDW 17.9%
FY23
ARW 13.9%
CDW 17.9%
FY24
ARW 7.6%
CDW 17.0%
FY25
ARW 7.3%
CDW 16.4%
ARW
CDW
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.