Simpson Manufacturing vs Advanced Drainage Systems
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The short version
- Advanced Drainage Systems is the larger business, with $3.1B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $2.3B for Simpson Manufacturing.
- Advanced Drainage Systems grew revenue faster (5.0%, against 4.5%).
- Advanced Drainage Systems kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.3% operating margin, against 19.6%).
- Advanced Drainage Systems turned more of its sales into free cash flow (18.7% FCF margin, against 12.8%).
- Simpson Manufacturing earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (17.5%, against 15.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Advanced Drainage Systems’s earnings: a P/E of 22.5x against 20.1x for Simpson Manufacturing.
| Latest fiscal year | SSD · FY25 | WMS · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $7.6B | $10.0B |
| Revenue | $2.3B | $3.1B |
| Free cash flow | $298M | $569M |
| Net income | $345M | $427M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.5% | 5.0% |
| 5-year growth | 13.0% | 9.0% |
| Share count change | −1.2% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 45.9% | 38.3% |
| Operating margin | 19.6% | 20.3% |
| Net margin | 14.8% | 14.0% |
| FCF margin | 12.8% | 18.7% |
| Return on capital | 17.5% | 15.8% |
| Return on equity | 18.0% | 25.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$84.1M | $1.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.2x | 1.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $168M | $148M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.1x | 22.5x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 4 |
Revenue
FY17
SSD $977M
WMS $1.3B
FY18
SSD $1.1B
WMS $1.3B
FY19
SSD $1.1B
WMS $1.4B
FY20
SSD $1.3B
WMS $1.7B
FY21
SSD $1.6B
WMS $2.0B
FY22
SSD $2.1B
WMS $2.8B
FY23
SSD $2.2B
WMS $3.1B
FY24
SSD $2.2B
WMS $2.9B
FY25
SSD $2.3B
WMS $2.9B
FY26
SSD —
WMS $3.1B
SSD
WMS
Operating margin
FY17
SSD 14.2%
WMS 6.1%
FY18
SSD 16.0%
WMS 6.6%
FY19
SSD 16.0%
WMS 9.4%
FY20
SSD 19.9%
WMS −5.7%
FY21
SSD 23.4%
WMS 17.4%
FY22
SSD 21.7%
WMS 14.9%
FY23
SSD 21.5%
WMS 23.4%
FY24
SSD 19.3%
WMS 25.5%
FY25
SSD 19.6%
WMS 22.6%
FY26
SSD —
WMS 20.3%
SSD
WMS
Free cash flow
FY17
SSD $61.0M
WMS $57.6M
FY18
SSD $131M
WMS $95.4M
FY19
SSD $173M
WMS $108M
FY20
SSD $175M
WMS $239M
FY21
SSD $108M
WMS $373M
FY22
SSD $337M
WMS $126M
FY23
SSD $338M
WMS $541M
FY24
SSD $158M
WMS $534M
FY25
SSD $298M
WMS $369M
FY26
SSD —
WMS $569M
SSD
WMS
Return on capital
FY17
SSD —
WMS 8.4%
FY18
SSD 17.9%
WMS 12.6%
FY19
SSD —
WMS 14.4%
FY20
SSD —
WMS −6.7%
FY21
SSD —
WMS 16.6%
FY22
SSD —
WMS 17.7%
FY23
SSD 22.0%
WMS 29.2%
FY24
SSD 17.7%
WMS 27.9%
FY25
SSD 17.5%
WMS 22.0%
FY26
SSD —
WMS 15.8%
SSD
WMS
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.