Applied Industrial Technologies vs Core & Main
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The short version
- Core & Main is the larger business, with $7.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.0B for Applied Industrial Technologies, about 1.5 times as much.
- Applied Industrial Technologies grew revenue faster (8.8%, against 2.8%).
- Applied Industrial Technologies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (11.1% operating margin, against 9.4%).
- Applied Industrial Technologies turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.3% FCF margin, against 7.9%).
- Applied Industrial Technologies earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (20.8%, against 13.7%).
| Latest fiscal year | AIT · FY26 | CNM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $12.0B | $8.1B |
| Revenue | $5.0B | $7.6B |
| Free cash flow | $461M | $604M |
| Net income | $415M | $441M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.8% | 2.8% |
| 5-year growth | 9.0% | 16.0% |
| Share count change | −2.5% | −1.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 30.3% | 26.9% |
| Operating margin | 11.1% | 9.4% |
| Net margin | 8.4% | 5.8% |
| FCF margin | 9.3% | 7.9% |
| Return on capital | 20.8% | 13.7% |
| Return on equity | 22.4% | 23.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $135M | $1.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.2x | 2.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $390M | $155M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 17.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
Revenue
FY17
AIT $2.6B
CNM —
FY18
AIT $3.1B
CNM —
FY19
AIT $3.5B
CNM $3.4B
FY20
AIT $3.2B
CNM $3.6B
FY21
AIT $3.2B
CNM $5.0B
FY22
AIT $3.8B
CNM $6.7B
FY23
AIT $4.4B
CNM $6.7B
FY24
AIT $4.5B
CNM $7.4B
FY25
AIT $4.6B
CNM $7.6B
FY26
AIT $5.0B
CNM —
AIT
CNM
Operating margin
FY17
AIT 6.8%
CNM —
FY18
AIT 7.4%
CNM —
FY19
AIT 6.7%
CNM 4.6%
FY20
AIT 2.7%
CNM 5.1%
FY21
AIT 6.4%
CNM 8.5%
FY22
AIT 9.4%
CNM 11.7%
FY23
AIT 10.7%
CNM 11.0%
FY24
AIT 11.1%
CNM 9.7%
FY25
AIT 10.9%
CNM 9.4%
FY26
AIT 11.1%
CNM —
AIT
CNM
Free cash flow
FY17
AIT $148M
CNM —
FY18
AIT $124M
CNM —
FY19
AIT $162M
CNM $180M
FY20
AIT $277M
CNM $202M
FY21
AIT $226M
CNM −$51.0M
FY22
AIT $169M
CNM $376M
FY23
AIT $317M
CNM $1.0B
FY24
AIT $347M
CNM $586M
FY25
AIT $465M
CNM $604M
FY26
AIT $461M
CNM —
AIT
CNM
Return on capital
FY17
AIT 15.1%
CNM —
FY18
AIT 11.8%
CNM —
FY19
AIT 10.0%
CNM —
FY20
AIT 2.7%
CNM —
FY21
AIT 11.2%
CNM —
FY22
AIT 17.7%
CNM 18.2%
FY23
AIT 21.5%
CNM 16.8%
FY24
AIT 21.6%
CNM 14.6%
FY25
AIT 20.3%
CNM 13.7%
FY26
AIT 20.8%
CNM —
AIT
CNM
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.