Core & Main vs MSC Industrial Direct
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The short version
- Core & Main is the larger business, with $7.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.0B for MSC Industrial Direct, about 1.9 times as much.
- MSC Industrial Direct grew revenue faster (6.4%, against 2.8%).
- Core & Main kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (9.4% operating margin, against 8.0%).
- Core & Main turned more of its sales into free cash flow (7.9% FCF margin, against 5.6%).
- Core & Main earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.7%, against 13.2%).
| Latest fiscal year | CNM · FY25 | MSM · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.1B | $6.4B |
| Revenue | $7.6B | $4.0B |
| Free cash flow | $604M | $225M |
| Net income | $441M | $223M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.8% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | 16.0% | 4.3% |
| Share count change | −1.8% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 26.9% | 40.9% |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 5.8% | 5.6% |
| FCF margin | 7.9% | 5.6% |
| Return on capital | 13.7% | 13.2% |
| Return on equity | 23.9% | 15.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.9B | $412M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $155M | $208M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 17.3x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 8 |
Revenue
FY17
CNM —
MSM $2.9B
FY18
CNM —
MSM $3.2B
FY19
CNM $3.4B
MSM $3.4B
FY20
CNM $3.6B
MSM $3.2B
FY21
CNM $5.0B
MSM $3.2B
FY22
CNM $6.7B
MSM $3.7B
FY23
CNM $6.7B
MSM $4.0B
FY24
CNM $7.4B
MSM $3.8B
FY25
CNM $7.6B
MSM $3.8B
FY26
CNM —
MSM $4.0B
CNM
MSM
Operating margin
FY17
CNM —
MSM 13.1%
FY18
CNM —
MSM 13.1%
FY19
CNM 4.6%
MSM 11.9%
FY20
CNM 5.1%
MSM 11.0%
FY21
CNM 8.5%
MSM 9.3%
FY22
CNM 11.7%
MSM 12.7%
FY23
CNM 11.0%
MSM 12.1%
FY24
CNM 9.7%
MSM 10.2%
FY25
CNM 9.4%
MSM 8.0%
FY26
CNM —
MSM 8.0%
CNM
MSM
Free cash flow
FY17
CNM —
MSM $200M
FY18
CNM —
MSM $295M
FY19
CNM $180M
MSM $277M
FY20
CNM $202M
MSM $350M
FY21
CNM −$51.0M
MSM $171M
FY22
CNM $376M
MSM $185M
FY23
CNM $1.0B
MSM $607M
FY24
CNM $586M
MSM $311M
FY25
CNM $604M
MSM $241M
FY26
CNM —
MSM $225M
CNM
MSM
Return on capital
FY17
CNM —
MSM 14.0%
FY18
CNM —
MSM 18.8%
FY19
CNM —
MSM 16.0%
FY20
CNM —
MSM 14.3%
FY21
CNM —
MSM 12.3%
FY22
CNM 18.2%
MSM 17.6%
FY23
CNM 16.8%
MSM 18.2%
FY24
CNM 14.6%
MSM 15.4%
FY25
CNM 13.7%
MSM 12.2%
FY26
CNM —
MSM 13.2%
CNM
MSM
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.