A. O. Smith vs Louisiana-Pacific

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put A. O. Smith and Louisiana-Pacific side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

A. O. Smith is the larger business, with $3.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.7B for Louisiana-Pacific.
A. O. Smith grew revenue faster (0.3%, against −7.9%).
A. O. Smith kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (19.0% operating margin, against 7.7%).
A. O. Smith turned more of its sales into free cash flow (14.3% FCF margin, against 3.4%).
A. O. Smith earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (30.7%, against 9.0%).
Investors pay more for each dollar of Louisiana-Pacific’s earnings: a P/E of 92.3x against 17.2x for A. O. Smith.

Who comes out ahead

Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

A. O. Smith

AOS

11/11

Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change

Louisiana-Pacific

LPX

0/11

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	AOS FY25	LPX FY25
Size
Market cap	$8.5B	$5.0B
Revenue	$3.8B	$2.7B
Free cash flow	$546M	$91.0M
Net income	$546M	$146M
Growth
Revenue growth	0.3%	−7.9%
5-year growth	5.8%	2.5%
Share count change	−3.5%	−1.4%
Profitability
Gross margin	38.8%	21.8%
Operating margin	19.0%	7.7%
Net margin	14.3%	5.4%
FCF margin	14.3%	3.4%
Return on capital	30.7%	9.0%
Return on equity	29.2%	8.6%
Balance sheet
Net debt	−$38.2M	$56.0M
Net debt / EBITDA	−0.1x	0.2x
Dividends and buybacks	$597M	$139M
Valuation & quality
P/E	17.2x	92.3x
Piotroski F-score	7	5

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

AOS $2.7B

LPX $2.2B

FY17

AOS $3.0B

LPX $2.7B

FY18

AOS $3.2B

LPX $2.8B

FY19

AOS $3.0B

LPX $2.3B

FY20

AOS $2.9B

LPX $2.4B

FY21

AOS $3.5B

LPX $3.9B

FY22

AOS $3.8B

LPX $3.9B

FY23

AOS $3.9B

LPX $2.6B

FY24

AOS $3.8B

LPX $2.9B

FY25

AOS $3.8B

LPX $2.7B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AOS LPX

Operating margin

FY16

AOS 19.2%

LPX 9.4%

FY17

AOS 19.3%

LPX 19.5%

FY18

AOS 19.2%

LPX 18.6%

FY19

AOS 17.7%

LPX −0.9%

FY20

AOS 17.4%

LPX 25.6%

FY21

AOS 19.3%

LPX 44.3%

FY22

AOS 9.6%

LPX 32.4%

FY23

AOS 19.4%

LPX 11.1%

FY24

AOS 18.5%

LPX 18.0%

FY25

AOS 19.0%

LPX 7.7%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AOS LPX

Free cash flow

FY16

AOS $366M

LPX $218M

FY17

AOS $232M

LPX $325M

FY18

AOS $364M

LPX $297M

FY19

AOS $392M

LPX −$4.0M

FY20

AOS $505M

LPX $588M

FY21

AOS $566M

LPX $1.2B

FY22

AOS $321M

LPX $730M

FY23

AOS $598M

LPX $16.0M

FY24

AOS $474M

LPX $422M

FY25

AOS $546M

LPX $91.0M

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AOS LPX

Return on capital

FY16

AOS 34.2%

LPX 16.5%

FY17

AOS 28.4%

LPX 41.6%

FY18

AOS 38.6%

LPX 36.2%

FY19

AOS 30.8%

LPX −1.4%

FY20

AOS 29.3%

LPX 44.6%

FY21

AOS 39.8%

LPX 116.7%

FY22

AOS 24.1%

LPX 72.5%

FY23

AOS 35.2%

LPX 13.1%

FY24

AOS 31.6%

LPX 23.7%

FY25

AOS 30.7%

LPX 9.0%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

AOS LPX

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.