Aramark vs Pool
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The short version
- Aramark is the larger business, with $18.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.3B for Pool, about 3.5 times as much.
- Aramark grew revenue faster (6.4%, against −0.4%).
- Pool kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (11.0% operating margin, against 4.3%).
- Pool turned more of its sales into free cash flow (5.9% FCF margin, against 2.3%).
- Pool earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (20.0%, against 7.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Aramark’s earnings: a P/E of 37.0x against 18.3x for Pool.
| Latest fiscal year | ARMK · FY25 | POOL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $14.1B | $7.2B |
| Revenue | $18.5B | $5.3B |
| Free cash flow | $432M | $310M |
| Net income | $326M | $406M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | −0.4% |
| 5-year growth | 7.6% | 6.1% |
| Share count change | 0.4% | −2.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 29.7% |
| Operating margin | 4.3% | 11.0% |
| Net margin | 1.8% | 7.7% |
| FCF margin | 2.3% | 5.9% |
| Return on capital | 7.7% | 20.0% |
| Return on equity | 10.6% | 33.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $4.8B | $1.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.8x | 1.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $281M | $531M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 37.0x | 18.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
ARMK $14.4B
POOL $2.6B
FY17
ARMK $14.6B
POOL $2.8B
FY18
ARMK $15.8B
POOL $3.0B
FY19
ARMK $16.2B
POOL $3.2B
FY20
ARMK $12.8B
POOL $3.9B
FY21
ARMK $12.1B
POOL $5.3B
FY22
ARMK $13.7B
POOL $6.2B
FY23
ARMK $16.1B
POOL $5.5B
FY24
ARMK $17.4B
POOL $5.3B
FY25
ARMK $18.5B
POOL $5.3B
ARMK
POOL
Operating margin
FY16
ARMK 5.2%
POOL 10.0%
FY17
ARMK 5.5%
POOL 10.2%
FY18
ARMK 5.2%
POOL 10.5%
FY19
ARMK 5.5%
POOL 10.7%
FY20
ARMK −2.1%
POOL 11.8%
FY21
ARMK 1.6%
POOL 15.7%
FY22
ARMK 3.0%
POOL 16.6%
FY23
ARMK 3.9%
POOL 13.5%
FY24
ARMK 4.1%
POOL 11.6%
FY25
ARMK 4.3%
POOL 11.0%
ARMK
POOL
Free cash flow
FY16
ARMK $355M
POOL $131M
FY17
ARMK $500M
POOL $136M
FY18
ARMK $423M
POOL $87.1M
FY19
ARMK $481M
POOL $265M
FY20
ARMK −$242M
POOL $376M
FY21
ARMK $249M
POOL $276M
FY22
ARMK $383M
POOL $441M
FY23
ARMK $383M
POOL $828M
FY24
ARMK $299M
POOL $600M
FY25
ARMK $432M
POOL $310M
ARMK
POOL
Return on capital
FY16
ARMK 7.0%
POOL 26.4%
FY17
ARMK 7.8%
POOL 30.2%
FY18
ARMK 9.3%
POOL 31.6%
FY19
ARMK 10.8%
POOL 32.0%
FY20
ARMK −3.3%
POOL 39.8%
FY21
ARMK 1.6%
POOL 40.7%
FY22
ARMK 3.5%
POOL 32.5%
FY23
ARMK 5.3%
POOL 23.3%
FY24
ARMK 6.3%
POOL 21.3%
FY25
ARMK 7.7%
POOL 20.0%
ARMK
POOL
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.