Louisiana-Pacific vs Watts Water Technologies
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Louisiana-Pacific and Watts Water Technologies side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Louisiana-Pacific is the larger business, with $2.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.4B for Watts Water Technologies.
- Watts Water Technologies grew revenue faster (8.3%, against −7.9%).
- Watts Water Technologies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (18.4% operating margin, against 7.7%).
- Watts Water Technologies turned more of its sales into free cash flow (14.6% FCF margin, against 3.4%).
- Watts Water Technologies earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (20.5%, against 9.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Louisiana-Pacific’s earnings: a P/E of 94.6x against 31.3x for Watts Water Technologies.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Louisiana-Pacific
LPX
1/11
Share count change
Watts Water Technologies
WTS
10/11
Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | LPX FY25 | WTS FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.2B | $12.0B |
| Revenue | $2.7B | $2.4B |
| Free cash flow | $91.0M | $356M |
| Net income | $146M | $341M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −7.9% | 8.3% |
| 5-year growth | 2.5% | 10.1% |
| Share count change | −1.4% | 0.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 21.8% | 49.5% |
| Operating margin | 7.7% | 18.4% |
| Net margin | 5.4% | 14.0% |
| FCF margin | 3.4% | 14.6% |
| Return on capital | 9.0% | 20.5% |
| Return on equity | 8.6% | 18.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $56.0M | −$205M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.2x | −0.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $139M | $82.9M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 94.6x | 31.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 8 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.