McCormick vs Post
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The short version
- Post is the larger business, with $8.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $6.8B for McCormick.
- Post grew revenue faster (3.0%, against 1.7%).
- McCormick kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (15.7% operating margin, against 9.8%).
- McCormick turned more of its sales into free cash flow (10.8% FCF margin, against 6.0%).
- McCormick earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (8.7%, against 5.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Post’s earnings: a P/E of 14.7x against 8.7x for McCormick.
| Latest fiscal year | MKC · FY25 | POST · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $13.0B | $4.1B |
| Revenue | $6.8B | $8.2B |
| Free cash flow | $740M | $488M |
| Net income | $789M | $336M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 1.7% | 3.0% |
| 5-year growth | 4.1% | 11.6% |
| Share count change | −0.1% | −6.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 37.9% | 28.7% |
| Operating margin | 15.7% | 9.8% |
| Net margin | 11.5% | 4.1% |
| FCF margin | 10.8% | 6.0% |
| Return on capital | 8.7% | 5.7% |
| Return on equity | 14.3% | 8.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $4.0B | $7.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 5.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $518M | $709M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 8.7x | 14.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
MKC $4.4B
POST $5.0B
FY17
MKC $4.7B
POST $5.2B
FY18
MKC $5.3B
POST $6.3B
FY19
MKC $5.3B
POST $5.7B
FY20
MKC $5.6B
POST $4.7B
FY21
MKC $6.3B
POST $5.0B
FY22
MKC $6.4B
POST $5.9B
FY23
MKC $6.7B
POST $7.0B
FY24
MKC $6.7B
POST $7.9B
FY25
MKC $6.8B
POST $8.2B
MKC
POST
Operating margin
FY16
MKC 14.5%
POST 10.9%
FY17
MKC 14.8%
POST 9.9%
FY18
MKC 16.8%
POST 9.2%
FY19
MKC 17.9%
POST 13.8%
FY20
MKC 17.8%
POST 11.4%
FY21
MKC 16.1%
POST 9.8%
FY22
MKC 13.6%
POST 7.1%
FY23
MKC 14.5%
POST 8.6%
FY24
MKC 15.8%
POST 10.0%
FY25
MKC 15.7%
POST 9.8%
MKC
POST
Free cash flow
FY16
MKC $504M
POST $381M
FY17
MKC $633M
POST $196M
FY18
MKC $652M
POST $494M
FY19
MKC $773M
POST $414M
FY20
MKC $816M
POST $393M
FY21
MKC $550M
POST $397M
FY22
MKC $390M
POST $127M
FY23
MKC $973M
POST $447M
FY24
MKC $647M
POST $502M
FY25
MKC $740M
POST $488M
MKC
POST
Return on capital
FY16
MKC 16.0%
POST 6.6%
FY17
MKC 10.1%
POST 4.5%
FY18
MKC 11.7%
POST 6.4%
FY19
MKC 10.0%
POST 8.5%
FY20
MKC 9.9%
POST 4.8%
FY21
MKC 8.8%
POST 4.1%
FY22
MKC 7.2%
POST 4.4%
FY23
MKC 7.9%
POST 4.9%
FY24
MKC 8.9%
POST 6.2%
FY25
MKC 8.7%
POST 5.7%
MKC
POST
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.