Flowserve vs Lincoln Electric
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The short version
- Flowserve is the larger business, with $4.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.2B for Lincoln Electric.
- Lincoln Electric grew revenue faster (5.6%, against 3.8%).
- Lincoln Electric kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (17.0% operating margin, against 8.5%).
- Lincoln Electric turned more of its sales into free cash flow (12.6% FCF margin, against 9.2%).
- Lincoln Electric earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (24.5%, against 9.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Lincoln Electric’s earnings: a P/E of 25.5x against 23.8x for Flowserve.
| Latest fiscal year | FLS · FY25 | LECO · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.8B | $14.1B |
| Revenue | $4.7B | $4.2B |
| Free cash flow | $435M | $534M |
| Net income | $346M | $521M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.8% | 5.6% |
| 5-year growth | 4.9% | 9.8% |
| Share count change | −1.0% | −2.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 33.4% | 36.3% |
| Operating margin | 8.5% | 17.0% |
| Net margin | 7.3% | 12.3% |
| FCF margin | 9.2% | 12.6% |
| Return on capital | 9.4% | 24.5% |
| Return on equity | 16.5% | 37.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $845M | $841M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.7x | 1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $365M | $507M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 23.8x | 25.5x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
FLS $4.0B
LECO $2.3B
FY17
FLS $3.7B
LECO $2.6B
FY18
FLS $3.8B
LECO $3.0B
FY19
FLS $3.9B
LECO $3.0B
FY20
FLS $3.7B
LECO $2.7B
FY21
FLS $3.5B
LECO $3.2B
FY22
FLS $3.6B
LECO $3.8B
FY23
FLS $4.3B
LECO $4.2B
FY24
FLS $4.6B
LECO $4.0B
FY25
FLS $4.7B
LECO $4.2B
FLS
LECO
Operating margin
FY16
FLS 6.9%
LECO 12.5%
FY17
FLS 9.3%
LECO 14.4%
FY18
FLS 5.9%
LECO 12.4%
FY19
FLS 9.8%
LECO 12.4%
FY20
FLS 6.7%
LECO 10.6%
FY21
FLS 7.7%
LECO 14.3%
FY22
FLS 5.5%
LECO 16.3%
FY23
FLS 7.7%
LECO 17.1%
FY24
FLS 10.1%
LECO 15.9%
FY25
FLS 8.5%
LECO 17.0%
FLS
LECO
Free cash flow
FY16
FLS $151M
LECO $263M
FY17
FLS $249M
LECO $273M
FY18
FLS $107M
LECO $258M
FY19
FLS $248M
LECO $334M
FY20
FLS $253M
LECO $292M
FY21
FLS $195M
LECO $303M
FY22
FLS −$116M
LECO $312M
FY23
FLS $258M
LECO $577M
FY24
FLS $344M
LECO $482M
FY25
FLS $435M
LECO $534M
FLS
LECO
Return on capital
FY16
FLS 6.1%
LECO 20.1%
FY17
FLS 6.4%
LECO 21.7%
FY18
FLS 6.4%
LECO 23.0%
FY19
FLS 11.9%
LECO 23.0%
FY20
FLS 7.1%
LECO 17.1%
FY21
FLS 11.0%
LECO 29.8%
FY22
FLS 7.6%
LECO 29.2%
FY23
FLS 11.3%
LECO 28.7%
FY24
FLS 12.9%
LECO 23.7%
FY25
FLS 9.4%
LECO 24.5%
FLS
LECO
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.