Knife River vs United States Lime & Minerals
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The short version
- Knife River is the larger business, with $3.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $373M for United States Lime & Minerals, about 8.4 times as much.
- United States Lime & Minerals grew revenue faster (17.3%, against 8.5%).
- United States Lime & Minerals kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (42.4% operating margin, against 9.1%).
- United States Lime & Minerals turned more of its sales into free cash flow (27.4% FCF margin, against −2.2%).
- United States Lime & Minerals earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (51.7%, against 9.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of United States Lime & Minerals’s earnings: a P/E of 23.9x against 21.7x for Knife River.
| Latest fiscal year | KNF · FY25 | USLM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.0B | $3.2B |
| Revenue | $3.1B | $373M |
| Free cash flow | −$69.6M | $102M |
| Net income | $157M | $134M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.5% | 17.3% |
| 5-year growth | — | 18.3% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 18.4% | 48.9% |
| Operating margin | 9.1% | 42.4% |
| Net margin | 5.0% | 36.0% |
| FCF margin | −2.2% | 27.4% |
| Return on capital | 9.1% | 51.7% |
| Return on equity | 10.1% | 23.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.1B | −$371M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.3x | −2.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $0.0M | $9.6M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 21.7x | 23.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 3 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
KNF —
USLM $139M
FY17
KNF —
USLM $145M
FY18
KNF —
USLM $144M
FY19
KNF —
USLM $158M
FY20
KNF —
USLM $161M
FY21
KNF $2.2B
USLM $189M
FY22
KNF $2.5B
USLM $236M
FY23
KNF $2.8B
USLM $281M
FY24
KNF $2.9B
USLM $318M
FY25
KNF $3.1B
USLM $373M
KNF
USLM
Operating margin
FY16
KNF —
USLM 16.9%
FY17
KNF —
USLM 16.7%
FY18
KNF —
USLM 13.9%
FY19
KNF —
USLM 18.5%
FY20
KNF —
USLM 21.1%
FY21
KNF 8.6%
USLM 24.5%
FY22
KNF 7.7%
USLM 23.2%
FY23
KNF 10.5%
USLM 30.4%
FY24
KNF 10.9%
USLM 39.3%
FY25
KNF 9.1%
USLM 42.4%
KNF
USLM
Free cash flow
FY16
KNF —
USLM $20.2M
FY17
KNF —
USLM $12.9M
FY18
KNF —
USLM −$15.0M
FY19
KNF —
USLM $19.9M
FY20
KNF —
USLM $41.4M
FY21
KNF $7.0M
USLM $25.8M
FY22
KNF $29.3M
USLM $37.6M
FY23
KNF $211M
USLM $58.0M
FY24
KNF $150M
USLM $98.6M
FY25
KNF −$69.6M
USLM $102M
KNF
USLM
Return on capital
FY16
KNF —
USLM 16.7%
FY17
KNF —
USLM 21.5%
FY18
KNF —
USLM 13.2%
FY19
KNF —
USLM 15.5%
FY20
KNF —
USLM 17.4%
FY21
KNF —
USLM 22.2%
FY22
KNF —
USLM 24.4%
FY23
KNF 16.1%
USLM 34.7%
FY24
KNF 12.9%
USLM 46.9%
FY25
KNF 9.1%
USLM 51.7%
KNF
USLM
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.