MSA Safety vs Pitney Bowes
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The short version
- Pitney Bowes is the larger business, with $1.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.9B for MSA Safety.
- MSA Safety grew revenue faster (3.7%, against −6.6%).
- Pitney Bowes turned more of its sales into free cash flow (16.8% FCF margin, against 15.8%).
- Pitney Bowes earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (27.7%, against 17.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of MSA Safety’s earnings: a P/E of 22.7x against 14.1x for Pitney Bowes.
| Latest fiscal year | MSA · FY25 | PBI · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $7.1B | $2.4B |
| Revenue | $1.9B | $1.9B |
| Free cash flow | $295M | $317M |
| Net income | $279M | $145M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.7% | −6.6% |
| 5-year growth | 6.8% | −11.8% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −5.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 46.5% | — |
| Operating margin | 19.8% | — |
| Net margin | 14.9% | 7.7% |
| FCF margin | 15.8% | 16.8% |
| Return on capital | 17.3% | 27.7% |
| Return on equity | 22.2% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $416M | $1.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9x | 3.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $172M | $430M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 22.7x | 14.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
MSA $1.1B
PBI $3.0B
FY17
MSA $1.2B
PBI $2.8B
FY18
MSA $1.4B
PBI $3.2B
FY19
MSA $1.4B
PBI $3.2B
FY20
MSA $1.3B
PBI $3.6B
FY21
MSA $1.4B
PBI $3.7B
FY22
MSA $1.5B
PBI $2.5B
FY23
MSA $1.8B
PBI $2.1B
FY24
MSA $1.8B
PBI $2.0B
FY25
MSA $1.9B
PBI $1.9B
MSA
PBI
Operating margin
FY16
MSA 14.0%
PBI —
FY17
MSA 3.3%
PBI —
FY18
MSA 12.8%
PBI —
FY19
MSA 13.4%
PBI —
FY20
MSA 12.8%
PBI —
FY21
MSA 1.6%
PBI —
FY22
MSA 15.7%
PBI —
FY23
MSA 12.9%
PBI —
FY24
MSA 21.5%
PBI —
FY25
MSA 19.8%
PBI —
MSA
PBI
Free cash flow
FY16
MSA $109M
PBI $337M
FY17
MSA $207M
PBI $336M
FY18
MSA $230M
PBI $207M
FY19
MSA $128M
PBI $131M
FY20
MSA $158M
PBI $197M
FY21
MSA $155M
PBI $117M
FY22
MSA $115M
PBI $92.4M
FY23
MSA $50.1M
PBI $2.0M
FY24
MSA $242M
PBI $157M
FY25
MSA $295M
PBI $317M
MSA
PBI
Return on capital
FY16
MSA 11.6%
PBI 6.0%
FY17
MSA 4.0%
PBI 11.0%
FY18
MSA 14.8%
PBI 12.1%
FY19
MSA 15.8%
PBI 6.2%
FY20
MSA 13.3%
PBI −3.3%
FY21
MSA 1.8%
PBI 4.1%
FY22
MSA 13.7%
PBI 12.7%
FY23
MSA 8.4%
PBI 3.1%
FY24
MSA 20.3%
PBI 8.7%
FY25
MSA 17.3%
PBI 27.7%
MSA
PBI
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.