Carlisle Companies vs 3M
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The short version
- 3M is the larger business, with $24.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.0B for Carlisle Companies, about 5.0 times as much.
- 3M grew revenue faster (1.5%, against 0.3%).
- Carlisle Companies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.0% operating margin, against 18.6%).
- Carlisle Companies turned more of its sales into free cash flow (19.3% FCF margin, against 5.6%).
- 3M earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (34.2%, against 21.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of 3M’s earnings: a P/E of 25.9x against 19.8x for Carlisle Companies.
| Latest fiscal year | CSL · FY25 | MMM · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $14.0B | $90.7B |
| Revenue | $5.0B | $24.9B |
| Free cash flow | $971M | $1.4B |
| Net income | $741M | $3.3B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.3% | 1.5% |
| 5-year growth | 4.8% | −5.0% |
| Share count change | −8.3% | −2.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 35.7% | 39.9% |
| Operating margin | 20.0% | 18.6% |
| Net margin | 14.8% | 13.0% |
| FCF margin | 19.3% | 5.6% |
| Return on capital | 21.9% | 34.2% |
| Return on equity | 34.8% | 76.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.8B | $6.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.5x | 1.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.5B | $4.8B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 19.8x | 25.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
CSL $3.4B
MMM $30.1B
FY17
CSL $3.8B
MMM $31.7B
FY18
CSL $4.5B
MMM $32.8B
FY19
CSL $4.5B
MMM $32.1B
FY20
CSL $4.0B
MMM $32.2B
FY21
CSL $3.8B
MMM $35.4B
FY22
CSL $5.4B
MMM $26.2B
FY23
CSL $4.6B
MMM $24.6B
FY24
CSL $5.0B
MMM $24.6B
FY25
CSL $5.0B
MMM $24.9B
CSL
MMM
Operating margin
FY16
CSL 11.8%
MMM 23.3%
FY17
CSL 12.4%
MMM 24.3%
FY18
CSL 11.4%
MMM 22.0%
FY19
CSL 14.1%
MMM 19.2%
FY20
CSL 12.3%
MMM 22.3%
FY21
CSL 15.0%
MMM 20.8%
FY22
CSL 22.1%
MMM 16.7%
FY23
CSL 21.4%
MMM −43.4%
FY24
CSL 22.9%
MMM 19.6%
FY25
CSL 20.0%
MMM 18.6%
CSL
MMM
Free cash flow
FY16
CSL $422M
MMM $5.2B
FY17
CSL $299M
MMM $4.9B
FY18
CSL $219M
MMM $4.9B
FY19
CSL $614M
MMM $5.4B
FY20
CSL $601M
MMM $6.6B
FY21
CSL $287M
MMM $5.9B
FY22
CSL $817M
MMM $3.8B
FY23
CSL $1.1B
MMM $5.1B
FY24
CSL $917M
MMM $638M
FY25
CSL $971M
MMM $1.4B
CSL
MMM
Return on capital
FY16
CSL 9.2%
MMM 25.9%
FY17
CSL 11.5%
MMM 24.7%
FY18
CSL 11.5%
MMM 26.6%
FY19
CSL 13.9%
MMM —
FY20
CSL 10.3%
MMM —
FY21
CSL 10.1%
MMM 22.2%
FY22
CSL 17.6%
MMM 15.3%
FY23
CSL 15.5%
MMM −42.2%
FY24
CSL 21.9%
MMM 36.0%
FY25
CSL 21.9%
MMM 34.2%
CSL
MMM
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.