Knife River vs United States Lime & Minerals
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Knife River and United States Lime & Minerals side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- 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 21.6x for Knife River.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Knife River
KNF
1/10
Share count change
United States Lime & Minerals
USLM
9/10
Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| 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 | 21.6x | 23.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 3 | 5 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.