CTAS Cintas
Cintas leverages sticky uniform contracts and safety services to generate high‑margin, recurring cash flow.
The business
Cintas rents and services corporate uniforms, provides facility and safety products, and offers first‑aid and compliance solutions. Revenue comes from long‑term contracts and recurring service fees.
Quality gate · 92/100
Moat & management
| Moat | wide moat |
| Source | switching costs |
| Trajectory | stable |
| Management | excellent |
Customers lock in multi‑year uniform and safety service contracts, making switching costly. Scale and brand reinforce pricing power.
Consistently reinvests at high ROIC, runs modest debt, and returns excess cash via disciplined share buybacks.
Owner-earnings inputs
| Owner earnings (TTM) | 1.79B |
| Owner-earnings yield | 2.2% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.2% |
| Growth used (normalized) | 9.0% |
| Market-implied growth (reverse DCF) | 19.8% |
| Terminal growth | 3.0% |
| Discount rate (hurdle) | 9.0% |
Projected owner earnings
| Yr | Owner earnings | Growth | PV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.95B | 9.0% | 1.79B |
| 2 | 2.12B | 8.6% | 1.78B |
| 3 | 2.29B | 8.1% | 1.77B |
| 4 | 2.47B | 7.7% | 1.75B |
| 5 | 2.65B | 7.3% | 1.72B |
| 6 | 2.83B | 6.9% | 1.69B |
| 7 | 3.01B | 6.4% | 1.65B |
| 8 | 3.19B | 6.0% | 1.60B |
| 9 | 3.37B | 5.6% | 1.55B |
| 10 | 3.54B | 5.1% | 1.50B |
| 11 | 3.71B | 4.7% | 1.44B |
| 12 | 3.87B | 4.3% | 1.37B |
| 13 | 4.02B | 3.9% | 1.31B |
| 14 | 4.15B | 3.4% | 1.24B |
| 15 | 4.28B | 3.0% | 1.17B |
Key risks
- Corporate spending slowdown
- Competitive pressure from regional uniform providers
- Labor cost inflation
Catalysts
- Strategic acquisitions of niche service firms
- Pricing power from inflationary environment
- Expansion of safety‑compliance offerings
Recent news
score · 8 articles
- U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index Hits Five-Month High: 5 Top Picks
- Equal-Weight Strategy RSP Could Outrun SPY if This Macro Shift Continues
- Stock Market Week Ahead: Navigating Uncertainty
- Cintas upgraded by Bank of America after earnings beat and stronger outlook
- Cintas (CTAS) Stock Looks Reasonable After Its 106% Five Year Run
- Cintas Positioned for Stronger Earnings on Labor, Technology Tailwinds, BofA Says
- Is Duluth Holdings (DLTH) Stock Outpacing Its Consumer Discretionary Peers This Year?
- SpaceX initiated, Lululemon downgraded: Wall Street's top analyst calls
⚠ maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A), capped at FCF · Price pays for ~20%/yr owner-earnings growth over 15y (reverse DCF); model credits 9%. · Rich vs our conservative value, but a quality business is not a short — stance is WAIT for a better price, not sell.