WSO · Industrials(wholesale-hardware & plumbing & heating equipment & supplies) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
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Watsco Inc reported revenue of $7.2 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 6.2% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 8.2% in 2016 to 10.0%. Of the $4.5 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 65.4% went to dividends and 6.2% back into the business; the share count rose 16.2%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 7.18 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20257.2B+6.2% a year over 9 years
Operating margin10.0%gross margin 28.0%
Return on invested capital—
Free cash flow after stock pay499.7M6.9% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA—net debt —
Piotroski F-score5/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
02B4B6B8B
2016Revenue 4.2BOperating income 345.6M
2017Revenue 4.3BOperating income 353.9M
2018Revenue 4.5BOperating income 372.1M
2019Revenue 4.8BOperating income 366.9M
2020Revenue 5.1BOperating income 401.0M
2021Revenue 6.3BOperating income 628.5M
2022Revenue 7.3BOperating income 831.6M
2023Revenue 7.3BOperating income 794.8M
2024Revenue 7.6BOperating income 781.8M
2025Revenue 7.2BOperating income 720.3M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-0.2%
+7.4%
+6.2%
Operating income
-4.7%
+12.4%
+8.5%
Net income
-6.1%
+13.0%
+11.8%
Earnings per share
—
+11.3%
+9.9%
Free cash flow per share
—
-0.9%
+7.6%
Dividend per share
—
+10.6%
+13.8%
Shares
—
+1.5%
+1.7%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0%5%10%15%
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Needs a cost of capital, which comes from the valuation below.
Return on equity
17.9%
Return on assets
11.3%
Asset turnover
1.64×
Overheads (SG&A)
18.5% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
0200M400M600M800M
2016Net income 182.8MFree cash flow 238.2MAfter stock-based pay 225.8M
2017Net income 208.2MFree cash flow 288.6MAfter stock-based pay 275.4M
2018Net income 242.9MFree cash flow 153.4MAfter stock-based pay 137.9M
2019Net income 245.9MFree cash flow 318.0MAfter stock-based pay 300.9M
2020Net income 269.6MFree cash flow 517.9MAfter stock-based pay 495.8M
2021Net income 418.9MFree cash flow 324.1MAfter stock-based pay 298.7M
2022Net income 601.2MFree cash flow 536.3MAfter stock-based pay 507.5M
2023Net income 536.3MFree cash flow 526.5MAfter stock-based pay 496.5M
2024Net income 536.3MFree cash flow 743.0MAfter stock-based pay 708.0M
2025Net income 497.0MFree cash flow 535.1MAfter stock-based pay 499.7M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
4.5B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 6%274.1M
Acquisitions 5%223.0M
Dividends 65%2.9B
Share buybacks 0%0
Kept, or used to pay down debt 23%1.0B
Over the same years it paid 234.8M in stock. The share count rose 16.2%.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0$5$10$15$20
2016Earnings per share $5.60Free cash flow per share $7.30Dividend per share $3.91
2017Earnings per share $6.34Free cash flow per share $8.78Dividend per share $4.99
2018Earnings per share $7.07Free cash flow per share $4.46Dividend per share $6.09
2019Earnings per share $7.09Free cash flow per share $9.17Dividend per share $6.96
2020Earnings per share $7.67Free cash flow per share $14.73Dividend per share $7.56
2021Earnings per share $11.83Free cash flow per share $9.15Dividend per share $8.31
2022
2023Earnings per share $14.68Free cash flow per share $14.41Dividend per share $10.47
2024Earnings per share $14.30Free cash flow per share $19.81Dividend per share $11.29
2025Earnings per share $13.11Free cash flow per share $14.12Dividend per share $12.50
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
32M34M36M38M
2016Diluted shares 32.6M
2017Diluted shares 32.9M
2018Diluted shares 34.4M
2019Diluted shares 34.7M
2020Diluted shares 35.2M
2021Diluted shares 35.4M
2022
2023Diluted shares 36.5M
2024Diluted shares 37.5M
2025Diluted shares 37.9M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Debt and liquidity
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
—
Interest coverage
42× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
4.12 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
113 days collects in 40d, stock 97d, pays in 25d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
–Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fell — not reportedno data
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✕No new sharesShare count did not growfailed
✓Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforepassed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
7.18safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.51 × 6.56+3.32
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.30 × 3.26+0.97
Operating income ÷ assets 0.16 × 6.72+1.10
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.70 × 1.05+1.79
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.58below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 0.95+0.88
Gross margin slipping 0.96+0.51
Soft assets 1.07+0.43
Sales growth 0.95+0.85
Slower depreciation 0.92+0.11
Overheads vs sales 1.09-0.19
Profit not in cash -0.02-0.08
Leverage rising 0.74-0.24
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$220.75discounted at 10.2% a year · 50% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
16.8×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
10.9×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
1.2×
Free cash flow yield
6.0%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today4.2B
Everything after, today4.2B
The whole business8.4B
Minus net debt-0
What belongs to shareholders8.4B
Divided among 37.9M shares: <strong>$220.75</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
00.25B0.50B0.75B1.00B
2016Reported 225.8M
2017Reported 275.4M
2018Reported 137.9M
2019Reported 300.9M
2020Reported 495.8M
2021Reported 298.7M
2022Reported 507.5M
2023Reported 496.5M
2024Reported 708.0M
2025Reported 499.7M
2026Projected 555.1M
2027Projected 593.7M
2028Projected 631.6M
2029Projected 668.4M
2030Projected 703.7M
2031Projected 736.9M
2032Projected 767.6M
2033Projected 795.4M
2034Projected 819.7M
2035Projected 840.2M
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
7.8B
8.3B
8.9B
9.4B
9.9B
10.3B
10.8B
11.2B
11.5B
11.8B
Growth
7.5%
6.9%
6.4%
5.8%
5.3%
4.7%
4.2%
3.6%
3.1%
2.5%
Cash margin
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
Free cash flow
555.1M
593.7M
631.6M
668.4M
703.7M
736.9M
767.6M
795.4M
819.7M
840.2M
Worth today
503.5M
488.5M
471.4M
452.6M
432.2M
410.6M
388.0M
364.6M
340.9M
316.9M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
228
240
255
271
290
9.7%
214
224
236
250
267
10.2%
201
210
221
233
246
10.7%
190
198
207
217
229
11.2%
179
187
195
204
214
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
3.5%
5.5%
7.5%
9.5%
11.5%
5.7%
160
173
187
203
219
6.4%
174
188
204
221
239
7.1%
188
204
221
239
259
7.8%
202
219
238
257
279
8.6%
216
234
254
276
299
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$151.47
Median$220.88
90th percentile$314.18
$200.00$300.00$400.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$182.17</b> and <b>$265.70</b>; one in ten below $151.47, one in ten above $314.18.
Does the long run make sense?
8.9×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 8.9 times that year's EBITDA.
25%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 10% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 25% on the new capital.
50%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.74% × (1 − 20.3%) = <strong>5.37%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.24%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 5 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market—none in the period
Under pre-arranged plans—of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.