One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$117.12 our estimate vs market $181.83
Wall Street consensus: $208.69 (78.2% higher than our fair-value estimate)
55% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Cintas Corporation
CTAS · NMS · Industrials · Specialty Business Services
Current price
$181.83
52-week range
$161.16 - $226.75
Market cap
$72.76B
Balance sheet
Watch
23.34x Strong cushion
Net debt $2.73B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
0 Risks
3 rewards · 0 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 6.6% last year.
- Reward Returns 41.3% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
What this company does
Cintas Corporation
Cintas provides uniforms, first aid supplies, and cleaning services to other businesses, from small repair shops to large corporations. Most of its money comes from renting out and regularly cleaning items like uniforms and floor mats, which creates recurring revenue (income that comes in predictably, like a subscription). This business model is often considered stable because it builds long-term customer relationships rather than relying on one-off sales.
How the company got here
Cintas began in a very humble way during the Great Depression when Doc and Amelia Farmer started a business collecting used rags from factories, washing them, and selling them back. Their grandson, Richard T. Farmer, saw a bigger opportunity in the 1950s and shifted the company towards renting and cleaning uniforms for other businesses. The company was renamed Cintas in 1972 and became a publicly traded company in 1983, which provided the money to grow much larger. Over the years, it has grown by acquiring other companies, which allowed it to expand into new areas like first aid and safety services.
What it actually does
Cintas provides a variety of products and services to help more than a million other businesses run smoothly and safely every day. Think of them as a one-stop shop for workplace essentials. They supply and launder employee uniforms, provide floor mats and mops, stock restrooms with supplies, and service first aid kits. They also offer fire protection services, like inspecting fire extinguishers, to help companies stay compliant with safety regulations.
Uniform Rental and Facility Services
This is the largest part of Cintas's business, making up the vast majority of its revenue (the total money it brings in). Companies pay Cintas a regular fee to rent and clean uniforms for their employees, which can range from standard work clothes to specialized flame-resistant gear. This segment also includes services like providing clean floor mats, mops, and towels, as well as stocking and cleaning restrooms. Essentially, they handle many of the background tasks that keep a workplace clean, safe, and looking professional.
First Aid and Safety Services
This is a smaller but important part of the company that focuses on workplace safety. Cintas provides businesses with first aid cabinets and keeps them stocked with necessary supplies. They also offer safety products, workplace water services, and training to help companies comply with health and safety rules. This segment helps businesses ensure their employees have what they need in case of an injury and helps prevent accidents from happening in the first place.
All Other
This smaller category bundles together a couple of other ways Cintas makes money. A key part is Fire Protection Services, where Cintas inspects and services fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, and alarms for other businesses. It also includes Uniform Direct Sales, which is for companies that prefer to buy their employee uniforms outright instead of renting them. While much smaller than the rental business, these services provide another way for Cintas to be a comprehensive partner for its customers.
What management is betting on now
Cintas's main strategy is to sell more of its different services to its existing one million customers, a concept known as cross-selling. They are especially focused on growing their First Aid and Fire Protection businesses, which have a lot of room to expand. The company is also investing in technology to make its delivery routes more efficient and to improve customer service. Finally, Cintas is focused on environmental sustainability, with a goal to reach Net Zero (releasing no more greenhouse gases than it removes from the atmosphere) by 2050.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q4
$591.13M
FY2025 Q1
$373.81M
FY2025 Q2
$339.99M
FY2025 Q3
$522.10M
FY2025 Q4
$521.12M
FY2026 Q1
$312.52M
FY2026 Q2
$424.97M
FY2026 Q3
$530.57M
Revenue
$2.84B
Net income
$502.50M
Diluted EPS
1.24
Operating cash flow
$621.47M
Free cash flow
$530.57M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.80B
Net income
$495.34M
Diluted EPS
1.21
Operating cash flow
$531.22M
Free cash flow
$424.97M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.72B
Net income
$491.14M
Diluted EPS
1.20
Operating cash flow
$414.48M
Free cash flow
$312.52M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.67B
Net income
$448.26M
Diluted EPS
1.08
Operating cash flow
$635.75M
Free cash flow
$521.12M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.61B
Net income
$463.50M
Diluted EPS
1.13
Operating cash flow
$622.02M
Free cash flow
$522.10M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.56B
Net income
$448.50M
Diluted EPS
1.09
Operating cash flow
$441.40M
Free cash flow
$339.99M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.50B
Net income
$452.03M
Diluted EPS
1.10
Operating cash flow
$466.73M
Free cash flow
$373.81M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$2.47B
Net income
$414.31M
Diluted EPS
4.00
Operating cash flow
$693.04M
Free cash flow
$591.13M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $117.12 vs current price $181.83
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $208.69 (78.2% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $117.12 a share — about 35.6% below today's price of $181.83, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $2.7B. Interest coverage 23.3x.
Net debt
$2.73B
Interest coverage
23.34x
Cintas Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 23.3 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CTAS
BASELINE
Cintas Corporation
Total debt $2.92B Interest coverage 23.34x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $9.27B Interest coverage 9.45x -60% vs CTAS Carries about 2.5x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $22.89B Interest coverage 5.05x -78% vs CTAS Carries about 4.6x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $14.09B Interest coverage 5.79x -75% vs CTAS Carries about 4.0x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $6.42B Interest coverage 2.17x -91% vs CTAS Carries about 10.7x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $85.05M Interest coverage 18.88x -19% vs CTAS Carries about 1.2x less debt cushion than CTAS.
What you should know
The case for and against CTAS
3 Rewards
0 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 6.6% last year.
-
Returns 41.3% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
38.28x
Forward P/E
33.46x
P/B
15.19x
P/S
6.60x
EV/EBITDA
26.00x
PEG ratio
2.83x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
50.4%
Operating margin
23.2%
Net margin
17.6%
ROE
41.3%
ROA
15.9%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.61x
Current ratio
1.98x
Quick ratio
0.95x
Total debt
$2.92B
Total cash
$183.20M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$11.03B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
9.8%
EPS TTM
4.75
EPS 5Y CAGR
14.7%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$2.20B
Free CF TTM
$1.76B
FCF margin
15.9%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.0%
Payout ratio
36.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-05-15