One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$124.70 our estimate vs market $198.09
Wall Street consensus: $216.31 (73.5% higher than our fair-value estimate)
59% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Cintas Corporation
CTAS · NMS · Industrials · Specialty Business Services
Current price
$198.09
52-week range
$161.16 - $219.17
Market cap
$79.27B
Balance sheet
Watch
24.67x Strong cushion
Net debt $2.42B. 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 8.9% last year.
- Reward Returns 40.7% 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 businesses with essential products and services like employee uniforms, first aid kits, and fire safety equipment. Most of its money comes from renting and servicing these items, which creates predictable recurring revenue (income that comes in consistently at regular intervals) from a wide range of customers. This reliable business model is powerful because it doesn't depend on one-time sales and serves companies of all sizes, from local mechanics to large hospitals.
How the company got here
Cintas began in a surprisingly humble way during the Great Depression in 1929. Its founder, Richard "Doc" Farmer, started by collecting dirty, used rags from factories, washing them, and selling them back. His grandson, Richard T. Farmer, saw a bigger opportunity in the 1950s and shifted the company's focus from just cleaning rags to renting out and cleaning work uniforms for other businesses. This rental model was a key turning point, allowing the company to grow rapidly by making professional uniforms more affordable for customers. Over the years, Cintas expanded by acquiring other companies and adding new services, officially going public (selling shares of the company to investors) in 1983.
What it actually does
Cintas provides a wide range of products and services to help other businesses keep their workplaces clean, safe, and professional-looking. Think of the branded uniforms employees wear at an auto shop or a hospital, the clean floor mats at a restaurant's entrance, or the fully-stocked first aid kit on a factory wall. Cintas likely provides those items through a rental service, which includes regular pickup, professional cleaning, and delivery. Beyond uniforms, the company also services restrooms, provides fire extinguishers, and offers safety training to more than a million businesses across North America.
Uniform Rental and Facility Services
This is the company's largest and most well-known business, making up the vast majority of its revenue (the total money it brings in from sales). Instead of buying uniforms outright, businesses pay Cintas a regular fee to rent them. Cintas handles everything: the initial supply, weekly pickup of soiled garments, professional laundering and repairs, and delivery of clean uniforms. This segment also includes facility services like renting and cleaning floor mats, mops, and providing restroom supplies like soap and paper towels.
First Aid and Safety Services
This is a significant and growing part of Cintas's business. The company equips workplaces with first aid cabinets, personal protective equipment (PPE) like gloves and safety glasses, and emergency devices like defibrillators. A Cintas representative regularly visits the customer to restock all the supplies, ensuring they are always prepared for a workplace injury or emergency. This division also offers safety training courses, such as CPR and first aid certification, to help businesses comply with regulations.
All Other
This smaller category bundles together several other important business lines. The most significant is Fire Protection Services, where Cintas installs, inspects, and services fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, and emergency lighting for its customers. It also includes the direct sale of uniforms for companies that prefer to buy them instead of renting. While much smaller than the main rental business, these services are often sold to the same customers, making it an efficient add-on for the company.
What management is betting on now
Cintas's main strategy is to be a one-stop shop for its business customers, getting them "Ready for the Workday." Management focuses on a concept called "route density," which means providing more services to each customer during a single visit to make every truck stop more profitable. They are also focused on cross-selling, which is convincing an existing uniform rental customer to also sign up for first aid or fire protection services. The company continues to invest in technology to make its delivery routes more efficient and to acquire smaller companies that expand its services or geographic reach.
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.
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
FY2026 Q4
$613.11M
Revenue
$2.91B
Net income
$510.99M
Diluted EPS
1.26
Operating cash flow
$709.10M
Free cash flow
$613.11M
Fetching…
Sources
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
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $124.70 vs current price $198.09
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $216.31 (73.5% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $124.70 a share — about 37.0% below today's price of $198.09, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $2.4B. Interest coverage 24.7x.
Net debt
$2.42B
Interest coverage
24.67x
Cintas Corporation's profit covers its interest bill about 24.7 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CTAS
BASELINE
Cintas Corporation
Total debt $2.71B Interest coverage 24.67x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $13.92B Interest coverage 9.45x -62% vs CTAS Carries about 2.6x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $23.36B Interest coverage 5.05x -80% vs CTAS Carries about 4.9x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $14.30B Interest coverage 5.79x -77% vs CTAS Carries about 4.3x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $6.47B Interest coverage 2.17x -91% vs CTAS Carries about 11.4x less debt cushion than CTAS.
Total debt $85.05M Interest coverage 18.88x -23% vs CTAS Carries about 1.3x less debt cushion than CTAS.
What you should know
The case for and against CTAS
3 Rewards
0 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 8.9% last year.
-
Returns 40.7% 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)
40.34x
Forward P/E
32.40x
P/B
15.42x
P/S
7.04x
EV/EBITDA
27.61x
PEG ratio
3.18x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
50.7%
Operating margin
23.7%
Net margin
17.8%
ROE
40.7%
ROA
16.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.53x
Current ratio
1.43x
Quick ratio
0.69x
Total debt
$2.71B
Total cash
$289.02M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$11.26B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
9.4%
EPS TTM
4.91
EPS 5Y CAGR
14.8%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$2.28B
Free CF TTM
$1.88B
FCF margin
16.7%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.0%
Payout ratio
36.7%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-14