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Largest distributor of HVAC equipment, parts and supplies in North America, serving contractors through a branch network.
Largest distributor of HVAC equipment, parts and supplies in North America, serving contractors through a branch network.
Buys equipment and parts from manufacturers and resells them from local branches to contractors, earning a distributor's margin; replacing aging systems rather than new construction drives most sales. Carrier is the key supplier, through joint ventures in which Carrier holds minority stakes. Buying local distributors is its main route to growth.
Moat: narrow (scale, distribution, installed base). The largest branch network and OEM (Carrier) distribution relationships in a fragmented contractor market.
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, US · Founded: 1945 · Employees: 7,050
Size Watsco (WSO) is a United States Industrials company (Building Products) with a market value of $12.7B, the 671st largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $304.34 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 27.6%, against +4.3% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 2nd lowest of 15 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 0.3% over the last twelve months (peer median +2.4%); the operating margin is 8.7% (peer median 14.9%).
Valuation It trades at 24.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 17.2× (2nd most expensive of 15).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 13% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +7%, so the hurdle is +6 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.1 points above its cost of capital (9.8% WACC).
Short interest Short interest is 13.1% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 17 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $7.44B | $7.24B | $7.62B | $7.28B | $7.27B |
| Revenue growth | — | -5% | +5% | 0% | — |
| Gross profit | $2.02B | $1.99B | $2.00B | $1.96B | $2.00B |
| EBITDA | $692M | $738M | $789M | $807M | $842M |
| Net income | $436M | $464M | $499M | $499M | $550M |
| Free cash flow | $667M | $535M | $743M | $526M | $536M |
| Capital expenditure | $36.9M | $34.5M | $30.1M | $35.5M | $35.7M |
| Total debt | $554M | $479M | $447M | $405M | $391M |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watsco WSO | $12.7B | -28% | 0% | 9% | 24.3× | 13.2% |
| Ferguson Enterprises FERG | $45.2B | -3% | +8% | 10% | 19.4× | 9.9% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | WSO | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +7.8% | +11.5% | 6th lowest of 15 |
| 6-month return | -27.6% | +4.3% | 2nd lowest of 15 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -33.7% | -18.0% | 3rd lowest of 15 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +0.3% | +2.4% | 5th lowest of 15 |
| Operating margin | 8.7% | 14.9% | 3rd lowest of 14 |
| Forward P/E | 24.3× | 17.2× | 2nd most expensive of 15 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 13.2% | 5.3% | 2nd most demanding of 14 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +7.4% | +5.0% | 5th highest of 14 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +5.7 pp | +1.1 pp | 2nd most demanding of 14 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +3.1 pp | +11.8 pp | 5th lowest of 14 |
| EV / EBITDA | 18.9× | 11.8× | most expensive of 13 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | -0.1× | 1.1× | 6th least indebted of 13 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watsco WSO | United States | $12.7B | -28% | 0% | 9% | 24.3× | 13.2% | +7.4% |
| SPIC Industry-Finance 000958.SZ | China | $14.0B | -14% | +102% | n/a | 22.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Carlisle Companies CSL | United States | $14.5B | +4% | +4% | 20% | 15.9× | 3.7% | +4.8% |
| Masco MAS | United States | $15.8B | +15% | +1% | 18% | 18.0× | 4.9% | +1.0% |
| A. O. Smith AOS | United States | $8.67B | +10% | -1% | 18% | 17.3× | 4.5% | +5.8% |
| Simpson Manufacturing SSD | United States | $8.07B | +4% | +5% | 20% | 20.9× | 13.2% | +13.0% |
| SPX Technologies SPXC | United States | $7.15B | -30% | +20% | 17% | 15.3× | 15.7% | +15.0% |
| Fortune Brands Innovations FBIN | United States | $5.74B | +27% | -3% | 14% | 19.7× | 5.3% | -6.0% |
| Toto 5332.T | Japan | $5.40B | -1% | +5% | 8% | 18.2× | 7.8% | +5.0% |
| Sanwa 5929.T | Japan | $5.10B | +8% | +2% | 11% | 14.8× | -2.6% | +9.1% |
| KONE KNEBV.HE | Finland | $33.8B | +15% | +2% | 12% | 27.1× | 5.8% | +2.5% |
| Griffon GFF | United States | $4.58B | +15% | -12% | 20% | 17.1× | 7.5% | +4.0% |
| Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SGO.PA | France | $40.7B | -3% | -2% | 10% | 12.1× | 5.1% | +4.0% |
| Nichias 5393.T | Japan | $3.52B | -5% | +3% | 15% | 15.2× | 7.1% | +5.1% |
| STO Express 002468.SZ | China | $3.40B | -8% | +26% | 5% | 10.2× | -12.5% | +20.8% |