CTAS

Cintas is a textbook quality compounder, and the numbers prove it. Revenue has climbed every year from $7.12B (FY2021) to $10.3B (FY2025), with FY2025 up 7.7% (8.0% organic, per MD&A — driven by 'increased sales volume,' new business and pricing, with organic growth actually accelerating to 9.0% in the fiscal Q4). Profitability is widening, not just holding: net income rose 15.3% to $1.81B and diluted EPS 16.1% to $4.40 — both growing roughly double the top line. Margins expanded across the board (gross 48.8%→50.0%, operating 21.6%→22.8% per the segment table), and a 38.7% ROE on a recurring, route-based rental model is exceptional. The MD&A's penetration-plus-broadening strategy (selling more services into a 1M+ customer base via frequent on-route contact) is exactly what produces this durable, low-churn growth.

The balance sheet is sound rather than pristine. Equity grew 8.5% to $4.68B against $2.42B of long-term debt (up 19.7%) and zero current debt — comfortable leverage against $2.36B of operating income. The current ratio is healthy at ~2.1x ($3.44B/$1.64B). Cash fell 22.8% to $264M, but that reflects capital-return choices, not stress: the company returned ~$1.55B via $935M of buybacks (+33.5%) and $612M of dividends (+15.2%), all funded comfortably by $2.17B of operating cash flow against only $409M of capex. (Note the shares-outstanding '+299.9%' line reflects a stock split, not dilution — EPS is already split-adjusted, so ignore it as a red flag.)