Cintas Corporation

What they do

Cintas rents and services uniforms, flame resistant clothing, mats, mops and shop towels, and sells restroom supplies and catalog items on route through its Uniform Rental and Facility Services segment. Its First Aid and Safety Services segment provides first aid and safety products and services plus workplace water services. Fire Protection Services and Uniform Direct Sale fall into an All Other category, and the company operates 496 facilities, 12 distribution centers, five manufacturing facilities and roughly 24,500 vehicles serving more than one million businesses.

Revenue drivers

• Uniform Rental and Facility Services — Largest segment at $8.62 billion, or about 77% of fiscal 2026 revenue, driven by rentals and servicing of uniforms, garments, mats and shop towels plus restroom supplies and on-route catalog sales.
• First Aid and Safety Services — Second reportable segment at $1.39 billion, roughly 12% of fiscal 2026 revenue, covering first aid and safety products and services and workplace water services.
• All Other — Fire Protection Services and Uniform Direct Sale generated $1.25 billion, about 11% of fiscal 2026 revenue, covering fire protection products and services and direct sales of uniforms and related items.
• Cross-selling to existing customers — Growth comes from increasing penetration at existing customers and adding new customers across market segments, supported by frequent service visits that create opportunities to launch additional products.

Recent performance

Fiscal 2026 fourth quarter revenue rose 8.9% to $2.91 billion from $2.67 billion a year earlier, with organic growth of 8.4%. Fourth quarter gross margin was 51.0% of revenue, equal to an all-time high and up 130 basis points, while operating income rose 12.7% to $673.0 million and included $14.0 million of UniFirst transaction expenses. Fourth quarter net income was $511.0 million and diluted EPS was $1.26, up 15.6%; excluding transaction expenses, adjusted diluted EPS was $1.29. Full-year revenue was $11.26 billion, up 8.9%, with diluted EPS of $4.91 versus $4.40, and operating cash flow of $2.28 billion.

Strategy

Cintas' stated objective is to exceed customer expectations to maximize long-term value for shareholders and working partners. The company pursues revenue growth by increasing penetration at existing customers and broadening its customer base into market segments it has not historically served, supported by a national sales organization and geographic expansion. It also identifies additional product and service opportunities and evaluates strategic acquisitions, including the pending approximately $5.5 billion UniFirst transaction announced March 10, 2026. In fiscal 2026 Cintas spent $395.1 million on capital expenditures, 3.5% of revenue, and $164.5 million on acquisitions.

Risks

• UniFirst acquisition integration — The pending approximately $5.5 billion UniFirst deal faces a second request for additional information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, creating regulatory timing and completion uncertainty.
• Labor and route-based execution — The business depends on service professionals visiting customers regularly and operating roughly 24,500 vehicles, so hiring, retention or route disruption could affect retention and cross-selling.
• Macro environment — Management described delivering 8.3% organic growth in a dynamic macro environment, indicating results depend on customer business conditions and employment levels.
• Facility and lease obligations — Cintas occupies 496 facilities in 346 cities, 261 of them leased with terms ranging from monthly to 2039, exposing it to renewal and occupancy cost risk.

Outlook

Management guided fiscal 2027 revenue to a range of $12.10 billion to $12.25 billion and adjusted diluted EPS to $5.36 to $5.50. Cintas still expects the UniFirst acquisition to close in the second half of calendar 2026, after UniFirst shareholders approved it on June 11, 2026. The company expects to welcome UniFirst team partners once the transaction is complete.