MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc.
MSC is a leading North American distributor of a broad range of metalworking and maintenance, repair and operations ( MRO ) products and services. With a history of driving innovation in industrial product distribution for more than 80 years, we help solve our manufacturing customers metalworking and MRO challenges.
$132.82
+$3.29 (+2.54%)
Price from 2 days ago
Operating margin is thin at 8.00%. Limited cushion if revenue slows or costs rise, not the profile of a wide-moat business.
Revenue declined 1.3% YoY. Margins deteriorated 2.2pp alongside, both lines moving the wrong way.
At 32x earnings, the current multiple leaves limited room for execution misses or growth deceleration. Free cash flow declined 23% versus the prior year, cash generation momentum has weakened.
32.0x earnings, 33.7x FCF. Not cheap, the quality is already reflected in the price. Upside from here requires either margin expansion or growth re-acceleration, not just continuation.
Price History
Valuation & Multiples
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$3.91B
▼ -1.3% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$231M
▼ -22.9% YoY
Op. Margin
8.50%
▼ -2.2pp YoY
ROIC
13.13%
▼ -3.2pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$220M
▼ -22.6% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$306M
▼ -18.7% YoY
Net Debt
$482M
Cash & Equiv.
$74M
5Y CAGR: +3.4%
5Y CAGR: -7.2%
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SourceComputed from the 10-Q filed 17 Jun 2026, covering the period ending 30 May 2026, as reported to the SEC. Data last refreshed 3 Oct 2026. How this is calculated.
Price from market data, last close as of 21 Oct 2026. Fiscal year ends Aug. Sector medians are approximate S&P 500 benchmarks and update periodically.
Is MSC Industrial Direct Co. (MSM) overvalued?
At a P/E of 32.0 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 33.7, MSC Industrial Direct Co. (MSM) trades above a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $74.04 per share, so at $132.82 the stock looks overvalued (44.3% above estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, MSC Industrial Direct Co. scores 32/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a lower-quality business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 2.6%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology, or see how the market compares in our US profitability statistics. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Frequently asked
What is MSC Industrial Direct Co.'s fair value?+
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $74.04 per share for MSM, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $55.53. At today's $132.82, that puts the stock about 44.3% above estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Is MSC Industrial Direct Co. a high-quality business?+
MSC Industrial Direct Co. scores 32 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a lower-quality business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 8.5% operating margin and a 13.1% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Does MSC Industrial Direct Co. (MSM) pay a dividend, and how much?+
Yes, MSC Industrial Direct Co. pays a regular dividend of about $3.45 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 2.6% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 83.5% of earnings, so the dividend is covered, with less cushion. MSC Industrial Direct Co. has grown the dividend at roughly 3.2% a year over the past few years. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For MSM's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
Is MSC Industrial Direct Co. a good stock to buy right now?+
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. MSM currently trades above its estimated intrinsic value and scores 32/100 on quality (lower-quality). It also yields about 2.6%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.
Related stocks: Wholesale-Industrial Machinery & Equipment
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR filings and third-party price providers. Scores, valuations, and metrics are algorithmic estimates. This is not investment advice. See our Terms and Methodology.
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