Counselor Top 40 distributor Cintas (asi/162167), a publicly traded company, has increased sales and earnings through the first nine months of its fiscal year – gains helped along by revenue from acquisitions and organic growth.

That’s according to an official financial report that the Mason, OH-headquartered corporation, best known for its uniform and facility services but also a big player in promo, released on Wednesday, March 26.

Todd Schneider, Cintas (asi/162167)

Cintas operates on a fiscal year that doesn’t correspond to the calendar year. Its third quarter ended Feb. 28. Through the fiscal year’s first three quarters, Cintas’ total company sales increased 7.7% to $7.672 billion. Net income jumped about 18% to $1.364 billion. That translated to basic earnings per share of $3.37, a 19% increase, and diluted EPS of $3.31, an 18.6% increase.

The increases are based on a comparison of Cintas’ performance during the first nine months of this fiscal year to the same period the prior year. The sales numbers are for Cintas overall; the firm didn’t break out promo performance in particular.

“Our results are a testament to superb execution by our employee-partners and the differentiated value proposition we offer to our customers in providing for their image, safety, cleanliness and compliance needs,” said Cintas CEO Todd Schneider.

$10.280 to $10.305 billion
Cintas’ forecasted full-year sales range.

In the third quarter in particular, Cintas increased sales by 8.4% compared to the same quarter the prior year, with net sales tallying $2.6 billion. Net income rose nearly 17% to almost $463.5 million. Basic and diluted earnings per share jumped 16.3% and 17.7%, reaching $1.14 and $1.13 respectively.

Gross margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 was $1.32 billion compared to $1.19 billion in last year’s third quarter, an increase of 11.1%. Operating income for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 increased 17.1% to $609.9 million.

For Q3, Cintas noted that acquisitions helped contribute an overall 0.9% increase toward the top-line revenue gain. Excluding acquisitions and exchange rate fluctuations, organic growth in Q3 was 7.9%.

Corporate fisticuffs: Cintas was trying to make its biggest acquisition ever. UniFirst was having none of it. https://t.co/YtronLVAUt

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) March 25, 2025

One hoped-for acquisition that apparently won’t be contributing to Cintas anytime soon is that of UniFirst. This week, Cintas announced that it was ending efforts to acquire the multibillion-dollar Massachusetts-based competitor. Cintas was reportedly offering what amounted to $5.3 billion to seal the deal, but UniFirst didn’t want to do business.

Cintas’ stock was trading up about 7% as of this writing on March 26, following the release of the financial report. Investors appeared to be enticed by the fact that Cintas raised its forecast for full-year earnings per share from a range of $4.28 to $4.34 to a range of $4.36 to $4.40.

The firm did temper top-line expectations, though. While it raised the minimum forecast for this fiscal year’s full-year revenue from $10.255 billion to $10.280 billion, it lowered the upper range of forecasted possible sales from $10.320 billion to $10.305 billion. “The $15 million reduction at the top of the range reflects the negative impact of the foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations experienced in the third quarter and the expected impact for the fourth quarter,” Cintas explained.

Based on estimated 2023 North American promotional product revenue of $218.6 million, Cintas ranked 13^th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry.

Cintas has consistently been generating gains in sales and earnings. The firm increased total company sales 8.9% on an annual basis to $9.6 billion during its 2024 fiscal year, which ended May 31. Sales and earnings were also up in Q1 and Q2 of the firm’s 2025 fiscal year.