# Columbus McKinnon (CMCO.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/CMCO

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:27:30.557Z. Financial observations: FY1997–FY2027.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $15.01 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

Estimated value: low $40.07 per share, central $45.27 per share, high $52.19 per share. Buy at or below the central value $45.27 per share. Valuation as of 2026-10-16T07:27:30.557Z; scenarios are not confidence intervals.

Expected annual return: 28.1% at the stated quote. About 28.1% a year at today's price (required return 10.0%). required return 10.0% a year (10% floor; US 10-year bond 5.1% + 4 points).

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 3 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 10 years

- Years with declining revenue: 3

- Years with a net loss: 3

- Operating margin variation: 0.74×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: 0.08×

- FY2019: 0.08×

- FY2020: 0.11×

- FY2021: 0.07×

- FY2022: 0.08×

- FY2023: 0.10×

- FY2024: 0.11×

- FY2025: 0.06×

- FY2026: -0.02×

- LTM to Jun 2026: -0.03×

### moat: fail

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- Recent gross margin fell 5.6pp below the typical margin (limit 4pp)

- ROIC, median of available years: 11.6%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -0.7%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: 5.6 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 34.4%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 28.8%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 0

- Capital spending / revenue: 1.5%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: 5.2%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: 12.6%

- FY2019: 16.6%

- FY2020: 21.8%

- FY2021: 13.6%

- FY2022: 10.3%

- FY2023: 10.9%

- FY2024: 12.4%

- FY2025: 6.5%

- FY2026: -0.7%

- LTM to Jun 2026: -1.6%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- incremental invested capital return below threshold

- working capital as a share of revenue rose more than 10pp and ends positive

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$214M

- Net income, five-year total: -$456M

- Return on incremental invested capital: -26.2%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: 3.3 pp

- Working capital / revenue, change between three-year averages: 23.6 pp

- Working capital / revenue, final three-year average: 49.6%

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2023: $86M

- FY2024: $68M

- FY2025: $22M

- FY2026: -$170M

- LTM to Jun 2026: -$219M

### management: fail

- Historical market-dollar context (not the management verdict): 2017 to 2026 (9 years)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: 12.6% vs 6.5%

- Per-share earnings: 0.95 to -0.18 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- five-year and ten-year diluted share growth both above threshold

- acquired goodwill and intangibles (proxy) exceeds half of ten-year net income with low and deteriorating ROIC

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 10-year annual growth: 3.5%

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 3.5%

- Market cap gain: -$142M

- Cumulative retained earnings: -$44M

- Diluted shares, 10-year annual growth: 3.5%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 3.5%

- $1 test, starting fiscal year: FY2017

- $1 test, ending fiscal year: FY2026

- Per-share value change: -$1.12

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: $0.95

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$0.18

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -1.00

- Average buyback yield: 1.1%

- Buyback history: 2 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: No

- Acquisition spending: $2.9B

- Cumulative net income, 10 years: $32M

- ROIC, first three-year median: 12.6%

- ROIC, last three-year median: 6.5%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: $0.43

- FY2018: $0.95

- FY2019: $1.80

- FY2020: $2.50

- FY2021: $0.38

- FY2022: $1.04

- FY2023: $1.68

- FY2024: $1.61

- FY2025: -$0.18

- FY2026: -$7.99

### accounting: pass

- latest-year receivables to sales index (DSRI) exceeds 1.465

- Sloan accruals: -1.7%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.85×

- Restructuring years, last five: 0

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 2.08×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2017: -4.6%

- FY2018: -4.2%

- FY2019: -3.5%

- FY2020: -4.3%

- FY2021: -7.8%

- FY2022: -1.1%

- FY2023: -2.1%

- FY2024: -1.1%

- FY2025: -2.9%

- FY2026: -1.7%

## Holders

- [Arnold Van Den Berg](https://gigainvestors.com/VAN): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 68% since Oct 2021 · "Columbus McKinnon Q1 FY26 slides: Net loss amid record backlog, tariff headwinds" (investing.com, Jul 2025) · sales +24.8%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:58:31.260Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

Price needs cash profits to shrink 14.8% a year for ten years

- 2025-07-30: Columbus McKinnon Q1 FY26 slides: Net loss amid record backlog, tariff headwinds ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/columbus-mckinnon-q1-fy26-slides-net-loss-amid-record-backlog-tariff-headwinds-93CH-4159541))

- 2025-08-12: CMCO Q2 Deep Dive: Tariffs Pressure Margins as Backlog Reaches New High ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cmco-q2-deep-dive-tariffs-044152006.html))

- 2026-07-31: Columbus McKinnon raises FY2027 outlook to $2.09B-$2.15B sales and $1.90-$2.10 adjusted EPS ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4622325-columbus-mckinnon-raises-fy2027-outlook-to-2_09b-2_15b-sales-and-1_90-2_10-adjusted-eps?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

### Sales · FY2026–2027

sales +24.8%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005229/000100522926000022/cmco-20260331.htm; observed 2026-06-08.

- FY2018: $839M 

- FY2019: $876M 

- FY2020: $809M 

- FY2021: $650M 

- FY2022: $907M 

- FY2023: $936M 

- FY2024: $1.0B 

- FY2025: $963M 

- FY2026: $1.2B 

- FY2027: $1.5B 

### Gross margin · FY2027

gross margin 28.8%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005229/000100522926000022/cmco-20260331.htm; observed 2026-06-08.

- FY2018: 33.9% 

- FY2019: 34.8% 

- FY2020: 35.0% 

- FY2021: 33.9% 

- FY2022: 34.8% 

- FY2023: 36.5% 

- FY2024: 37.0% 

- FY2025: 33.8% 

- FY2026: 30.1% 

- FY2027: 28.8% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in farm & heavy construction machinery; annual sales are USD 1.2 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005229/000100522926000022/cmco-20260331.htm (filed 2026-06-08); FY2026: revenue 1193451000; grossProfit 359431000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-05); CMCO.US: Columbus McKinnon Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets motion solutions for moving, lifting, positioning, and securing materials. It offers powered chain hoists, electric wire rope hoists, hand-operated hoists, winches, lever tools, and air-powered hoists, as well as explosion-protected and custom engineered hoists, such as wire rope and manual hoists; precision conveyer products which includes low profile, flexible chain, large scale, sanitary, and vertical elevation conveyor systems, as well as pallet system conveyors and accumulation systems; and power control and delivery systems and solutions. The company also provides AC and DC digital motion control systems for underground coal mining equipment; alloy and carbon steel chain; load chain; hooks, shackles, Hammerloks, and master links; and carbon steel forged and stamped products, such as load binders, logging tools, and other securing devices. In addition, it designs and manufactures industrial components comprising mechanical and electromechanical actuators and rotary unions; manufactures and markets aluminum light rail workstations; and crane components and kits. Further, the company designs, builds, sells, and supports elevator application-specific drive products; and engineered and technology-enabled products. It serves EV production and aerospace, energy and utilities, process industries, industrial automation, construction and infrastructure, food and beverage, entertainment, life sciences, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, supply chain, and warehousing markets. The company offers its products to end users; industrial distributors, including rigging shops and independent crane builders; material handling specialists and integrators, and entertainment equipment distributors; service-after-sale distributors; original equipment manufacturers; government agencies; and engineering procurement and construction firms. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 30.1% to 37% during 2024–26; it earns 11.6% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 37%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 33.8%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005229/000100522926000022/cmco-20260331.htm (filed 2026-06-08); FY2026: grossProfit / revenue = 30.1%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); 10-year return on capital observations [[2018,0.1261848780920098],[2019,0.16557477822597497],[2020,0.21755745032411963],[2021,0.13599713821784495],[2022,0.1032157043597514],[2023,0.10930440681606009],[2024,0.12354384584712809],[2025,0.06549330372062782],[2026,-0.0073531956007811695],[2027,-0.016272509241014282]]; median 0.11642412633159409. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid dividends in 10 of 10 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2017: growth capex 0; upkeep 14368000; owner earnings 19778000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2018: growth capex 0; upkeep 14515000; owner earnings 43686000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2019: growth capex 0; upkeep 12288000; owner earnings 62964000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2020: growth capex 0; upkeep 9432000; owner earnings 87289000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2021: growth capex 0; upkeep 12300000; owner earnings 24959000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2022: growth capex 0; upkeep 13104000; owner earnings 66423000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2023: growth capex 0; upkeep 12632000; owner earnings 85611000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 24813000; owner earnings 67757000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 21411000; owner earnings 21638000. Growth capex / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); Dividend observations: [[2017,3326000],[2018,3658000],[2019,4652000],[2020,5670000],[2021,5733000],[2022,6562000],[2023,8008000],[2024,8044000],[2025,8042000],[2026,8037000]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 2.9% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-05); CMCO.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 2.861 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-05.

### What the price says

The price assumes cash profits shrink 14.8% yearly over ten years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-06-08); Ten-year compound average after fade. Initial solved rate -0.2176599066860247. Price 15.01; FX 1; discount 0.1; same standard ten-year fade to terminal 0.03. FY2016 owner earnings/share 0.9637706128476495 → FY2026 -5.932855053284112. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2016-10: $19.49 per share

- 2016-11: $26.32 per share

- 2016-12: $27.04 per share

- 2017-01: $27.49 per share

- 2017-02: $25.81 per share

- 2017-03: $24.82 per share

- 2017-04: $26.13 per share

- 2017-05: $27.94 per share

- 2017-06: $25.42 per share

- 2017-07: $25.80 per share

- 2017-08: $33.03 per share

- 2017-09: $37.87 per share

- 2017-10: $39.56 per share

- 2017-11: $39.94 per share

- 2017-12: $39.98 per share

- 2018-01: $40.95 per share

- 2018-02: $35.50 per share

- 2018-03: $35.84 per share

- 2018-04: $35.88 per share

- 2018-05: $41.43 per share

- 2018-06: $43.36 per share

- 2018-07: $41.16 per share

- 2018-08: $42.53 per share

- 2018-09: $39.54 per share

- 2018-10: $36.73 per share

- 2018-11: $34.80 per share

- 2018-12: $30.14 per share

- 2019-01: $36.20 per share

- 2019-02: $37.45 per share

- 2019-03: $34.35 per share

- 2019-04: $39.36 per share

- 2019-05: $36.26 per share

- 2019-06: $41.97 per share

- 2019-07: $38.44 per share

- 2019-08: $32.37 per share

- 2019-09: $36.43 per share

- 2019-10: $37.52 per share

- 2019-11: $41.08 per share

- 2019-12: $40.03 per share

- 2020-01: $34.99 per share

- 2020-02: $31.09 per share

- 2020-03: $25.00 per share

- 2020-04: $27.08 per share

- 2020-05: $30.41 per share

- 2020-06: $33.45 per share

- 2020-07: $33.13 per share

- 2020-08: $36.38 per share

- 2020-09: $33.10 per share

- 2020-10: $33.89 per share

- 2020-11: $37.79 per share

- 2020-12: $38.44 per share

- 2021-01: $43.19 per share

- 2021-02: $50.34 per share

- 2021-03: $52.76 per share

- 2021-04: $49.51 per share

- 2021-05: $50.70 per share

- 2021-06: $48.24 per share

- 2021-07: $46.40 per share

- 2021-08: $46.05 per share

- 2021-09: $48.35 per share

- 2021-10: $47.27 per share

- 2021-11: $44.42 per share

- 2021-12: $46.26 per share

- 2022-01: $43.28 per share

- 2022-02: $45.64 per share

- 2022-03: $42.40 per share

- 2022-04: $35.45 per share

- 2022-05: $33.75 per share

- 2022-06: $28.37 per share

- 2022-07: $33.10 per share

- 2022-08: $30.63 per share

- 2022-09: $26.16 per share

- 2022-10: $28.52 per share

- 2022-11: $32.23 per share

- 2022-12: $32.47 per share

- 2023-01: $35.95 per share

- 2023-02: $37.12 per share

- 2023-03: $37.16 per share

- 2023-04: $34.71 per share

- 2023-05: $36.48 per share

- 2023-06: $40.65 per share

- 2023-07: $42.34 per share

- 2023-08: $37.67 per share

- 2023-09: $34.91 per share

- 2023-10: $30.57 per share

- 2023-11: $34.92 per share

- 2023-12: $39.02 per share

- 2024-01: $39.07 per share

- 2024-02: $41.77 per share

- 2024-03: $44.63 per share

- 2024-04: $41.27 per share

- 2024-05: $39.10 per share

- 2024-06: $34.54 per share

- 2024-07: $38.16 per share

- 2024-08: $34.21 per share

- 2024-09: $36.00 per share

- 2024-10: $31.81 per share

- 2024-11: $39.29 per share

- 2024-12: $37.24 per share

- 2025-01: $36.42 per share

- 2025-02: $17.43 per share

- 2025-03: $16.93 per share

- 2025-04: $14.85 per share

- 2025-05: $14.56 per share

- 2025-06: $15.27 per share

- 2025-07: $14.65 per share

- 2025-08: $14.98 per share

- 2025-09: $14.34 per share

- 2025-10: $16.23 per share

- 2025-11: $16.44 per share

- 2025-12: $17.25 per share

- 2026-01: $21.08 per share

- 2026-02: $18.98 per share

- 2026-03: $14.53 per share

- 2026-04: $15.45 per share

- 2026-05: $15.96 per share

- 2026-06: $15.13 per share

- 2026-07: $19.17 per share

- 2026-08: $17.66 per share

- 2026-09: $15.93 per share

- 2026-10: $15.01 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

- FY2017: low $16.23 per share, central $18.03 per share, high $20.44 per share

- FY2018: low $17.45 per share, central $19.59 per share, high $22.43 per share

- FY2019: low $19.59 per share, central $22.22 per share, high $25.46 per share

- FY2020: low $23.94 per share, central $27.33 per share, high $31.11 per share

- FY2021: low $23.11 per share, central $25.22 per share, high $28.03 per share

- FY2022: low $28.49 per share, central $31.95 per share, high $36.55 per share

- FY2023: low $29.99 per share, central $33.58 per share, high $38.35 per share

- FY2024: low $31.20 per share, central $35.05 per share, high $40.19 per share

- FY2025: low $25.68 per share, central $29.06 per share, high $33.55 per share

- FY2026: low $32.90 per share, central $37.09 per share, high $42.66 per share

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005229/000100522926000022/cmco-20260331.htm); period 2026-03-31, filed 2026-06-08.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.