MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2026, MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc had return on equity of 15.8%, an operating margin of 8.0%, debt equal to 33.5% of equity and a current ratio of 1.78. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2010Aug 2010	2011Aug 2011	2012Sept 2012	2013Aug 2013	2014Aug 2014	2015Aug 2015	2016Sept 2016	2017Sept 2017	2018Sept 2018	2019Aug 2019	2020Aug 2020	2021Aug 2021	2022Sept 2022	2023Sept 2023	2024Aug 2024	2025Aug 2025	2026Aug 2026
Gross margin	45.3%	46.5%	45.8%	45.5%	46.1%	45.2%	45.0%	44.5%	43.5%	42.6%	42.1%	41.1%	42.2%	41.0%	41.2%	40.8%	40.9%
Operating margin	14.3%	17.3%	17.5%	15.7%	13.7%	13.0%	13.1%	13.1%	13.1%	11.9%	11.0%	9.3%	12.7%	12.1%	10.2%	8.0%	8.0%
Net margin	8.9%	10.8%	11.0%	9.7%	8.5%	7.9%	8.1%	8.0%	10.3%	8.6%	7.9%	6.7%	9.2%	8.6%	6.8%	5.3%	5.6%
Free-cash-flow margin	7.1%	9.1%	7.9%	9.6%	7.2%	6.8%	10.9%	6.9%	9.2%	8.2%	11.0%	5.3%	5.0%	15.1%	8.1%	6.4%	5.6%
Return on equity	16.7%	23.1%	23.8%	18.5%	16.9%	16.9%	19.0%	19.9%	25.2%	20.2%	18.0%	17.6%	27.2%	24.3%	18.0%	14.3%	15.8%
Return on assets	13.0%	18.2%	19.3%	14.0%	11.8%	11.1%	11.1%	11.1%	15.0%	12.6%	10.7%	9.0%	13.1%	13.0%	10.3%	8.1%	9.0%
Asset turnover	1.47	1.69	1.75	1.45	1.39	1.40	1.38	1.39	1.46	1.46	1.36	1.34	1.42	1.52	1.53	1.53	1.61
Current ratio	3.56	4.40	5.40	4.18	3.11	2.45	2.05	1.80	2.34	2.68	3.03	2.34	2.13	2.03	1.96	1.68	1.78
Debt to equity	8.7%	0.0%	0.3%	18.4%	25.9%	46.2%	79.6%	43.7%	38.6%	29.9%	47.1%	68.3%	58.8%	30.7%	36.6%	35.0%	33.5%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)	—	—	—	178.2x	98.9x	59.9x	64.7x	30.6x	29.1x	23.7x	21.0x	20.8x	26.6x	21.5x	15.1x	12.5x	14.8x
Effective tax rate	37.6%	37.4%	37.2%	37.9%	37.8%	38.0%	37.8%	37.1%	18.9%	24.6%	24.7%	24.4%	24.5%	24.8%	25.3%	24.9%	24.7%
Capital spending as % of revenue	1.8%	1.3%	2.0%	3.6%	2.5%	1.8%	3.1%	1.6%	1.4%	1.5%	1.5%	1.7%	1.7%	2.3%	2.6%	2.5%	2.0%
Free cash flow ÷ net income	79.5%	84.3%	72.0%	99.2%	85.5%	85.8%	135.4%	86.5%	89.5%	95.8%	139.3%	78.7%	54.4%	176.9%	120.4%	120.8%	101.2%
Dividends ÷ net income	34.4%	54.5%	24.3%	31.9%	35.0%	42.7%	45.7%	44.2%	38.1%	50.4%	66.3%	77.1%	49.3%	51.5%	72.4%	95.1%	87.3%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow	83.6%	102.2%	59.6%	33.7%	135.8%	66.7%	156.3%	75.6%	70.5%	83.3%	48.6%	139.7%	105.4%	44.9%	120.5%	95.1%	92.5%

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal quarters.

MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc: financial ratios, quarterly
Quarter	2025 Q1Nov 2024	2025 Q2Mar 2025	2025 Q3May 2025	2025 Q4Aug 2025	2026 Q1Nov 2025	2026 Q2Feb 2026	2026 Q3May 2026	2026 Q4Aug 2026
Gross margin	40.7%	41.0%	41.0%	40.4%	40.7%	41.1%	41.1%	40.6%
Operating margin	7.8%	7.0%	8.5%	8.6%	7.9%	7.1%	10.2%	6.7%
Net margin	5.0%	4.4%	5.9%	5.8%	5.4%	4.6%	7.7%	4.4%
Free-cash-flow margin	8.8%	2.8%	7.8%	6.0%	0.8%	8.0%	7.7%	5.9%
Current ratio	1.93	1.92	1.92	1.68	1.73	1.73	1.55	1.78
Debt to equity	21.1%	22.5%	20.8%	35.0%	15.5%	14.1%	6.3%	33.4%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

6 of 7 checks passed · August 29, 2026

What it owns · $2.5bn

Short-term assets $1.3bnLonger-term assets $1.2bn

What it owes, and who funded it · $2.5bn

Short-term liabilities $740mLonger-term liabilities $343mShareholders' equity $1.4bn

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $1.3bn of assets due within a year against $740m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $1.3bn short-term assets against $343m of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt $65m of cash against $476m of debt.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 33% of equity.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 48% to 33% over five years.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $306m of operating cash flow against $476m of debt.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $321m against $22m of interest.

From MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

70 /100

Strong moat

How hard MSC Industrial Direct's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

Returns on capital 18 / 20

Net income has been a median 10.8% of total assets over 10 years.
Pricing power 15 / 20

Gross margin has been a median 41.6%, moving by 1.2 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.
Durability 13 / 20

Operating margin has been a median 11.4%; its worst year was 8.0%.
Cash conversion 14 / 20

Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 7.5% of revenue.
Discipline 17 / 20

The diluted share count fell 0.2% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (75 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 23, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc.