POOL
Pool Corporation
Industrials · Industrial Distribution · United States · Stock
Score Breakdown
Scored for Dividend Income profile
Sub-scores are 0–20 each; Model Score is weighted by your selected investment goal. How it works →
Why Ranked Here
- The growth factor reflects contraction across revenue, net income, and EPS in FY2025, which weighed heavily on the composite and contributed to the 44.4/100 total score.
- The dividend factor is a relative bright spot, supported by four consecutive years of per-share dividend increases and a sustainable 45.5% payout ratio, partially offsetting weakness elsewhere.
- The absence of any macro theme assignment means no thematic tailwind was applied, and momentum reflects strong seasonal swings without a clear upward trend, both of which constrain the overall score.
Why Not Higher
- All three core growth metrics — revenue, net income, and diluted EPS — contracted in FY2025, and the trailing four quarters show no acceleration trend, limiting the score's upside.
- With no macro theme assignment and a High risk rating, the model finds insufficient evidence of either a structural growth catalyst or a thematic tailwind to justify a higher composite score.
Data Confidence
10 / 10
Very High — full data coverage
Why This Score
Grounded in figures from this company's SEC EDGAR filings — not a restatement of the score itself.
Revenue declined from FY2024's $5,310,953,000 to FY2025's $5,289,396,000 (-0.4%), net income fell from FY2024's $434,325,000 to FY2025's $406,404,000 (-6.4%), and diluted EPS dropped from FY2024's $11.30 to FY2025's $10.85 (-4.0%).
The model penalized POOL for contraction across all three key growth metrics in FY2025, reflecting a business that shrank modestly in both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability year-over-year.
In FY2025, POOL reported a net margin of 7.7%, an operating margin of 11.0%, and a return on assets of 11.2%.
The model recognized solid operating and asset-level returns, with double-digit operating margin and ROA indicating efficient operations, while the net margin, though healthy, reflects the distribution-business cost structure and tempers the score somewhat.
In FY2025, POOL carried a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01 against total assets of $3,626,126,000.
A debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01 in FY2025 indicates that debt and equity are roughly balanced, which the model treats as a moderate leverage position — neither a clear strength nor a significant concern — contributing to a mid-range score.
Over the last four reported quarters, revenue followed a pronounced seasonal pattern: $1,784,530,000 in 2025Q2, declining to $1,451,131,000 in 2025Q3, $982,209,000 in 2025Q4, then partially recovering to $1,138,014,000 in 2026Q1. Net income and operating income tracked similarly, with net income at $194,258,000 in 2025Q2, falling to $31,588,000 in 2025Q4, and recovering only modestly to $53,229,000 in 2026Q1.
The model reflects a business with strong seasonal swings but no clear acceleration trend across the trailing four quarters; the most recent quarter's partial recovery from the trough did not signal enough upward momentum to earn a higher score.
POOL has grown its dividends per share consistently from $3.80 in FY2022 to $4.30 in FY2023, $4.70 in FY2024, and $4.95 in FY2025, while maintaining a dividend payout ratio of 45.5% of net income in FY2025.
The model rewarded the multi-year streak of dividend per share increases alongside a payout ratio that is substantial yet leaves meaningful earnings retained, reflecting a disciplined and sustainable income-return profile.
POOL is not currently assigned to any of the 24 tracked macro themes in the model.
The absence of a theme assignment means no macro tailwind contribution was applied to the score; this is a neutral classification reflecting the model's current coverage, not a commentary on the company's business quality.
Research Summary
AI-generated analysis reflects data and conditions as of the report date shown above. Verify any specific figures through primary sources before acting on this analysis.
Pool Corporation posted modest top-line and bottom-line contraction in FY2025, with revenue slipping 0.4% to $5,289,396,000 and net income falling 6.4% to $406,404,000, resulting in diluted EPS of $10.85 versus $11.30 in FY2024. Despite the growth headwinds, POOL maintains solid operating fundamentals, including an 11.0% operating margin and 11.2% return on assets, alongside a consistent multi-year dividend growth streak that reached $4.95 per share in FY2025 at a 45.5% payout ratio. The business exhibits pronounced seasonal revenue swings with no clear acceleration trend across the trailing four quarters, and the absence of a macro theme assignment means no thematic tailwind contributes to the composite score. Taken together, these dynamics produce a total model score of 44.4/100, a High risk rating, and a Monitor Only label.
Plain English
Pool Corporation is a pool-supply distributor that shrank slightly in 2025 — earning less revenue and profit than the year before — but still runs efficiently and keeps raising its dividend every year, though its stock score is low because growth is going backward and no big macro trend is boosting it.
Bull Case vs. Bear Case
Bull Case
- POOL has raised its dividend per share every year from $3.80 in FY2022 to $4.95 in FY2025, while keeping the payout ratio at a disciplined 45.5%, signaling a sustainable and growing income return to shareholders.
- The company delivered an 11.0% operating margin and 11.2% return on assets in FY2025, demonstrating efficient operations and strong asset utilization despite a distribution-business cost structure.
- With a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01 and total assets of $3,626,126,000, POOL's balance sheet reflects a roughly balanced leverage position that does not represent an acute financial stress point.
Bear Case
- Revenue declined 0.4% year-over-year to $5,289,396,000 in FY2025, while net income fell a steeper 6.4% to $406,404,000 and diluted EPS dropped from $11.30 to $10.85, indicating contraction across all key growth metrics.
- Quarterly momentum shows no clear upward acceleration: revenue fell from $1,784,530,000 in 2025Q2 to $982,209,000 in 2025Q4, and the partial recovery to $1,138,014,000 in 2026Q1 reflects seasonal normalization rather than a growth inflection.
- POOL is not assigned to any of the 24 tracked macro themes, meaning no thematic tailwind is contributing to the composite score.
What Could Change the Picture
Bullish Triggers
- A return to year-over-year revenue and net income growth — reversing the FY2025 declines of 0.4% and 6.4% respectively — would signal that the business contraction has stabilized and could improve the growth factor score.
- Continued dividend per share increases beyond $4.95, combined with a maintained or improved payout ratio, would reinforce the income-return profile that is already one of POOL's stronger scoring dimensions.
Bearish Triggers
- If net income continues to decline beyond the FY2025 level of $406,404,000, the current 45.5% dividend payout ratio could become harder to sustain, putting the dividend growth streak at risk.
- A further deterioration in quarterly operating income — which already fell to $52,009,000 in 2025Q4 — without a meaningful seasonal recovery would deepen concerns about underlying business momentum.
Risk Profile
High RiskPOOL carries a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01 in FY2025, representing a moderate leverage position that is neither a clear strength nor an acute concern. However, the business exhibits sharp seasonal swings — net income fell to just $31,588,000 in 2025Q4 before a modest recovery to $53,229,000 in 2026Q1 — which amplifies cash flow variability and underpins the High risk rating.
This report is for educational and research purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice — always conduct your own due diligence before making investment decisions.