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Cintas vs Sodexo: Which Stock Looks Stronger in 2026?

Cintas holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across profitability and growth. Sodexo does not offset that deficit through any equally strong structural edge elsewhere. The market setup is currently leaning toward Sodexo, which does not confirm the structural lead. That leaves a split case: the structural lead stays with Cintas, but the market is not currently confirming it.

The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Peer scores are normalised within each company's primary universe (CTAS: Nasdaq 100, SW.PA: STOXX 600).

Updated 2026-08-16

The lead is spread across profitability and growth, rather than sitting in one isolated gap. The overall score gap is 37 points in favour of Cintas Corporation.

INDUSTRY COMPARISON

Both operate in: Specialty Business Services

This comparison is based on industry proximity, not on functional trajectory similarity. CTAS and SW.PA share the same industry classification.

For a similarity-based comparison, see how Cintas and Sodexo each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.

Peer-Relative Score
CTAS
Cintas Corporation
72
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: Nasdaq 100
vs
SW.PA
Sodexo S.A.
35
Peer-Score
Signal qualitylow
Peer basis: STOXX 600

Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.

The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.

Dimension spread: CTAS vs SW.PA Profitability 84 18 Stability 84 47 Valuation 58 67 Growth 63 3 CTAS SW.PA
Gap Ranking
#1 Profitability +66
#2 Growth +60
#3 Stability +37
#4 Valuation +9
Price Setup

Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.

Price setup map for CTAS and SW.PA Stronger + cheaper Stronger + richer Weaker + cheaper Weaker + richer CTASSW.PA Relative valuation Structural strength

Structure clearly favours Cintas Corporation, even though current pricing leans the other way.

Valuation position uses peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.

Entry today — historical context

Where CTAS and SW.PA each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.

BASED ON 5-YEAR HISTORY CTAS Elevated · below norm 0th 50th 100th 20 pct gap SW.PA Neutral · above norm 0th 50th 100th 81st 62nd
Today SW.PA sits in the upper-middle of its own 5-year history (62nd percentile), while CTAS sits higher in its own history (81st). Within each stock's own 5-year context, SW.PA is at a historically more favourable entry position than CTAS. This reflects entry timing, not which company is structurally stronger — peer-relative analysis is a separate question addressed above.

Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.

Relative Position vs Comparable Companies
Profitability
On profitability, Cintas Corporation ranks near the top of the group; Sodexo S.A. sits in the weaker half.
Growth
On growth, Cintas Corporation is positioned higher in the group, while Sodexo S.A. is closer to the middle.
Profitability — Dominant Gap
CTAS
84
SW.PA
18
Gap+66in favour of CTAS

The profitability lead is mainly driven by a 20.5-point operating margin advantage.

What keeps the gap from being one-sided

Sodexo S.A. still looks less cycle-sensitive — that keeps the result from looking completely one-sided.

What this means for the comparison

The lead is built on both profitability and growth, making it broader than a single-dimension result.

Explore full peer positioning in AssetNext

Break down the CTAS vs SW.PA comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.

Explore full breakdown →
Similar profitability-and-growth comparisons

Explore how CTAS and SW.PA each compare against other companies in their peer groups.

Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.

How AssetNext Peer Scores Work

AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.

Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.

Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.

Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.