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ESAB Corporation

ESAB · Industrials · $5.1B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · Shallow moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

Shallow moat
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The five investor questions

50

2021–2025 (latest 5 aligned FYs; v3 window cap 5): revenue $2.4B to $2.8B, increasing; diluted EPS 3.92 to 3.67, decreasing.

61

Median gross margin 35.8% over 6y, very stable.

28

Median ROIC 10.1%, above the 12% hurdle in 17% of years.

71

Net debt/EBITDA 2.1x, no material interest expense disclosed.

58

Owner earnings changed +6.3%/yr over up to the ten most recent annual observations.

Price vs. value if growth stopped today

A cautious baseline, not a price target: what the shares may support if normalized owner earnings simply hold steady.

Above value if growth stopped todayBelow value if growth stopped today
75% above value if growth stopped today
$264M
$48.23
$78.14
$84.44
75% above value if growth stopped today

What today’s price assumes: owner earnings growing ~12%/yr over 5 years. The zero-growth estimate assumes owner earnings stay flat (0% growth).

How to read this

We solve for the constant annual change in owner earnings that would make the five-year zero-growth estimate equal today’s price. This keeps the existing model inputs and calculation unchanged; it is an expectations lens, not a forecast.

This zero-growth estimate assumes trailing owner earnings persist — unreliable for declining businesses. The recent FY revenue series does not trigger the three-consecutive-declines flag.

Among the current top-score group, the median current price is 239% above the zero-growth estimate across 48 of the current top 50 companies by Moat Score with both values.

Score records captured Jul 26, 2026.

Exactly which 50 companies?

FTNT, META, MEDP, IBEX, MSFT, GOOGL, LULU, ANF, IDXX, TXRH, FHI, QLYS, FFIV, ADBE, LLY, MANH, VEEV, GRMN, SSD, MNST, DOCS, MCO, CPRT, NTAP, LRCX, NVDA, CORT, SFM, MPTI, ULTA, SN, RMD, ROL, PAYC, IRMD, INTU, DECK, MORN, LGCY, DAL, GWW, ISRG, MPWR, CTAS, LOPE, MRK, CMG, FAST, BKNG, ORLY

Missing a usable price or zero-growth estimate: ANF, BKNG.

Model details under moat-index@3.0.0: zero-growth multiple 11.1×, capped-growth comparison at no more than 18×; 9% discount rate; high-end growth 4% (capped at 4%) using min(5y revenue CAGR, 5y diluted-EPS CAGR), clamped to 0%–4%; maintenance capex uses min(capex, D&A); abstain when D&A is unavailable. This is a disclosed model range, not intrinsic value as fact.

7 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

ESAB Corporation booked $2.8B of revenue in FY2025 in the Industrials sector and kept 36.9% of it as gross profit — a solid-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, 8.0% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $2.0B (FY2020) to $2.8B (FY2025) — about 7.8% a year compounded over 5 years.

It earned 10.1% on invested capital in the latest filed year, FY2025. Across the full 6-year measurable filed record, median ROIC was 10.1%. Over the v3 recent window (6 measurable filed years), median ROIC was 10.1%. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 28/100.

The balance sheet carried $1.2B of total debt in FY2025 against $264M of owner earnings — roughly 4.7 years of owner earnings to retire it all. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 71/100.

Put together: Balance-Sheet Safety is the strongest of the five filters (71/100) and Returns on Capital the weakest (28/100), which is how ESAB lands at 54/100 — a Shallow moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2019–FY2025 · 7 fiscal years, normalized from ESAB’s SEC filings

Sales, as filed$2.8B FY2025
$0$2B2019202120232025
Revenue kept after cost of goods36.9% FY2025
0%20%40%2019202120232025
Standard ROIC or separately labeled Operating ROICROIC 10.1% FY2025
0%5%10%2019202120232025
Cash an owner could take out$264M FY2025
$0$200M2019202120232025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in ESAB’s filings for that year. The series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Flagship explainer

How ESAB Corporation makes its money

Start with a dollar of revenue and follow what the filing says remains.

revenueBranching filed flows with values and percentages directly labeled. Missing filing concepts are omitted rather than estimated.Revenue$2.8B · 100%Cost of revenue$1.8B · 63%Gross profit$1.0B · 37%Operating income$412M · 14%Income before tax$328M · 12%Income tax$69.2M · 2%Net income$227M · 8%As of 2025-12-31 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com

Honest partial: the filing did not provide a normalized tag for Research and development, Selling, general and administrative; those components are omitted, not plugged.

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of revenueSource
$2.8B100%
Cost of revenue$1.8B63%
$1.0B37%
$412M14%
Income before tax$328M12%
Income tax$69.2M2%
$227M8%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

What ESAB Corporation owns — and owes

ESAB Corporation's filing tags don't support a full breakdown — here's what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of assetsSource
Total assets$4.8B100%
Cash and equivalents$186M4%
$1.2B26%
Stockholders’ equity$2.2B45%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Flagship explainer

What drives ESAB Corporation’s return on equity?

ROE is five filed business factors multiplied together.

DuPont return on equity factor treeReturn on equity branches into tax burden, interest burden, operating margin, asset turnover, and the equity multiplier.Return on equity12%Tax burden69%net income ÷ pretax incomeInterest burden80%pretax ÷ operating incomeOperating margin14%operating income ÷ revenueAsset turnover0.65×revenue ÷ average assetsEquity multiplier2.24×average assets ÷ average equityAs of 2025-12-31 · 1 SEC filing sourceBuy Like Buffett · buylikebuffett.com
DuPont source inputs
InputValueFiscal yearSource
$227MFY2025
Income before tax$328MFY2025
Operating income$412MFY2025
$2.8BFY2025
Ending assets$4.8BFY2025
Beginning assets$4.0BFY2024
$2.2BFY2025
$1.8BFY2024
Source:
  • SEC filingFiling detailsAccession 0001877322-26-000007
· event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set
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Flagship explainer

Where ESAB Corporation's cash went

ESAB Corporation’s filing does not supply enough provenance-matched cash-flow lines for a truthful flow chart — here’s what is filed:

Table alternative
Filed lineValue% of cash from operationsSource
Cash from operations$261M100%
Depreciation and amortization$84.1M32%
Source: · event Dec 31, 2025 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026 · annual-row source set

Curated 19-manager tier

Who reported holding ESAB Corporation

Delayed public 13F reports for 2026-Q1—not live positions, trades, or recommendations.

0 holding0 exited0 not holding0/19 resolved19 unavailable

Named manager positions and quarter-over-quarter changes
ManagerReported positionQuarter-over-quarterFiling accession
Abrams CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Akre CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Baupost GroupUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Berkshire HathawayUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Brave Warrior AdvisorsUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Dodge & CoxUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
First EagleUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
FundsmithUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gardner Russo & QuinnUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Gates Foundation TrustUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Mairs & PowerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Markel / Markel-GaynerUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Oakmark / Harris AssociatesUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Pershing SquareUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Polen CapitalUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Sequoia / Ruane CunniffUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Southeastern Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Tweedy, BrowneUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable
Yacktman Asset ManagementUnavailableComparison unavailableFiling unavailable

Position size uses shares and filed value from each manager’s 13F. Portfolio weight uses the eligible long-share filing denominator. Changes compare only with the immediately preceding calendar quarter.

Source: Filing source unavailable · event Mar 31, 2026 · retrieved Jul 26, 2026

Flagship explainer

What ESAB Corporation insiders reported

Insider activity is unavailable from the source; no zero-activity claim is shown.

Unavailable: Form 4 activity could not be retrieved for this rendering.

Moat Score history

12 logged readings since Jul 18, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale53.6 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 18, 2026Jul 26, 2026

Breaks in the line mark methodology or normalizer upgrades — readings across versions aren’t compared, so a level shift there isn’t a change in the business.

Tier changesSame-methodology and same-normalizer crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

  1. Normalizer upgraded unstamped (version unknown)moat-xbrl-normalizer@1.1.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 26, 2026
  2. Methodology upgraded moat-index@2.0.0moat-index@3.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 23, 2026
  3. Methodology upgraded moat-index@1.2.0moat-index@2.0.0 — readings across versions aren’t comparedJul 20, 2026

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record cannot be reconstructed retroactively, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Insider activity

Form 4 reports mix P/S market or private transactions with compensation-plan mechanics. Activity casually described as “insider selling” can include compensation mechanics; awards, tax withholding, and option exercises are shown by their exact filed class here, never collapsed into “Bought” or “Sold.”

These are disclosed filing facts and arithmetic aggregates, not a signal or verdict.

The insider-filing service is temporarily unavailable, so no partial or guessed answer is shown for ESAB.

Track record

How ESAB Corporation’s moat rated in each of the years we can reconstruct from its filings — scored only on what was knowable at the time — and what its price and returns did afterward. The score never saw a price; the two are joined only in hindsight, for education, not as a signal.

Point-in-time scores 2022–2025, one methodology version · reconstructed from filings on file each Dec 31 — never with hindsight

Point-in-time Moat Score (dot colored by tier)Indexed price (total-return (dividends reinvested))Rated Wide-moat that year

How to read this: each dot is what the engine would have scored ESAB on that December 31; the line below is its total-return price path (dividends reinvested) in the years since.

0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatPoint-in-time Moat Score100200Indexed price · log scale (2023 = 100)20222023202420252026

Two tracks, one timeline: the score has its own 0–100 scale (top), the price its own 100-based scale (bottom) — never a shared axis. The price path is a total-return (dividends reinvested) index built from the same data the forward returns use; gaps in the score line are years with no reconstructed rating (see the table for why). The Table view carries every value.

What followed, in the years it rated Wide

In the reconstructed history shown, ESAB did not rate Wide-moat in any year, so there is no wide-moat track record to report. That absence is itself the honest answer — we don’t manufacture a comparison where the rating never earned one.

Industrials context

#142 of 428 scored Industrials companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #140SNDR Schneider National, Inc.53.7Shallow moat
  2. #141WCC WESCO International, Inc.53.6Shallow moat
  3. #143RWAX TAP REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.53.1Shallow moat
  4. #144HLIO HELIOS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.53.0Shallow moat

Compare ESAB with its nearest peers →All Industrials companies on the Index →

Common questions about ESAB

Does ESAB Corporation have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores ESAB Corporation (ESAB) 53.6 out of 100 — a Shallow moat. The five questions behind that score begin at 20% each; if exactly one genuinely lacks data, the other four weights are renormalized and disclosed. revenue and EPS trend 50, pricing power 61, returns on capital 28, balance-sheet safety 71, capital allocation 58.
Is ESAB trading below the conservative owner-earnings estimate?
The value if growth stopped today — a zero-growth baseline — is $48.23 per share. It capitalizes normalized owner earnings at a 9% rate and assumes 0% growth. Versus a recent price of $84.44, that is 75% above value if growth stopped today. The model also publishes a capped-growth comparison, but the zero-growth estimate is the cautious baseline. It assumes trailing owner earnings persist and is unreliable for declining businesses. This is an educational estimate from primary SEC filings, not intrinsic value as a fact or investment advice.
How has ESAB's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 12 readings since Jul 18, 2026; the latest reads 53.6 out of 100 (shallow moat). No tier changes on record yet. (Methodology or normalizer upgrades on Jul 20, 2026, Jul 23, 2026, Jul 26, 2026 re-based the score; readings across versions aren't compared.) The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.

Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell ESAB. See the disclaimer.