Core & Main Inc-Class A
CNMWithin bandExpectations · modestHeld by 2 superinvestors.
SEC 10-K · fundamentals
Business quality
As of 2026-02-01Valuation basis: trailing twelve months to 2026-08-02 — latest 10-K plus unaudited 10-Q filings.
- Revenue growth
- +2.8%
- Net margin
- 5.8%
- ROE
- 22.1%
- FCF margin
- 7.9%
Valuation · value band
In fair-value range
Zero-growth floor
$22
Central IV
$33
Optimistic top
$69
Core & Main Inc-Class A (CNM): Two methods value the business — a conservative owner-earnings DCF and a growth-credited Greenwald estimate, $22–$69 / sh. Today’s price sits inside both (price $42 as of 2026-10-22).
The middle figure is the main read. The right end is the optimistic case under the same conservative caps — not an absolute ceiling.
Revenue growth 5% (lower of historical trend and fundamental cap, capped by moat) · moat 10 yr · discount 11.4% · Zero-growth downside $22
Price as of 2026-10-22 · yahoo · DGS10 5.1% @ 2026-10-21.
Method & numbers
Model cautions
- The two methods’ midpoints differ materially — growth assumptions warrant review (over 20%).
A conservative intrinsic-value band (zero-growth floor to growth-capped DCF) plus a tangible asset floor — not investment advice, not a buy/sell signal, and not a price target.
Owner-earnings DCF $23.04 – $38.21 · Greenwald $45.37 – $68.58 (neutral $56.64) · zero-growth base $30.84 · reproduction $3.57
Moat Franchise (moat) · terminal value 45% of present value · owner-earnings yield 6% vs 10Y 5.1%.
Graham earnings-power value (normalized NOPAT)$23.22 – $30.84 / sh
Normalized NOPAT = average operating margin over the years shown × latest-year revenue × (1 − normalized tax); then + D&A − maintenance capex (write A). Unlevered (pre-interest, attributable to all capital). Capitalized at the 9–11% rate band (read as a WACC proxy). Enterprise → equity bridge applied: + cash − total debt.
Years: TTM 2026-08-02, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
v1 simplifications: Maintenance capex (degraded) deducted in full cash (write A): EPV = (NOPAT + D&A − maintenance capex) / WACC; no tax shield on the capex term. Maintenance-capex methods diverge by 349% (> 50%); estimate is degraded. Share-based compensation is left as a real expense (not added back). Operating margin is below its multi-year average (cyclical/declining): normalized margin capped at the latest year — no peak-margin capitalization (audit #2).
Buffett owner-earnings value$22.29 – $26.92 / sh
Owner earnings = average net income + average D&A − maintenance capex (zero-growth floor; no ΔNWC). Levered (starts from net income, already after interest — an equity-holder stream). Capitalized at the 9.6–11.6% band (9–11% base + 0.6pp leverage premium). No enterprise→equity bridge: the capitalized result is already equity value (subtracting debt would double-count interest).
Years: TTM 2026-08-02, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
v1 simplifications: Owner earnings = net income + D&A − maintenance capex (degraded); the working-capital change is excluded (maintenance ΔNWC ≈ 0; growth ΔNWC is carried in growth value, not double-counted). Maintenance-capex methods diverge by 349% (> 50%); estimate is degraded. One-time items are not separately normalized (multi-year averaging smooths them partially). Share-based compensation is left as a real expense (not added back); see the SBC/OE disclosure. Capitalized at the 9–11% base band plus a 0.6pp leverage premium (cost of equity rises with leverage — MM Proposition II). Net debt is about 4.3 years of owner earnings, adding 0.6pp of cost-of-equity risk premium.
Asset floor: Reproduction value = tangible net assets + acquired-intangible reset proxy, ÷ diluted shares; tangible net assets alone are negative for this asset-light franchise (no R&D history to capitalize).
Moat reading: Franchise test compares earnings power (EPV) against reproduction value (tangible net assets + capitalized R&D). EPV well above reproduction value signals a moat; near it, a commodity; below it, value destruction. A directional reading, not a verdict.
Assumes a narrow moat · competitive-advantage period ≈ 10 years.
Growth value: if the moat holds for 10 yr at ROIIC ≈ 349%, $14.53–$37.75 / sh (neutral $25.81). Conservative, not a forecast.
Window TTM 2026-08-02, FY 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 · discount band 9%–11% · normalized tax 21% (Average effective tax rate over 5 year(s), capped at the statutory 21%.) · diluted shares.
Baseline 9%–11%, net debt ≈ 4.3 years of owner earnings → +0.6pp cost-of-equity premium → effective 9.6%–11.6%.
Owner-earnings DCF: growth g₁ 5% · OE FY TTM 2026-08-02, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 · Discount band: 10.26%–12.63% (DGS10 +4.5% to a 12% strict end, each +0.63pp for leverage premium, as of 2026-10-21). No enterprise→equity bridge: owner earnings already flow to shareholders (post-interest), so no net cash is added and no debt subtracted — matching the engine owner-earnings lamp. Two-method midpoint gap 53%.
Valuation basis: trailing twelve months to 2026-08-02 — latest 10-K plus unaudited 10-Q filings.
What the price is betting
Today's price pencils in about 9.4% a year in owner-earnings for the next few years. Revenue actually grew 15.0% a year.
Below what it has already done.
Roughly, the price needs its historical revenue growth to run about 6 more years to hold up.
SEC 13F · holders
Superinvestors Holding This Security
2 holders · $2.1M combined · this quarter +1 opened / -0 exited
- Value$1.4MWeight (prev→now)New · 0.0%
- Value$643,173Weight (prev→now)0.0% → 0.0% ▼
SEC 13F · notes
Written summary
Written summary
Core & Main Inc-Class A (CNM) is held by 2 of the superinvestors tracked on Compounder, with a combined $2.1M in reported 13F value. The largest position belongs to Ray Dalio, where it makes up 0.0% of the portfolio.
Other notable holders by value include Jim Cullen (0.0% of its book).
In the quarter ended 2026-06-30, 1 of the tracked filers opened a new position in CNM, 1 added to existing ones, 0 trimmed, and 0 sold out entirely.
Holder counts and values reflect the most recent SEC Form 13F filings, through the quarter ended 2026-06-30. Source: SEC EDGAR. A 13F shows only long US-listed positions and can lag the real portfolio by up to 45 days, so this is disclosed long ownership, not a complete picture.
SEC 13F · co-ownership
Also held by these investors
Investors holding Core & Main Inc-Class A (CNM) also commonly hold →
- Broadcom IncAVGO2 holders
- Alphabet Inc-Cl AGOOGL2 holders
- Johnson & JohnsonJNJ2 holders
- Microsoft CorpMSFT2 holders
- Citigroup IncC2 holders
- Ishares Msci South Korea EtfEWY2 holders
CNM's price is not below its conservative value band. See current strike-zone stocks
Sources· SEC EDGAR 13F as of 2026-06-30 · filed 2026-08-14· Yahoo Finance as of 2026-10-22· SEC 10-K + 10-Q (XBRL) as of 2026-08-02 · filed 2026-09-09·FRED 10-year Treasury (DGS10) as of 2026-10-21
Educational data only — not investment advice. 13F positions are self-reported and can lag up to 45 days.
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