Cintas earnings date and guidance
Cintas's next results are expected on December 17, 2026. Watch whether the first-quarter beat persists.
What has Cintas guided for fiscal 2027?
Management’s guidance—its forecast rather than a guarantee—now calls for fiscal 2027 revenue of $12,150.0–$12,270.0 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $5.45–$5.54. The forecast implies revenue growth of 7.9%–8.9%. Cintas raised it on September 23, 2026, for the year ending in May 2027.
| Period guided | Low | High | Date given | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | Year to May 2027 | 12,150.0 | 12,270.0 | Sep 23, 2026 |
| Total revenue growth | Year to May 2027 | 7.9% | 8.9% | Sep 23, 2026 |
| Workdays in the period | Year to May 2027 | 261 | 261 | Sep 23, 2026 |
| Workday adjusted revenue growth | Year to May 2027 | 7.4% | 8.5% | Sep 23, 2026 |
| Adjusted diluted EPS | Year to May 2027 | 5.45 | 5.54 | Sep 23, 2026 |
| Effective tax rate | Year to May 2027 | 20.4% | 20.4% | Sep 23, 2026 |
What this means. The adjusted diluted earnings per share forecast leaves out the one-time costs of buying UniFirst and the effect of future share buybacks.
Did Cintas keep its past promises?
Cintas also exceeded its original fiscal 2026 forecast. Management had projected revenue of US$11.00–11.15 billion and diluted EPS of US$4.71–4.85. It delivered US$11.26 billion and reported EPS of US$4.91. That supports confidence in execution, but not necessarily in every investment.
What do Cintas's last eight quarters show?
Revenue reached $3,013,981 thousand, up 10.9% from the prior-year quarter. Acquisitions added 0.4 percentage points, while one extra working day added 1.7 points. After those effects and currency, organic growth was 8.9%. Rental grew organically by 8.0%, and First Aid grew by 14.2%.
Net income rose to $551,711 thousand, while EPS reached $1.36. Tax moved against the comparison because discrete items, chiefly stock compensation, affected both periods. That explains why net income grew more slowly than operating profit.
| Aug 2026 | May 2026 | Feb 2026 | Nov 2025 | Aug 2025 | May 2025 | Feb 2025 | Nov 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 3,013,981 | 2,905,203 | 2,841,444 | 2,799,992 | 2,718,122 | 2,667,652 | 2,609,159 | 2,561,783 |
| Operating income | 711,887 | 673,035 | 659,904 | 655,714 | 617,859 | 597,452 | 609,853 | 591,390 |
| Net income | 551,711 | 510,989 | 502,496 | 495,343 | 491,140 | 448,256 | 463,497 | 448,495 |
| EPS, diluted | 1.36 | 1.26 | 1.24 | 1.21 | 1.20 | 1.09 | 1.13 | 1.09 |
What this means. The cash from operations numbers for individual quarters are sometimes calculated by subtracting earlier nine-month totals from annual totals, so they are not always figures the company reported separately for that quarter.
What should Cintas watch in the next release?
The next operating checkpoint is the quarter ending November 30, 2026, followed by the February and May quarters. Those results will show whether the first-quarter beat persists. If the deal closes, Cintas must explain the new earnings, interest expense, shares, integration costs and the $350 million reverse termination fee payable in specified antitrust-blocking circumstances.