Cintas Corp ( CTAS )  shares are trading lower on Wednesday. The company beat profit estimates, posted solid sales growth, and raised its full-year forecast.

• Cintas ( CTAS ) shares are approaching critical lows. Why did CTAS hit a new low?

The company reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.24, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.230.

Quarterly sales of $2.84 billion, up 8.9% year over year, beat the Street view of $2.821 billion.

Metrics

Organic revenue grew 8.2% Y/Y in the quarter. 

Gross margin was $1.45 billion (+9.8% Y/Y), and margin expanded 40 basis points to an all-time high of 51%.

Operating income rose 8.2% Y/Y to $659.9 million in the quarter, with margins contracting to 23.2% from 23.4% a year ago quarter.

Cintas ( CTAS ) exited the quarter with cash and equivalents worth $183.2 million.

UniFirst ( UNF ) Acquisition

Recently, Cintas ( CTAS ) sealed a $5.5 billion acquisition deal with UniFirst Corp ( UNF ) , marking the culmination of years of takeover attempts and setting the stage for a dominant workwear and facility services giant.

Cintas ( CTAS ) expects the transaction to deliver operating cost synergies of about $375 million within four years.

Also, the company projects the acquisition to be accretive to Cintas' ( CTAS ) earnings per share by the end of the second full year, post-closure. 

Outlook

Cintas ( CTAS ) sees an adjusted EPS of $4.86-$4.90 versus consensus of $4.88.

The company raises FY2026 sales outlook from $11.150 billion-$11.220 billion to $11.210 billion-$11.240 billion versus street view of $11.205 billion.

CTAS Price Action: Cintas ( CTAS ) shares were down 0.71% at $176.87 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.