CluenexFlowserve FLS
Flowserve scores average on business quality (5.0 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Flowserve does
Flowserve builds industrial pumps, valves, and seals that keep critical fluid processes moving for oil, gas, chemical, and power generation customers worldwide. These operators rely on Flowserve's engineered equipment to avoid costly plant downtime.
- What it does best
Flowserve dominates mission-critical flow control applications where failure carries catastrophic costs, yielding a gross margin of 35.8%. That trails peer Graco's 53.0% but reflects deeply embedded installed equipment that locks in lucrative replacement parts and maintenance cycles over decades.
- The main risk
Global industrial spending slowdowns threaten project pipelines. With revenue growth ticking at just 3.8%, any pullback in heavy capital expenditure by energy and chemical clients directly squeezes equipment orders.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin stands at 14.1% alongside a net margin of 8.0%. Profitability is slowly improving as pricing actions take hold, though it lags high-margin peers like Graco's 28.4% operating margin.
A middle-of-the-pack operational footprint defines its competitive stance, with a gross margin sector percentile of 45. Switching costs are high for installed fluid systems, though not impenetrable.
Revenue grew 3.8% to reach $4.6B, continuing a slow recovery from prior years. This growth pace lands in the middle of the pack for its sector, sitting at the 46th percentile.
Total debt sits at $1.6B against $760M in cash, leaving net debt at $815M. Interest coverage of 7.7x provides adequate breathing room, while free cash flow reached $412M. Overall financial stability is holding steady.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on FLS
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Flowserve scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.0 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth steady and financial health fair.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Nov 2, 2026, after the close.
See FLS today
- Today's verdict on FLS, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Flowserve (FLS)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/fls/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.