Here's Why Core & Main (CNM) Fell More Than Broader Market

By Zacks Equity Research | February 23, 2026, 6:00 PM

Core & Main (CNM) closed the most recent trading day at $54.63, moving -3.12% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.04%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.66%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.13%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the distributor of water and fire protection products had lost 3.74% lagged the Industrial Products sector's gain of 11.93% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.75%.

The upcoming earnings release of Core & Main will be of great interest to investors. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.48, signifying a 45.45% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $1.58 billion, indicating a 6.82% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $2.93 per share and a revenue of $7.66 billion, demonstrating changes of +37.56% and +2.98%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Core & Main. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. At present, Core & Main boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Core & Main is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 17.7. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 19.7.

Investors should also note that CNM has a PEG ratio of 2.01 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Manufacturing - Tools & Related Products industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.8 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Manufacturing - Tools & Related Products industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, finds itself in the top 38% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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