DNOW Inc. DNOW

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
25/100
Developing

About DNOW Inc.

DNOW Inc. distributes pipe, valves, fittings, and pumps in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers flanges, gaskets, fasteners, electrical, instrumentation, artificial lift, and pumping systems, process and production equipment, production measurement technology, maintenance, repair and operating consumables (MRO), and general and specialty products; personal protective equipment; and mill, tools, safety supplies, as well as vapor recovery systems … Full DNOW analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong Interest Coverage & Conservative Leverage Debt serviceability is strong (score 0.84), with robust interest coverage.

Key risks

  • Commodity Pressure / Weak Differentiation Gross margin at 15.8th percentile with high volatility suggests weak pricing power or commoditized products.
  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 5.3th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Weak
8

Where DNOW ranks in Industrial Distribution

DNOW Inc. ranks #18 of 21 scored companies in Industrial Distribution by moat score — the top 86%. The widest moat in the group is Fastenal Company (FAST) at 91/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near DNOW in Industrial Distribution
# Company Moat score Rating
13 EVI Industries, Inc. EVI 44/100 Developing
14 SiteOne Landscape Supply, Inc. SITE 44/100 Developing
15 WESCO International, Inc. WCC 43/100 Developing
16 Distribution Solutions Group, I DSGR 42/100 Developing
17 Resideo Technologies, Inc. REZI 40/100 Developing
18 DNOW Inc. DNOW 25/100 Developing
19 Bluelinx Holdings Inc. BXC 17/100 Weak
20 Titan Machinery Inc. TITN 15/100 Weak
21 Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. BECN 0/100 Weak

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How DNOW scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 8 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 31 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 35 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 12 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 64 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 16 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding DNOW's moat

What is DNOW Inc.'s moat score?

DNOW Inc. (DNOW) scores 25 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #18 of 21 scored companies in Industrial Distribution, the top 86%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 20 companies in Industrial Distribution. Its strongest defense is Resilience (64/100) and its weakest is Pricing Power (8/100).

How does DNOW Inc. compare with other Industrial Distribution companies?

DNOW Inc. ranks #18 of 21 scored companies in Industrial Distribution by moat score. The widest moat in Industrial Distribution is Fastenal Company (FAST) at 91/100. The companies ranked closest are Resideo Technologies, Inc. (REZI) at 40 just above it and Bluelinx Holdings Inc. (BXC) at 17 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 20 companies in Industrial Distribution. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is DNOW Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for DNOW Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and DNOW scores: Pricing Power (8), Cost Advantage (31), Customer Stickiness (35), Capital Efficiency (12), Resilience (64), Scale & Market Position (16). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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