Hayward Holdings, Inc. HAYW

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
78/100
Strong

About Hayward Holdings, Inc.

Hayward Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of pool equipment and associated automation systems in North America, Europe, and internationally. It offers pool equipment, including pumps, filters, robotics, suction and pressure cleaners, water features and landscape lighting, water sanitizers, salt chlorine generators, gas heaters and heat pumps, safety equipment, and in-floor automated cleaning systems, as well as LED … Full HAYW analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Consistently Above Peers Gross margin at 48.0% (top 6%) and operating margin at 20.8% (top 2%) indicate strong pricing power.
  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.90), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

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

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Pricing Power

Strong
93

Where HAYW ranks in Electrical Equipment & Parts

Hayward Holdings, Inc. ranks #6 of 55 scored companies in Electrical Equipment & Parts by moat score — the top 11%. The widest moat in the group is Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. (ESP) at 83/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near HAYW in Electrical Equipment & Parts
# Company Moat score Rating
2 Hubbell Inc HUBB 82/100 Strong
3 Powell Industries, Inc. POWL 81/100 Strong
4 Vertiv Holdings, LLC VRT 81/100 Strong
5 Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI 79/100 Strong
6 Hayward Holdings, Inc. HAYW 78/100 Strong
7 EnerSys ENS 77/100 Strong
8 Preformed Line Products Company PLPC 76/100 Strong
9 nVent Electric plc NVT 76/100 Strong
10 Advanced Energy Industries, Inc AEIS 75/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How HAYW scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 93 · 20% of the moat score

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

Cost Advantage

Score 80 · 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 82 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 66 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 65 · 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 78 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding HAYW's moat

What is Hayward Holdings, Inc.'s moat score?

Hayward Holdings, Inc. (HAYW) scores 78 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #6 of 55 scored companies in Electrical Equipment & Parts, the top 11%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 54 companies in Electrical Equipment & Parts. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (93/100) and its weakest is Resilience (65/100).

How does Hayward Holdings, Inc. compare with other Electrical Equipment & Parts companies?

Hayward Holdings, Inc. ranks #6 of 55 scored companies in Electrical Equipment & Parts by moat score. The widest moat in Electrical Equipment & Parts is Espey Mfg. & Electronics Corp. (ESP) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Acuity Brands, Inc. (AYI) at 79 just above it and EnerSys (ENS) at 76 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 54 companies in Electrical Equipment & Parts. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Hayward Holdings, 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 Hayward Holdings, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and HAYW scores: Pricing Power (93), Cost Advantage (80), Customer Stickiness (82), Capital Efficiency (66), Resilience (65), Scale & Market Position (78). 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.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000