Watsco, Inc. (WSO) Stock Price & How to Invest

Watsco is a Miami-based distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment, parts, and supplies, operating a network of roughly 700 locations across North America and holding about 13% share of a highly fragmented HVAC distribution market. It sells primarily to contractors and installers who service and replace residential and commercial systems, so a large portion of demand is non-discretionary replacement rather than new construction. The company has grown for decades by consolidating independent distributors through bolt-on acquisitions while layering on digital tools like its OnCallAir sales platform and e-commerce to deepen contractor relationships.

The investment picture centers on scale, cash generation, and shareholder returns. Watsco carries little debt (about $535 million against roughly $464 million of cash at June 30, 2026), funds a large and growing dividend (recently raised about 10% to ~$13.20 per share), and reinvests in technology and acquisitions: it closed Jackson Supply Company (about $230 million in annualized sales across 25 Sunbelt locations) in June 2026 and The Granite Group (about $500 million in sales across 82 locations in seven Northeast states, a distributor of both plumbing and HVAC products) on October 12, 2026. Revenue dipped in 2025 after a strong prior cycle, and 2026 has shown stabilizing, roughly flat-to-slightly-up sales: Q2 2026 revenue rose about 2.1% to roughly $2.1 billion, but EPS of $4.00 fell short of the $4.39 consensus. The stock has reacted. At $295.84 on October 16, 2026 it was down about 15% year to date, about 20% over twelve months and about 21% over three months, not far above its 52-week low of $277.34. The near-term debate is whether the A2L refrigerant transition, pricing and acquisitions offset soft unit volumes, with Q3 results due October 27, 2026 (consensus near $4.18 a share on about $2.21 billion of revenue).

Watsco's results are sensitive to housing turnover, weather, and interest rates, all of which can dampen replacement and remodeling activity. Earnings have been uneven: EPS missed consensus in three of the last four reported quarters, including $4.00 against $4.39 in Q2 2026, and trailing net income of about $443 million is down from about $464 million in 2025. Gross margins have plateaued near 27.5%, and international sales have been weak, so profitability gains are not guaranteed. The $13.20 annual dividend now exceeds trailing EPS of about $11.67 (a payout ratio near 105%), so continued increases depend on earnings recovering. The A2L transition creates inventory and pricing complexity that could pressure margins if mismanaged. Even after a 20% three-month decline the stock trades at about 25 times trailing earnings, and acquisition-led growth (now including a larger plumbing business in Granite Group) carries integration risk and depends on continued availability of attractive targets at reasonable prices.

10 analysts publish price targets on WSO, averaging $367.40 against a $295.91 price as of October 2026, or +24.2%. The published targets run from $315.00 to $485.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 3 buy, 10 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 2 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full WSO forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Watsco, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Replacement-driven demand. Most of Watsco's volume comes from repairing or replacing existing HVAC systems rather than new construction, which makes revenue more resilient across housing cycles. The most optimistic published target, $485.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Watsco's results are sensitive to housing turnover, weather, and interest rates, all of which can dampen replacement and remodeling activity. The most pessimistic target, $315.00, is roughly what WSO is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on WSO, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Watsco, Inc. (WSO) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Watsco, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$7.3B
• Q2 2026 revenue: ~$2.1B (+2.1% YoY)
• Q2 2026 diluted EPS: ~$4.00 (vs ~$4.39 est.)
• Net income (TTM): ~$443M (6.5% margin)
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~25x / ~22x
• Dividend yield: ~4.4% (~$13.20/share)
• Market cap: ~$12.2B

Watsco's TTM revenue is roughly $7.3 billion, with 2026 sales edging up while earnings dip. After falling about 21% in three months, the stock trades near 25 times trailing and 22 times forward earnings, down from about 31 times in mid-2026, and yields about 4.4%. Q3 results arrive October 27, with consensus near $4.18 a share; the 10 covering analysts average a $367 target at a hold rating.

Other names that sit close to WSO: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get WSO exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so WSO sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where WSO fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

WSO is a scale distributor with a conservative balance sheet, a dividend yielding about 4.4% and a valuation that has come down to about 22 times forward earnings after a 20% three-month slide. The case still rests on steady replacement demand, technology-transition tailwinds, and bolt-on acquisitions (Jackson Supply in June, The Granite Group in October 2026), but a Q2 earnings miss and a dividend payout now above 100% of trailing earnings put more weight on the Q3 report due October 27.

Whether WSO is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is WSO a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the WSO stock forecast.

For income investors, whether WSO pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does WSO pay a dividend? And to weigh WSO against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: WSO vs FERG and WSO vs CNM.