We found this article of interest to our readers as Cintas is the first company on the list.
It’s easy to identify industry bellwethers. They are often the largest or most dynamic leaders in their sectors, tipping the rest of the market off on the state of the industry. A bellwether’s strong or weak report can move the shares of its rivals. It’s just what an industry tastemaker does.
Cintas
The leading provider of workplace uniforms is a pretty fair proxy for hiring practices. If companies are increasing or decreasing the number of employees it should reflect in the number of uniforms that Cintas is providing.
Cintas does more than just corporate identity apparel. It also provides rubber entrance mats, bathroom supplies, and other company essentials.
Cintas reported quarterly results on Monday. Revenue only inched 0.2% higher to $1.1 billion, but that’s not a fair indicator of its actual performance. It unloaded its document shredding service back in April. Back that out and organic revenue moved a more encouraging 7.2% higher.
This doesn’t mean that companies have 7% more uniformed workers around. Prices move up. Cintas gets companies to spend more on other product lines and services. Cintas also gobbles up market share. There will never be a perfect proxy for a country’s economy, but Cintas comes fairly close.
