Cintas may be the 14th largest distributor in promo, but after announcing plans to acquire UniFirst just a couple weeks ago, the uniform and workwear provider expects even more growth.

Cintas announced results this week for its third quarter, which ended on Feb. 28. The distributor increased revenue year over year by 8.9%, achieving Q3 revenue of $2.84 billion compared to $2.61 billion during its Q3 last year. Its organic revenue growth rate, which adjusts for the impacts of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, was 8.2%.

Gross margin increased 9.8% to $1.45 billion, operating income grew 8.2% to $659.9 million and net income rose to $502.5 million, an 8.4% increase from the same time last year.

“We delivered another successful quarter with record revenues and strong operating margins,” said Cintas President and CEO Todd M. Schneider. “Our 8.2% organic growth and all-time high gross margins in each of our three route-based businesses reflect the outstanding performance of our employee-partners and the clear impact of our investments in technology, capacity and talent. These results continue to showcase the strength and resilience of Cintas’ value proposition.”

Schneider added that he expects Cintas to increase value for shareholders and customers once his team completes the UniFirst transaction. However, the deal with the fellow uniform provider was a long time coming. Cintas placed unsuccessful bids to purchase UniFirst in 2022 and again in January 2025. In December, Cintas resubmitted its offer, but added a $350 million reverse termination fee payable to UniFirst to protect the firm in the case that the deal is blocked by antitrust laws. UniFirst saw a total revenue of $2.43 billion for FY2025, which ended on Aug. 30. The figures represent 0.2% growth compared to FY2024.

Now entering the final quarter of FY2026, Cintas is upping its financial guidance for the full fiscal year.

“We are raising our annual revenue expectations to a range of $11.21 billion to $11.24 billion and raising our adjusted diluted EPS to a range of $4.86 to $4.90,” Schneider said.

The adjusted EPS guide does not include the impact of nonrecurring transaction expenses related to the UniFirst acquisition.

While Cintas is perhaps best known for its uniform and facility services, a portion of its revenue also comes from promo. Based on 2024 estimated North American promotional product revenue of $236.5 million, Cintas ranks 14th on Counselor’s most recent list of top distributors in the industry.