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Side-by-side financial comparison of Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) and KADANT INC (KAI). Click either name above to swap in a different company.

Confluent, Inc. is the larger business by last-quarter revenue ($314.8M vs $271.6M, roughly 1.2× KADANT INC). KADANT INC runs the higher net margin — 10.2% vs -25.2%, a 35.4% gap on every dollar of revenue. On growth, Confluent, Inc. posted the faster year-over-year revenue change (20.5% vs -0.0%). KADANT INC produced more free cash flow last quarter ($44.1M vs $41.7M). Over the past eight quarters, Confluent, Inc.'s revenue compounded faster (20.4% CAGR vs 6.7%).

Confluent, Inc. is an American technology company headquartered in Mountain View, California. Confluent was founded by Jay Kreps, Jun Rao and Neha Narkhede on September 23, 2014, in order to commercialize an open-source streaming platform Apache Kafka, created by the same founders while working at LinkedIn in 2008 as a B2B infrastructure company. Confluent's products are the Confluent Cloud, Confluent Platform, Connectors, Apache Flink, Stream Governance and Confluent Hub.

Kadant Inc. is a company that was established in 1991, as a partly privately owned subsidiary of Thermo Electron, and partly publicly traded company, and was fully spun out and renamed Kadant in 2001. The company supports papermaking, paper recycling, wood processing, material handling, and other processing industries. Kadant is a multi-national corporation with operations in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.

CFLT vs KAI — Head-to-Head

Bigger by revenue
CFLT
CFLT
1.2× larger
CFLT
$314.8M
$271.6M
KAI
Growing faster (revenue YoY)
CFLT
CFLT
+20.5% gap
CFLT
20.5%
-0.0%
KAI
Higher net margin
KAI
KAI
35.4% more per $
KAI
10.2%
-25.2%
CFLT
More free cash flow
KAI
KAI
$2.4M more FCF
KAI
$44.1M
$41.7M
CFLT
Faster 2-yr revenue CAGR
CFLT
CFLT
Annualised
CFLT
20.4%
6.7%
KAI

Income Statement — Q4 FY2025 vs Q3 FY2025

Metric
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Revenue
$314.8M
$271.6M
Net Profit
$-79.2M
$27.7M
Gross Margin
74.7%
45.2%
Operating Margin
-31.5%
15.7%
Net Margin
-25.2%
10.2%
Revenue YoY
20.5%
-0.0%
Net Profit YoY
10.0%
-12.2%
EPS (diluted)
$-0.23
$2.35

Green = leading value per metric. Periods may differ when fiscal calendars don't align.

8-Quarter Revenue & Profit Trend

Side-by-side quarterly history. Quarters aligned by calendar period so offset fiscal years line up.

Revenue
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$314.8M
Q3 25
$298.5M
$271.6M
Q2 25
$282.3M
$255.3M
Q1 25
$271.1M
$239.2M
Q4 24
$261.2M
$258.0M
Q3 24
$250.2M
$271.6M
Q2 24
$235.0M
$274.8M
Q1 24
$217.2M
$249.0M
Net Profit
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$-79.2M
Q3 25
$-66.5M
$27.7M
Q2 25
$-82.0M
$26.2M
Q1 25
$-67.6M
$24.1M
Q4 24
$-88.1M
$24.0M
Q3 24
$-74.1M
$31.6M
Q2 24
$-89.9M
$31.3M
Q1 24
$-93.0M
$24.7M
Gross Margin
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
74.7%
Q3 25
74.2%
45.2%
Q2 25
73.7%
45.9%
Q1 25
74.5%
46.1%
Q4 24
74.1%
43.4%
Q3 24
74.5%
44.7%
Q2 24
72.3%
44.4%
Q1 24
71.8%
44.6%
Operating Margin
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
-31.5%
Q3 25
-27.9%
15.7%
Q2 25
-34.2%
15.4%
Q1 25
-37.3%
14.9%
Q4 24
-40.5%
14.3%
Q3 24
-37.4%
18.0%
Q2 24
-46.1%
17.6%
Q1 24
-51.3%
14.8%
Net Margin
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
-25.2%
Q3 25
-22.3%
10.2%
Q2 25
-29.0%
10.2%
Q1 25
-24.9%
10.1%
Q4 24
-33.7%
9.3%
Q3 24
-29.6%
11.6%
Q2 24
-38.3%
11.4%
Q1 24
-42.8%
9.9%
EPS (diluted)
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$-0.23
Q3 25
$-0.19
$2.35
Q2 25
$-0.24
$2.22
Q1 25
$-0.20
$2.04
Q4 24
$-0.26
$2.04
Q3 24
$-0.23
$2.68
Q2 24
$-0.28
$2.66
Q1 24
$-0.30
$2.10

Balance Sheet & Financial Strength

Snapshot of each company's liquidity, leverage and book value from the latest quarter.

Metric
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Cash + ST InvestmentsLiquidity on hand
$347.2M
$124.5M
Total DebtLower is stronger
$1.1B
$254.6M
Stockholders' EquityBook value
$1.2B
$949.8M
Total Assets
$3.0B
$1.5B
Debt / EquityLower = less leverage
0.94×
0.27×

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Cash + ST Investments
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$347.2M
Q3 25
$298.5M
$124.5M
Q2 25
$295.6M
$95.3M
Q1 25
$278.6M
$91.7M
Q4 24
$386.0M
$94.7M
Q3 24
$322.6M
$88.4M
Q2 24
$311.3M
$73.8M
Q1 24
$336.4M
$81.4M
Total Debt
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$1.1B
Q3 25
$1.1B
$254.6M
Q2 25
$1.1B
$245.7M
Q1 25
$1.1B
$273.5M
Q4 24
$1.1B
$285.2M
Q3 24
$1.1B
$323.2M
Q2 24
$1.1B
$342.0M
Q1 24
$1.1B
$306.8M
Stockholders' Equity
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$1.2B
Q3 25
$1.1B
$949.8M
Q2 25
$1.1B
$926.0M
Q1 25
$1.0B
$876.0M
Q4 24
$961.2M
$847.1M
Q3 24
$934.3M
$851.7M
Q2 24
$873.9M
$807.7M
Q1 24
$845.2M
$782.7M
Total Assets
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$3.0B
Q3 25
$2.9B
$1.5B
Q2 25
$2.8B
$1.5B
Q1 25
$2.7B
$1.4B
Q4 24
$2.7B
$1.4B
Q3 24
$2.6B
$1.5B
Q2 24
$2.5B
$1.5B
Q1 24
$2.4B
$1.4B
Debt / Equity
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
0.94×
Q3 25
0.98×
0.27×
Q2 25
1.03×
0.27×
Q1 25
1.07×
0.31×
Q4 24
1.14×
0.34×
Q3 24
1.17×
0.38×
Q2 24
1.25×
0.42×
Q1 24
1.29×
0.39×

Cash Flow & Capital Efficiency

How much cash each business actually produces after reinvestment. Cash flow is harder to manipulate than net income.

Metric
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Operating Cash FlowLast quarter
$42.1M
$47.3M
Free Cash FlowOCF − Capex
$41.7M
$44.1M
FCF MarginFCF / Revenue
13.2%
16.2%
Capex IntensityCapex / Revenue
0.1%
1.2%
Cash ConversionOCF / Net Profit
1.70×
TTM Free Cash FlowTrailing 4 quarters
$60.7M
$145.9M

8-quarter trend — quarters aligned by calendar period.

Operating Cash Flow
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$42.1M
Q3 25
$30.8M
$47.3M
Q2 25
$18.1M
$40.5M
Q1 25
$-26.8M
$22.8M
Q4 24
$35.2M
$51.9M
Q3 24
$15.6M
$52.5M
Q2 24
$8.6M
$28.1M
Q1 24
$-26.0M
$22.8M
Free Cash Flow
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
$41.7M
Q3 25
$30.0M
$44.1M
Q2 25
$17.2M
$36.5M
Q1 25
$-28.2M
$19.0M
Q4 24
$34.5M
$46.3M
Q3 24
$15.0M
$48.3M
Q2 24
$7.5M
$23.1M
Q1 24
$-26.1M
$16.6M
FCF Margin
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
13.2%
Q3 25
10.0%
16.2%
Q2 25
6.1%
14.3%
Q1 25
-10.4%
7.9%
Q4 24
13.2%
17.9%
Q3 24
6.0%
17.8%
Q2 24
3.2%
8.4%
Q1 24
-12.0%
6.7%
Capex Intensity
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
0.1%
Q3 25
0.3%
1.2%
Q2 25
0.3%
1.6%
Q1 25
0.5%
1.6%
Q4 24
0.3%
2.2%
Q3 24
0.2%
1.5%
Q2 24
0.5%
1.8%
Q1 24
0.1%
2.5%
Cash Conversion
CFLT
CFLT
KAI
KAI
Q4 25
Q3 25
1.70×
Q2 25
1.55×
Q1 25
0.95×
Q4 24
2.16×
Q3 24
1.66×
Q2 24
0.90×
Q1 24
0.92×

Financial Flow Comparison

Revenue → gross profit → operating profit → net profit for each company.

Revenue Breakdown by Segment

CFLT
CFLT

Confluent Cloud$169.4M54%
Post Contract Customer Support$93.8M30%
License$38.4M12%
Services$13.2M4%

KAI
KAI

Flow Control$94.8M35%
Capital$83.2M31%
Material Handling Systems$70.3M26%
Transferred Over Time$17.1M6%
Other$6.1M2%

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