While Donaldson Cuts Guidance, Atmus Just Walked Into Data Centers: Buy ATMU, Sell DCI

Atmus acquired Koch Filter, directly entering the data center filtration market, with the accretion already visible in its first quarter of ownership at 21.9% EBITDA margins. Donaldson's industrial margins collapsed 420 basis points YoY,  management cut guidance, and paid 20x EBITDA for acquiring Facet with no earnings accretion expected until FY2027. Atmus trades at a forward PE of 16.64x and Donaldson at 21.03x, a 4.4 point gap that makes no sense given Atmus is the faster-growing, better-executing business.