Watsco

Is Watsco publicly traded?
Yes. Watsco trades on the NYSE under ticker WSO, with Class B shares under WSO.B. The Nahmad family retains controlling ownership.

What does Watsco do?
Watsco is the largest distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment and parts in North America, serving more than 130,000 contractors from 695 locations.

Who owns Watsco?
The Nahmad family controls Watsco through its Class B shareholding. Albert H. Nahmad has led the company as Chairman and CEO since the 1960s.

What was Watsco's 2025 revenue?
$7.24 billion for the year ended December 31, 2025, down 5 percent from the prior year, with a record 28.0 percent gross margin.

Watsco was incorporated in Florida in 1956 as Wagner-Higginbotham, a Miami-based refrigeration parts distributor. Albert H. Nahmad joined the company in 1964, acquired it, and renamed it Watsco, taking it public in 1963-era precursor form before its NYSE listing. Nahmad has led the company ever since, making him one of the longest-serving CEOs in American business.

The company grew through a decades-long acquisition program of regional HVAC distributors, adding locations and OEM relationships across the Sun Belt and beyond. Its defining partnership is with Carrier: in 2009, Watsco formed Carrier Enterprise I, a joint venture in which it holds an 80 percent controlling interest, combining Carrier's company-owned distribution with Watsco's Carrier-focused locations. Carrier Enterprise also holds a 38.4 percent stake in Russell Sigler, Carrier's second-largest independent distributor.

Through the 2010s and 2020s, Watsco invested heavily in technology, spending some $300 million on e-commerce, contractor tools, and data systems that management credits for its industry-leading margins. In 2025 it acquired distributor businesses including Lashley, Hawkins, and SIE while managing through an industry-wide refrigerant transition that temporarily depressed equipment volumes.

Watsco's environmental position centers on the efficiency of the equipment it distributes: higher-efficiency air conditioning systems reduce energy consumption and emissions across their installed base. The company reports sustainability initiatives around refrigerant management, facility energy use, and its technology-driven inventory efficiency, which reduces waste across the distribution chain.