At a glance
Service Corporation International is worth $11.21B, about 22 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 2.9% to $4.31B in fiscal 2025, with 12.6% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 4.2% a year. It pays a 1.7% dividend yield, and returned $3.31B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +3.7% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +5.6% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 33.7% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 23.5% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 10 months and 17 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Service Corporation International (SCI) is North America's largest provider of funeral and cemetery products and services. At December 31, 2025, the Houston-based company ran 1,485 funeral service locations and 500 cemeteries across 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Its main brand is Dignity Memorial. Others include National Cremation Society, Neptune Society and Trident Society.
Families buy from SCI in two ways. At-need sales happen when a death occurs and cover funeral arrangements, embalming, cremation, caskets, urns, flowers and burial plots. Preneed sales are contracts signed in advance for goods and services delivered later. At December 31, 2025, SCI had a $17.0 billion backlog of these unfulfilled contracts, up from $16.0 billion a year earlier. Of its locations, 312 pair a funeral home with a cemetery, so the two share staff and equipment. SCI says these combination sites are typically more cost competitive and earn higher gross margins (the share of sales left after direct costs).
Revenue for 2025 was $4.31 billion. The biggest pieces were at-need funerals (28.1%), cemetery property sold in advance (20.8%) and funerals delivered under earlier preneed contracts (17.8%). At-need cemetery sales added 10.1%, and preneed cemetery merchandise and services added 9.8%. Products made up 48.3% of revenue and services 41.9%.
Price history
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SCI +3.7% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Product | $2.08B | 48.3% |
| Service | $1.81B | 41.9% |
| Product and Service, Other | $422.1M | 9.8% |
By business segment
| Funeral Atneed Revenue | $1.21B | 28.1% |
| Cemetery Recognized Preneed Property Revenue | $896.2M | 20.8% |
| Funeral Matured Preneed Revenue | $769.1M | 17.8% |
| Cemetery Atneed Revenue | $435.7M | 10.1% |
| Cemetery Recognized Preneed Merchandise And Service Revenue | $421.7M | 9.8% |
| Funeral Other Revenue | $226.0M | 5.2% |
| Cemetery Other Revenue | $150.2M | 3.5% |
| Non-funeral Home Revenue | $107.6M | 2.5% |
| Non-funeral home preneed sales revenue | $93.2M | 2.2% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $1.11B, up 4.6% from a year earlier, and net income was $141.3M (+20.3%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $4.31B (+2.9% year over year; +4.2% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 12.6% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +4.2% watch |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 22.7% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 12.9% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 33.1% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 2.9% weak |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-5.00B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $3.51B | $515.9M | $582.1M |
| FY2021 | $4.14B | $802.9M | $616.9M |
| FY2022 | $4.11B | $565.3M | $456.0M |
| FY2023 | $4.10B | $537.3M | $507.3M |
| FY2024 | $4.19B | $518.6M | $571.3M |
| FY2025 | $4.31B | $542.6M | $554.2M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $11.21B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 21.7 |
| Dividend yield | 1.7% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Service Corporation International’s market value went from $5.41B at the end of 2016 to $11.21B on Oct 28, 2026, about 2.1 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 3%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $11.21B | +2.5% |
| 2025 | $10.93B | -5.5% |
| 2024 | $11.57B | +13.0% |
| 2023 | $10.24B | -4.3% |
| 2022 | $10.70B | -9.3% |
| 2021 | $11.79B | +39.0% |
| 2020 | $8.48B | +0.8% |
| 2019 | $8.41B | +15.5% |
| 2018 | $7.29B | +4.1% |
| 2017 | $7.00B | +29.3% |
| 2016 | $5.41B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCI price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +7.0% | +3.7% | +17.3% | +5.6% | +14.3% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +7.0% |
| 2025 | -0.7% |
| 2024 | +18.4% |
| 2023 | +0.7% |
| 2022 | -1.1% |
| 2021 | +46.8% |
| 2020 | +8.6% |
| 2019 | +16.2% |
| 2018 | +9.7% |
| 2017 | +33.7% |
| 2016 | +11.3% |
| 2015 | +16.5% |
| 2014 | +27.3% |
| 2013 | +33.3% |
| 2012 | +32.6% |
| 2011 | +31.5% |
| 2010 | +2.6% |
| 2009 | +70.1% |
| 2008 | -64.0% |
| 2007 | +38.5% |
| 2006 | +26.8% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 78.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 80.3%, back to its old high 40.3 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 29.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 33.7%, back to its old high 10.2 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 10.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 23.5%, back to its old high 17.1 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-30 to 2026-10-30 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 5 sales ($29.0M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2026 | Thomas L Ryan CEO & Chairman, Director | sell | $20.1M |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Eric D Tanzberger Exec. VP, and CFO | sell | $4.7M |
| Jul 31, 2026 | John H Faulk SVP, COO | sell | $2.1M |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Thomas L Ryan CEO & Chairman, Director | sell | $1.5M |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Tony Coelho Director | sell | $615K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| FMR LLC | 5.9% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.08% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.05% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Select Equity Group, L.P. | 4.9% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| BAILLIE GIFFORD & CO | 4% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc. | 2.2% | Mar 31, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in SCI
| CBSE Clough Select Equity ETF | 3.47% |
| PSL Invesco Dorsey Wright Consumer Staples Momentum ETF | 3.24% |
| CBLS Hedged Equity ETF | 2.87% |
| TXS Texas Capital Texas Equity Index ETF | 1.89% |
| OUSM ALPS | O’Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF | 1.78% |
| OSCV Opus Small Cap Value ETF | 1.12% |
| PAMC Pacer Lunt MidCap Multi-Factor Alternator ETF | 0.65% |
| MIDE Xtrackers S&P MidCap 400 Scored & Screened ETF | 0.65% |
What could go wrong
- Trust funds tied to market swings. Money from contracts sold in advance sits in trusts invested in stocks, bonds and funds. A steep market drop could leave too little to deliver promised services, and SCI may have to cover the gap.
- Unclaimed property laws and the backlog. SCI had $17.0 billion of unfulfilled contracts sold in advance at December 31, 2025. Some states may apply unclaimed property laws to them, which could require payments to the state that strain cash flow.
- Longer lives and more cremations. Rising life expectancy and a growing number of cremations in North America could lower revenue, operating profit and cash flow. SCI also has to keep adapting as family preferences change.
- Hard-to-predict deaths and high fixed costs. The number of deaths varies by market and cannot be predicted in the short term. Funeral homes and cemeteries carry high fixed costs, so a dip in volume can squeeze profits.
- Burial claims and bad publicity. Claims over cemetery burial practices could be costly. Unfavorable publicity could also damage SCI's reputation in a business that depends on families' trust.
- A large debt load. As of June 30, 2026, total debt was about $5.3 billion against $260 million of cash and investments. Debt limits flexibility, and loan covenants (lender rules) can block some transactions.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Bylaws or fiscal year changed
- Shareholder vote results
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
For income and retirement investors
SCI's dividend yield was a modest 1.7% as of October 28, 2026. Dividends per share grew from about $0.77 in 2020 to $1.30 in 2025, roughly 11.1% a year. But the payout held at $1.02 in 2022 and 2023, so its streak of annual increases stood at two years through 2025. In 2025, dividends used 33.8% of earnings and 33.1% of free cash flow (cash left after running and maintaining the business). Buybacks have been bigger: about $2.47 billion from 2021 to 2025, versus $833 million in dividends. The share count fell 17.7% between September 2021 and June 2026.
The stock has not been immune to downturns. It fell about 80% from October 2007 to March 2009 and needed about 40 months after that low to recover. It dropped about 34% in the 2020 COVID crash and about 24% in 2022, recovering in roughly 10 and 17 months. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Service Corporation International make money?
SCI makes money selling funerals, cremations, cemetery property and related merchandise such as caskets, urns and markers. Families buy either when a death occurs or in advance through preneed contracts. In 2025, at-need funeral services were the largest revenue line at 28.1% of its $4.31 billion revenue, followed by cemetery property sold in advance at 20.8%. At December 31, 2025, it ran 1,485 funeral service locations and 500 cemeteries across North America.
Does SCI raise its dividend every year?
Not every year. SCI raised its dividend per share in 2024 and again in 2025, to $1.30, but it held the payout flat at $1.02 in 2022 and 2023. Over the five years from 2020 to 2025, dividends per share grew about 11.1% a year. In 2025, the dividend used 33.8% of earnings. The yield was 1.7% as of October 28, 2026.
What is Service Corporation International's preneed backlog?
It is the value of funeral and cemetery contracts SCI has sold but not yet delivered. Families sign these preneed contracts to arrange services, merchandise or cemetery property ahead of time. The backlog was $17.0 billion at December 31, 2025, up from $16.0 billion a year earlier. Money from these sales is often held in trust funds invested in securities, and the combined trusts returned 15.1% in 2025. Market declines could leave shortfalls that SCI would have to cover.
How much debt does Service Corporation International have?
SCI had about $5.3 billion in total debt as of June 30, 2026, against roughly $260 million in cash and investments. The company warns that this debt could limit its ability to raise capital and react to changes in the economy or its industry. It also warns that loan covenants (rules set by lenders) may block certain transactions. Free cash flow (cash left after capital spending) was $554 million in 2025.
How has Service Corporation International stock performed?
SCI's share price rose about 14.3% a year over the 10 years to October 28, 2026, or about 280% in total. Shorter periods vary: about 17.3% a year over three years, 5.6% a year over five years and 3.7% over one year. The ride has been bumpy. The stock fell about 80% from October 2007 to March 2009, about 34% in the 2020 COVID crash and about 24% in 2022. These are share-price returns that do not count dividends.