CACI International Inc (CACI): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at the defense and intelligence sector, how exactly does CACI International Inc. consistently secure its position as a top-tier government contractor?

For fiscal year 2025, the answer lies in execution, delivering $8.6 billion in annual revenue and winning $9.6 billion in new contract awards, which is a defintely strong signal of their mission-critical relevance.

This isn't just about big numbers, though; it's about how their core mission-being ever vigilant in national security-translates into a massive $31.4 billion total backlog, so you need to understand the history, ownership, and precise business model behind this stable growth.

CACI International Inc (CACI) History

You're looking for the origin story of CACI International Inc, and it's a classic case of academic theory meeting real-world need. The company didn't start as a massive government contractor; it began with two brilliant minds commercializing a powerful new software tool. That initial focus on simulation technology is what set the stage for their current dominance in expertise and differentiated technology for national security customers.

Their trajectory shows a consistent pattern: develop a unique, high-value capability, then grow it through strategic acquisitions and a relentless focus on the US government's most complex problems. This approach culminated in a fiscal year 2025 performance with annual revenues hitting $8.6 billion, a clear indicator of their sustained market relevance.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

July 1962.

Original location

Santa Monica, California.

Founding team members

The company was founded by two former RAND Corporation researchers, Herb Karr and Harry Markowitz. Karr and Markowitz's goal was to commercialize their development of the SIMSCRIPT simulation programming language, a defintely transformative tool for its time.

Initial capital/funding

The precise initial seed capital is not publicly detailed, but the core funding mechanism was the commercialization of SIMSCRIPT, a proprietary software. The company's early success was enough to allow them to go public just six years later with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in August 1968.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

CACI International Inc's evolution from a software house to a multi-billion-dollar defense and intelligence contractor is defined by a few key, high-leverage decisions. These moments weren't just about growth; they were about fundamentally changing the business model to align with the US government's evolving needs.

The most important shift was the move away from being a pure professional services firm to a provider of differentiated technology and expertise. This meant acquiring companies with proprietary intellectual property (IP) and products, not just staff. For a deeper dive into the market's view of this strategy, you should check out Exploring CACI International Inc (CACI) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

• The SIMSCRIPT Foundation: Starting with a commercial software product (SIMSCRIPT) gave CACI an early edge in data-driven modeling, a capability that became indispensable to the Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence community. This built-in technical DNA made the later transition to complex IT and cyber solutions seamless.
• The IPO and Acquisition Strategy: Going public in 1968 provided the capital to fuel a decades-long, disciplined acquisition strategy. This is how they scaled their offerings-they bought expertise. The acquisition of Azure Summit Technology for $1.275 billion in 2025 is a perfect, recent example of this strategy, adding critical RF and spectrum technology.
• Focusing on National Security: By consistently aligning their services with the highest-priority, long-term national security missions-cybersecurity, space, and intelligence-CACI secured a stable, high-value customer base. This focus resulted in a total backlog of $31.4 billion as of June 30, 2025, providing exceptional revenue visibility.
• The 'Expertise and Technology' Mandate: In recent years, the push to increase the mix of proprietary technology in their portfolio has been transformative. This shift drives higher margins and is reflected in their fiscal year 2025 adjusted diluted EPS of $26.48, a 26% jump year-over-year.

CACI International Inc (CACI) Ownership Structure

CACI International Inc is a publicly held company, which means its ownership is widely distributed across a mix of institutional investors, company insiders, and the general public, with the majority stake held by large financial institutions.

This structure, where institutions own the lion's share, means that major decisions, like those requiring a shareholder vote, are defintely influenced by the world's largest asset managers like BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. You need to watch their 13F filings because their buying or selling can move the stock.

Given Company's Current Status

CACI International Inc is a publicly traded corporation, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol CACI. This status makes its financial results and ownership structure transparent, as mandated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting requirements. The company's market capitalization was approximately $11.3 billion as of October 17, 2025, reflecting its position as an S&P MidCap 400 component.

The company operates with a fiscal year-end of June 30.

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

As of late 2025, the stock's ownership is heavily concentrated among institutional investors, a common trait for defense and government services contractors. Here's the quick math on who controls the shares:

Institutional investors hold over 86% of the stock. This is a massive concentration of power, so their collective sentiment drives a lot of the stock's long-term stability and short-term volatility. For instance, BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are consistently among the largest holders.

Given Company's Leadership

The leadership team at CACI International Inc is a mix of long-tenured company veterans and defense industry experts, tasked with steering the company's focus on national security and government modernization. You can find more details on their strategy here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of CACI International Inc (CACI).

The executive team is led by a President and CEO who has been with the company for over six years.

• Lisa S. Disbrow: Chairman of the Board (since 2025).
• John S. Mengucci: President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (since July 2019). His total compensation for the 2025 fiscal year was approximately $16.75 million.
• Jeffrey D. MacLauchlan: Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Treasurer (since November 2022).
• DeEtte Gray: President of U.S. Operations.
• J. William Koegel, Jr.: Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary.

This leadership structure shows a clear separation between the Chairman and CEO roles, which is a positive governance signal for investors. The average tenure for the management team is about 2.5 years, showing a blend of experience and recent strategic additions.

CACI International Inc (CACI) Mission and Values

CACI International Inc's mission and values center on being a trusted, innovative partner to the U.S. government, especially in national security and modernization. This focus on character and innovation drove their fiscal year 2025 annual revenues to over $8.6 billion.

CACI International Inc's Core Purpose

You're looking for what CACI stands for beyond the financials, and honestly, the company's cultural DNA is a clear map of its strategic focus: national security and ethical innovation. Their principles are defintely not just corporate wallpaper; they are the foundation for winning contracts like the $9.6 billion in awards they secured in FY 2025.

Official Mission Statement

The mission is a commitment to vigilance, ensuring their government customers can meet their most critical and complex challenges. It's about delivering real, tangible value through technology and expertise, but also doing it with unwavering integrity.

• Be ever vigilant in helping customers meet their greatest enterprise and mission challenges in national security and government modernization.
• Deliver distinctive expertise and technology for innovation and excellence.
• Operate with good character, ethics, and integrity in all professional conduct.
• Create value for employees, customers, and shareholders.

Vision Statement

CACI's vision is built on two core pillars-Character and Innovation-which function as their internal compass for every decision, from hiring to product development. Here's the quick math: strong character reduces risk, and relentless innovation secures future growth, which is why their diluted EPS hit $22.32 in FY 2025.

• Character: A commitment to ethics and integrity in everything they do.
• Innovation: A dedication to advancement and excellence across all operations.

This dual focus is what helps them attract and keep the talent needed for complex government work. You can read more about their foundational principles here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of CACI International Inc (CACI).

CACI International Inc's Slogan/Tagline

Their motto is short, punchy, and perfectly captures their role in the defense and intelligence community.

• Ever Vigilant.

It's a powerful one-liner that summarizes their commitment to staying ahead of emerging threats for their customers. They are always pushing the limits of national security, so that tagline is more than just marketing.

CACI International Inc (CACI) How It Works

CACI International Inc operates as a mission-critical technology partner for the U.S. government, primarily the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Intelligence Community (IC). The company makes money by winning and executing large, multi-year contracts to deliver highly specialized expertise and differentiated technology, shifting from a traditional staffing model to providing proprietary solutions in high-growth areas like cyber, space, and electronic warfare.

In the fiscal year 2025 (FY25), CACI cemented this model, reporting annual revenue of approximately $8.6 billion and securing a robust $10 billion in contract awards, which keeps their total backlog above $31 billion for clear, long-term revenue visibility.

CACI International Inc's Product/Service Portfolio

The company's portfolio is structured around two core offerings-Expertise and Technology-which combine to solve complex national security and government modernization challenges. Here's a look at the primary value drivers as of late 2025.

CACI International Inc's Operational Framework

CACI's operational framework is built on a high-velocity, repeatable process for securing and executing mission-critical government work, which is defintely not a simple task. This model is designed to maximize the conversion of contract awards into high-quality earnings, evidenced by their FY25 net income of $499.8 million and free cash flow of $442.5 million.

• Invest Ahead of the Need: The company uses its internal research and development (IRAD) budget to build intellectual property (IP) in areas like AI/ML, EMSO (Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations), and photonics before the government issues a formal Request for Proposal (RFP). This makes their solutions proprietary and highly differentiated, increasing win rates.
• Disciplined M&A Strategy: Growth is accelerated by strategic acquisitions of technology-rich companies, such as Applied Insight and Azure Summit Technology, which immediately bolster high-margin capabilities like cloud migration and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT).
• Mission-First Agile Delivery: They deploy a DevSecOps (Development, Security, and Operations) approach to rapidly prototype, iterate, and deploy secure software solutions for government systems, reducing the typical two-year upgrade cycle to just months in some cases.
• High-Clearance Workforce: A significant portion of their workforce holds high-level security clearances, which is a non-negotiable barrier to entry for competitors in the classified, high-barrier programs that account for a large portion of their revenue.

You can see how this focus translates directly into financial resilience by Exploring CACI International Inc (CACI) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

CACI International Inc's Strategic Advantages

CACI maintains its competitive edge in the crowded government services market through a combination of technical differentiation and deep institutional trust. Honestly, in this industry, trust is the real currency.

• Technical Differentiation in Classified Programs: CACI ranks in the top tier of federal mission providers due to its leadership in niche, high-margin areas like SIGINT payloads and free-space optical communications. Their EBITDA margin of 11.2% in FY25 reflects this pivot toward higher-value technology.
• Exceptional Contract Renewal Rate: The company boasts a high contract renewal rate, often around 92%, which provides a stable, predictable revenue base and demonstrates deep customer satisfaction with their execution on mission-critical work.
• Alignment with National Security Priorities: Their entire strategy is aligned with enduring and well-funded U.S. national security priorities, specifically Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO). This insulates them from many of the budget headwinds that hit general IT contractors.
• Strong Cash Flow Conversion: A key financial advantage is their ability to convert net income into free cash flow, often at a rate of 90%+. This allows for flexible capital deployment, funding strategic acquisitions, and share repurchases, which enhances shareholder value.

CACI International Inc (CACI) How It Makes Money

CACI International Inc primarily makes money by providing specialized expertise and technology solutions-mostly in defense, intelligence, and national security-to the U.S. federal government through long-term contracts and task orders. This model generates revenue from both professional services and the sale of proprietary software and hardware products.

CACI International Inc's Revenue Breakdown

The company's revenue is overwhelmingly concentrated in the U.S. federal market, which is typical for a major government contractor. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, the revenue split clearly shows this focus, with the Domestic Operations segment driving nearly all the top-line growth.

To be fair, the Domestic Operations segment itself is heavily skewed toward defense, with the Department of Defense (DoD) accounting for roughly 75% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, with Federal Civilian agencies making up about 21%.

Business Economics

The core of CACI's business economics is the government contracting cycle, which provides high revenue visibility but also comes with unique pricing and regulatory constraints. You are essentially selling high-value, specialized labor and proprietary technology into a non-cyclical, well-funded market: national security.

• Contract Mix is Key: CACI uses a mix of contract types, including fixed-price, cost-reimbursement, and time-and-materials. Fixed-price contracts offer higher potential margins but also carry more risk if project costs overrun. Cost-reimbursement contracts, while lower margin, offer a more defintely predictable revenue stream.
• Pricing Power from Specialization: The company maintains competitive pricing to win large-scale contracts, but it can command a premium for its specialized technology, especially in areas like cyber, space, and electronic warfare. This technical expertise allows for higher margins on specific, complex task orders.
• Long-Term Visibility: The business is built on a massive backlog, which is essentially future revenue under contract. As of June 30, 2025, the total backlog stood at $31.4 billion, giving you a very clear line of sight into future earnings. This is a huge risk mitigator.
• The Book-to-Bill Ratio: This is the one-liner that matters here. For FY 2025, the book-to-bill ratio was 1.1x, meaning CACI won $1.10 in new business for every dollar of revenue it billed. That's a clear signal of a growing business.

CACI International Inc's Financial Performance

The company delivered a strong fiscal year 2025, showing that its strategy of focusing on enduring national security priorities is paying off with double-digit growth. Here's the quick math on the full year, which ended June 30, 2025.

• Revenue: Annual revenues hit $8.6 billion, representing a 12.6% increase year-over-year, driven by new contract awards and organic growth.
• Profitability: Net income for the year was $499.8 million, a solid increase that benefited from higher revenues and better gross profit.
• Adjusted EPS: Adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $26.48, up a significant 26% from the prior year, helped by share repurchases and operational improvements.
• EBITDA Margin: The annual Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) was $966.8 million, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 11.2%. This margin shows the company is managing its costs well while expanding.
• Contract Awards: CACI secured approximately $9.6 billion in contract awards in FY 2025, which is the fuel for future revenue recognition.

What this estimate hides is the working capital demand that comes with such rapid growth, which the company must manage efficiently. If you want to dive deeper into who is betting on these numbers, you should check out Exploring CACI International Inc (CACI) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

CACI International Inc (CACI) Market Position & Future Outlook

CACI International Inc is firmly positioned as a top-tier federal systems integrator, successfully pivoting its business model toward high-value, proprietary Technology offerings alongside its traditional Expertise services. The company's strong performance in fiscal year 2025, which saw annual revenues climb to $8.6 billion, confirms its ability to capture long-term, mission-critical contracts in a volatile budget environment.

The core of the future outlook rests on CACI's massive total backlog of $31.4 billion as of June 30, 2025, which provides excellent revenue visibility. Honestly, a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1x for the year, with $9.6 billion in contract awards, shows they are replacing and growing their pipeline faster than they are executing it. That is a defintely solid sign for sustained growth.

Competitive Landscape

In the highly concentrated U.S. government services market, CACI competes directly with a few major players for multi-billion-dollar contracts. While the entire federal contracting market is vast-around $765 billion in 2025-CACI's calculated share of approximately 1.12% places it in the top echelon of specialized IT and national security contractors, often winning against larger, more diversified defense primes.

Opportunities & Challenges

The near-term trajectory for CACI is shaped by its successful strategic acquisitions, such as Applied Insight and Azure Summit, which immediately bolster its cloud and signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities. But, we also need to keep an eye on the persistent budget risks that plague the entire sector.

Industry Position

CACI's industry standing is defined by its strategic shift from a pure-play services firm to a technology-enabled solutions provider, which is reflected in its superior profitability metrics compared to some peers. The company's focus on national security missions, with roughly 75% of its revenue coming from the Department of Defense, insulates it somewhat from broader civilian agency budget cuts.

The company's full-year Adjusted Diluted EPS of $26.48 for FY 2025 demonstrates the efficiency of its business model. Here's the quick math: high-margin proprietary technology sales drive better returns than labor-intensive services alone.

• Dominant in GSA Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS), having recently surpassed Booz Allen Hamilton as the top contractor by on-contract spending in that specific area.
• Strong differentiation through its software-defined technology approach, which allows for rapid prototyping and agile deployment in real-time.
• Positioned to capture long-term contracts in C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), cyber, and IT modernization.

To dive deeper into the investor perspective on these dynamics, you should check out Exploring CACI International Inc (CACI) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?