Trane Technologies

We see multiple moats reinforced by scale, brand, channel, and services. Intangible assets: Trane and Thermo King are premium brands specified by engineers and owners in complex projects, which influences bid lists and replacement cycles (score 88, weight 20%).

Switching costs: controls, service contracts, and engineered applied systems make vendor changes costly and risky, especially as digital optimization expands after the BrainBox AI deal (score 80, weight 35%).

Cost advantage: global scale in design, manufacturing, and sourcing plus a direct service network supports margins and productivity (score 82, weight 25%).

Efficient scale: many local markets for commercial HVAC and transport refrigeration are naturally capacity constrained, and Trane’s installed base plus owned branches/distributors deter smaller entrants (score 78, weight 15%). Network effects: limited, though connected services and data can add mild effects over time (score 45, weight 5%).

Overall weighted moat score is about 80. Risks to the moat include intensified competition from global peers, regulatory technology shifts in refrigerants and efficiency that could narrow differentiation, and China exposure in Asia Pacific, though the company maintains broad geographic diversity and no single customer above 10% of revenue.