AERG vs CW vs ESLT Stock Comparison

Applied Energetics, Curtiss Wright and Elbit Systems Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CW Curtiss Wright Corp
$477.77 -10.3% 1M -18.8% 1Y
Market cap
$17.64B
P/E
32.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.65B
Div. yield
0.21%
Defense Industrials
5 wins
ESLT Elbit Systems Ltd
$779.28 +10.7% 1M +64.2% 1Y
Market cap
$36.19B
P/E
56.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.55B
Div. yield
0.48%
Defense Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Elbit Systems leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Elbit Systems 7, Curtiss Wright 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAERGCWESLTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $200.19M $17.64B $36.19B ESLT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -12.4x 32.6x 56.0x CW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 33.3x 55.9x CW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -82.5% +10.5% +13.7% ESLT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5,128.4% 14.8% 7.4% CW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 14.7% 17.8% ESLT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.6x -0.9x ESLT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.21% 0.48% ESLT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -49.7% -18.8% +64.2% ESLT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.7%/yr +30.2%/yr +37.5%/yr ESLT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 72.0% 35.8% 44.7% CW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 15/100 68/100 60/100 CW

Percentile Scorecard

AERGCWESLT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAERGCWESLT
Valuation 3 #97 of 100 52 #49 of 100 47 #54 of 100
Growth 2 #95 of 97 60 #39 of 97 88 #13 of 97
Profitability 5 #91 of 96 95 #6 of 96 74 #26 of 96
Financial Health 41 #62 of 105 66 #36 of 105 58 #45 of 105
Shareholder Returns 25 #49 of 65 67 #22 of 65 36 #42 of 65
Overall 15 68 60
  • AERG ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • CW ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • ESLT ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAERGCWESLTSPY
1 month -3.3%-10.3%+10.7% +0.9%
3 months -30.4%-29.7%+1.3% +5.9%
6 months -32.6%-31.4%-4.9% +8.5%
Year to date -51.9%-13.3%+34.9% +13.3%
1 year -49.7%-18.8%+64.2% +12.4%
3 years -62.7%+144.2%+319.1% +88.1%
3 years, per year -28.0%+34.7%+61.3% +23.5%
5 years -64.5%+274.2%+390.7% +68.2%
5 years, per year -18.7%+30.2%+37.5% +11.0%
10 years —+433.9%+694.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+18.2%+23.0% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAERGCWESLTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 72.0%35.8%44.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 73.1%38.0%39.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.071.410.71 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.69-0.531.44 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -84.1%-41.3%-35.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -55.4%-39.7%-23.2% -0.9%
52-week high $1.95$792.61$1,014.33 $779.14
52-week low $0.68$464.99$454.95 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAERGCWESLT
P/E now vs peer median -12.4xmedian 26.4x 32.6xmedian 26.4x 56.0xmedian 26.4x
P/S now vs peer median 637.6xmedian 3.0x 4.8xmedian 3.0x 4.2xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -12.7xmedian 14.5x 22.5xmedian 14.5x 36.5xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median -19.3xmedian 26.1x 28.2xmedian 26.1x 36.5xmedian 26.1x
P/B now vs peer median 91.6xmedian 2.5x 6.4xmedian 2.5x 8.2xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.37median 0.90 1.58median 0.90 1.78median 0.90

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAERGCWESLT
Revenue $313.97K $3.65B $8.55B
Gross profit $143.70K $1.38B $2.14B
Operating income -$16.17M $686.21M $787.82M
Net income -$16.07M $541.18M $636.61M
Free cash flow -$10.40M $625.29M $992.19M
R&D $2.09M $98.16M $582.72M
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $14.58 $13.56
Cash & equivalents $1.19M $477.15M $255.34M
Total debt – $957.39M $92.13M
Shares (diluted) 229.90M 37.12M 46.92M
Enterprise value $187.17M $16.23B $32.75B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAERGCWESLT
P/E -12.4x 32.6x 56.0x
P/FCF -19.3x 28.2x 36.5x
P/Operating cash flow -19.6x 24.5x 36.5x
P/S 637.6x 4.8x 4.2x
P/B 91.6x 6.4x 8.2x
P/Tangible book 91.6x 7.8x 8.2x
EV/EBITDA -12.7x 22.5x 36.5x
EV/EBIT -12.3x 26.4x 44.8x
EV/Revenue 633.8x 5.0x 4.1x
EV/FCF -19.1x 29.0x 35.6x
EV/Operating cash flow -19.4x 25.1x 35.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.37 1.58 1.78

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAERGCWESLT
Revenue growth (1Y) -82.5% 10.5% 13.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 10.3% 14.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -83.3% 11.7% 18.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -54.8% 11.1% 14.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -41.9% 17.3% 37.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.6% 14.6% 26.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -41.0% 19.9% 58.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -37.4% 19.1% 33.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -36.1% 22.4% 50.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -33.4% 20.6% 31.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -56.2% 25.1% 22.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.5% 21.0% 82.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -34.3% 24.2% 105.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 19.5% 175.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAERGCWESLT
Gross margin 45.8% 37.7% 25.0%
EBITDA margin -4,975% 22.0% 11.3%
Operating margin -5,150% 18.8% 9.2%
Pretax margin -5,118% 18.9% 8.1%
Net margin -5,128% 14.8% 7.4%
FCF margin -3,312% 17.1% 11.6%
Operating cash flow margin -3,260% 19.7% 11.6%
Return on equity -440.1% 20.0% 14.7%
Return on assets -300.4% 10.1% 4.7%
Return on invested capital – 14.7% 17.8%
Return on capital employed -409.2% 17.3% 11.0%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.7x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.3x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1,759% 0.7% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAERGCWESLT
Debt / assets – 17.5% 0.7%
Debt / equity – 0.3x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.6x -0.9x
Debt / FCF – 1.5x 0.1x
Liabilities / assets 46.3% 49.2% 68.2%
Equity / assets 53.7% 50.8% 31.8%
Interest coverage – 16.2x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.6x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.4x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.79 6.38 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAERGCWESLT
Dividend yield – 0.2% 0.5%
Net buyback yield -5.4% 2.5% 0.0%
Shareholder yield -5.4% 2.7% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 22.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 14.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – -54.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -17.4%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAERGCWESLT
Forward P/E – 33.3xFY2026 55.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $14.35FY2026 $13.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +8.5%FY2026 +22.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +11.6% +21.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $4.03BFY2026 $8.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +15.2%FY2026 +11.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -3.9% +21.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAERGCWESLT
Held by institutions 0.0% 85.6% 19.9%
Institutions holding 1 946 384
Change in shares held, QoQ – +2.8% -7.1%
Institutions buying 0 479 202
Institutions selling 0 313 106
Buyers to sellers – 1.53 1.91

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AERGCWESLT
AERG 1.00 0.07 0.00
CW 0.07 1.00 0.36
ESLT 0.00 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AERG, CW and ESLT?

Elbit Systems (ESLT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Energetics (AERG) $200.19M, Curtiss Wright (CW) $17.64B, Elbit Systems (ESLT) $36.19B.

Which stock is cheaper, AERG, CW and ESLT?

Curtiss Wright (CW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Energetics (AERG) -12.4x, Curtiss Wright (CW) 32.6x, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 56.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Curtiss Wright (CW) is cheapest (Curtiss Wright (CW) 33.3x, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 55.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Elbit Systems (ESLT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Energetics (AERG) -82.5%, Curtiss Wright (CW) +10.5%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +13.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Curtiss Wright (CW) has the highest net margin (Applied Energetics (AERG) -5,128.4%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.8%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 7.4%). On return on invested capital, Elbit Systems (ESLT) leads (Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.7%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 17.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Elbit Systems (ESLT) returned the most: Applied Energetics (AERG) -49.7%, Curtiss Wright (CW) -18.8%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +64.2%. Over five years, Elbit Systems (ESLT) compounded fastest (Applied Energetics (AERG) -18.7%/yr, Curtiss Wright (CW) +30.2%/yr, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +37.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Elbit Systems (ESLT) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Energetics (AERG) 0.00%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 0.21%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 0.48%. Applied Energetics (AERG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Curtiss Wright (CW) has been the steadiest (Applied Energetics (AERG) 72.0%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 35.8%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 44.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AERG, CW and ESLT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Elbit Systems (ESLT) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.