AERG vs GD vs ESLT Stock Comparison

Applied Energetics, General Dynamics and Elbit Systems Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GD General Dynamics Corp
$354.89 +5.4% 1M +0.3% 1Y
Market cap
$96.02B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$54.86B
Div. yield
1.77%
Defense Industrials
7 wins
ESLT Elbit Systems Ltd
$790.00 +7.5% 1M +62.2% 1Y
Market cap
$36.69B
P/E
56.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.55B
Div. yield
0.47%
Defense Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionAERGGDESLTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $209.40M $96.02B $36.69B GD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -13.0x 21.4x 56.8x GD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 20.2x 56.7x GD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -82.5% +9.1% +13.7% ESLT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5,128.4% 8.2% 7.4% GD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 13.6% 17.8% ESLT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.5x -0.9x ESLT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 1.77% 0.47% GD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -47.1% +0.3% +62.2% ESLT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.1%/yr +11.9%/yr +38.5%/yr ESLT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 71.9% 22.2% 44.7% GD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 17/100 71/100 60/100 GD

Percentile Scorecard

AERGGDESLT

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

AxisAERGGDESLT
Valuation 4 #96 of 100 87 #14 of 100 44 #56 of 100
Growth 2 #95 of 97 43 #56 of 97 88 #13 of 97
Profitability 5 #91 of 96 79 #21 of 96 73 #27 of 96
Financial Health 51 #52 of 105 63 #40 of 105 58 #45 of 105
Shareholder Returns 25 #49 of 65 86 #10 of 65 36 #42 of 65
Overall 17 71 60
  • AERG ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • GD 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

PeriodAERGGDESLTSPY
1 month +3.4%+5.4%+7.5% -0.2%
3 months -30.0%-9.8%-3.5% +3.9%
6 months -33.1%+13.1%-5.3% +8.2%
Year to date -49.7%+5.4%+36.7% +12.9%
1 year -47.1%+0.3%+62.2% +12.3%
3 years -60.9%+49.0%+324.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year -26.9%+14.2%+62.0% +23.3%
5 years -65.4%+75.2%+409.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year -19.1%+11.9%+38.5% +10.9%
10 years —+136.4%+705.8% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+9.0%+23.2% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAERGGDESLTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 71.9%22.2%44.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 73.2%20.9%39.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.080.330.71 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.650.011.39 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -84.1%-23.0%-35.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -53.3%-10.4%-22.1% -1.2%
52-week high $1.95$395.97$1,014.33 $779.14
52-week low $0.68$312.53$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.

MultipleAERGGDESLT
P/E now vs peer median -13.0xmedian 26.5x 21.4xmedian 26.5x 56.8xmedian 26.5x
P/S now vs peer median 666.9xmedian 3.0x 1.8xmedian 3.0x 4.3xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -13.3xmedian 14.6x 15.1xmedian 14.6x 37.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median -20.1xmedian 26.4x 14.9xmedian 26.4x 37.0xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 95.8xmedian 2.5x 3.6xmedian 2.5x 8.3xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.39median 0.90 2.09median 0.90 1.80median 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 monthsAERGGDESLT
Revenue $313.97K $54.86B $8.55B
Gross profit $143.70K $8.44B $2.14B
Operating income -$16.17M $5.66B $787.82M
Net income -$16.07M $4.49B $636.61M
Free cash flow -$10.40M $6.45B $992.19M
R&D $2.09M – $582.72M
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $16.40 $13.56
Cash & equivalents $1.19M $4.33B $255.34M
Total debt – $7.52B $92.13M
Shares (diluted) 229.90M 273.52M 46.92M
Enterprise value $196.37M $83.13B $33.25B

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
MetricAERGGDESLT
P/E -13.0x 21.4x 56.8x
P/FCF -20.1x 14.9x 37.0x
P/Operating cash flow -20.5x 12.5x 37.0x
P/S 666.9x 1.8x 4.3x
P/B 95.8x 3.6x 8.3x
P/Tangible book 95.8x 3.8x 8.3x
EV/EBITDA -13.3x 15.1x 37.0x
EV/EBIT -12.9x 17.5x 45.5x
EV/Revenue 663.1x 1.8x 4.2x
EV/FCF -20.0x 15.4x 36.1x
EV/Operating cash flow -20.3x 12.9x 36.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.39 2.09 1.80

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAERGGDESLT
Revenue growth (1Y) -82.5% 9.1% 13.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 10.3% 14.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -83.3% 8.9% 18.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -54.8% 8.6% 14.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -41.9% 9.4% 37.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.6% 10.3% 26.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -41.0% 9.8% 58.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -37.4% 10.0% 33.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -36.1% 8.8% 50.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -33.4% 10.2% 31.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -56.2% – 22.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.5% 23.0% 82.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -34.3% – 105.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 28.7% 175.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAERGGDESLT
Gross margin 45.8% 15.4% 25.0%
EBITDA margin -4,975% 12.0% 11.3%
Operating margin -5,150% 10.3% 9.2%
Pretax margin -5,118% 9.9% 8.1%
Net margin -5,128% 8.2% 7.4%
FCF margin -3,312% 11.8% 11.6%
Operating cash flow margin -3,260% 14.0% 11.6%
Return on equity -440.1% 17.0% 14.7%
Return on assets -300.4% 7.5% 4.7%
Return on invested capital – 13.6% 17.8%
Return on capital employed -409.2% 13.9% 11.0%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.7x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1,759% 0.4% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAERGGDESLT
Debt / assets – 12.5% 0.7%
Debt / equity – 0.3x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.5x -0.9x
Debt / FCF – 1.2x 0.1x
Liabilities / assets 46.3% 55.4% 68.2%
Equity / assets 53.7% 44.6% 31.8%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.4x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.9x 2.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.72 4.17 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAERGGDESLT
Dividend yield – 1.8% 0.5%
Net buyback yield -5.2% 0.4% 0.0%
Shareholder yield -5.2% 2.1% 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.

ConsensusAERGGDESLT
Forward P/E – 20.2xFY2026 56.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $17.56FY2026 $13.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +13.7%FY2026 +22.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +8.9% +21.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $53.43BFY2026 $8.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +1.7%FY2026 +11.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +12.6% +21.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAERGGDESLT
Held by institutions 0.0% 86.5% 19.9%
Institutions holding 1 2,218 384
Change in shares held, QoQ – +0.1% -7.1%
Institutions buying 0 1,018 202
Institutions selling 0 832 106
Buyers to sellers – 1.22 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.

AERGGDESLT
AERG 1.00 -0.03 0.00
GD -0.03 1.00 0.41
ESLT 0.00 0.41 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AERG, GD and ESLT?

General Dynamics (GD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Energetics (AERG) $209.40M, General Dynamics (GD) $96.02B, Elbit Systems (ESLT) $36.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, AERG, GD and ESLT?

General Dynamics (GD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Energetics (AERG) -13.0x, General Dynamics (GD) 21.4x, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 56.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, General Dynamics (GD) is cheapest (General Dynamics (GD) 20.2x, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 56.7x). 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%, General Dynamics (GD) +9.1%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +13.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

General Dynamics (GD) has the highest net margin (Applied Energetics (AERG) -5,128.4%, General Dynamics (GD) 8.2%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 7.4%). On return on invested capital, Elbit Systems (ESLT) leads (General Dynamics (GD) 13.6%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 17.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Elbit Systems (ESLT) returned the most: Applied Energetics (AERG) -47.1%, General Dynamics (GD) +0.3%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +62.2%. Over five years, Elbit Systems (ESLT) compounded fastest (Applied Energetics (AERG) -19.1%/yr, General Dynamics (GD) +11.9%/yr, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +38.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

General Dynamics (GD) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Energetics (AERG) 0.00%, General Dynamics (GD) 1.77%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 0.47%. Applied Energetics (AERG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, General Dynamics (GD) has been the steadiest (Applied Energetics (AERG) 71.9%, General Dynamics (GD) 22.2%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 44.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AERG, GD 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, General Dynamics (GD) 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.