AERG vs LMT vs GD Stock Comparison

Applied Energetics, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LMT Lockheed Martin Corp
$635.32 +22.3% 1M +30.9% 1Y
Market cap
$144.28B
P/E
22.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$79.12B
Div. yield
0.02%
Defense Industrials
5 wins
GD General Dynamics Corp
$357.05 +6.1% 1M +1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$96.05B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$54.86B
Div. yield
–
Defense Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

General Dynamics leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (General Dynamics 6, Lockheed Martin 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAERGLMTGDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $209.21M $144.28B $96.05B LMT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -13.0x 22.2x 21.4x GD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 21.5x 20.3x GD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -82.5% +7.9% +9.1% GD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5,128.4% 8.2% 8.2% LMT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 26.5% 13.6% LMT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.3x 0.5x GD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -43.0% +30.9% +1.8% LMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -17.2%/yr +13.9%/yr +11.7%/yr LMT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 72.0% 30.0% 22.3% GD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 18/100 60/100 71/100 GD

Percentile Scorecard

AERGLMTGD

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

AxisAERGLMTGD
Valuation 5 #95 of 100 68 #33 of 100 85 #16 of 100
Growth 2 #95 of 97 62 #38 of 97 43 #56 of 97
Profitability 5 #91 of 96 90 #11 of 96 78 #22 of 96
Financial Health 53 #50 of 105 41 #62 of 105 62 #41 of 105
Shareholder Returns 24 #49 of 64 40 #39 of 64 86 #10 of 64
Overall 18 60 71
  • AERG ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • LMT ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • GD 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

PeriodAERGLMTGDSPY
1 month +6.8%+22.3%+6.1% -0.8%
3 months -26.6%+9.5%-8.2% +3.5%
6 months -30.4%+23.8%+14.2% +7.0%
Year to date -48.1%+31.4%+6.1% +12.2%
1 year -43.0%+30.9%+1.8% +13.0%
3 years -59.7%+43.3%+49.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -26.1%+12.7%+14.4% +23.1%
5 years -61.0%+92.0%+73.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -17.2%+13.9%+11.7% +11.0%
10 years —+154.0%+136.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+9.8%+9.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAERGLMTGDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 72.0%30.0%22.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 73.3%26.5%20.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.10-0.080.33 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.601.030.08 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -84.1%-33.2%-23.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.8%-6.1%-9.8% -1.8%
52-week high $1.95$676.70$395.97 $779.14
52-week low $0.68$439.19$312.53 $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.

MultipleAERGLMTGD
P/E now vs peer median -13.4xmedian 26.8x 22.5xmedian 26.8x 21.5xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 688.9xmedian 2.9x 1.9xmedian 2.9x 1.8xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -13.8xmedian 15.2x 14.7xmedian 15.2x 15.2xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median -20.8xmedian 25.5x 17.5xmedian 25.5x 15.0xmedian 25.5x
P/B now vs peer median 99.0xmedian 2.5x 14.6xmedian 2.5x 3.6xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.40median 0.94 64.50median 0.94 2.10median 0.94

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 monthsAERGLMTGD
Revenue $313.97K $79.12B $54.86B
Gross profit $143.70K $9.28B $8.44B
Operating income -$16.17M $9.32B $5.66B
Net income -$16.07M $6.51B $4.49B
Free cash flow -$10.40M $8.38B $6.45B
R&D $2.09M – –
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $28.13 $16.40
Cash & equivalents $1.19M $5.96B $4.33B
Total debt – $20.50B $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 229.90M 231.50M 273.52M
Enterprise value $196.18M $128.51B $83.16B

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
MetricAERGLMTGD
P/E -13.4x 22.5x 21.5x
P/FCF -20.8x 17.5x 15.0x
P/Operating cash flow -21.1x 14.5x 12.5x
P/S 688.9x 1.9x 1.8x
P/B 99.0x 14.6x 3.6x
P/Tangible book 99.0x 17.6x 3.8x
EV/EBITDA -13.8x 14.7x 15.2x
EV/EBIT -13.3x 17.3x 17.6x
EV/Revenue 685.1x 2.0x 1.8x
EV/FCF -20.7x 19.2x 15.5x
EV/Operating cash flow -21.0x 16.0x 13.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.40 64.50 2.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAERGLMTGD
Revenue growth (1Y) -82.5% 7.9% 9.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 5.3% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -83.3% 55.0% 8.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -54.8% 3.0% 8.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -41.9% 52.8% 9.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.6% 3.1% 10.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -41.0% 55.1% 9.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -37.4% -2.2% 10.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -36.1% 55.9% 8.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -33.4% 0.3% 10.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -56.2% 59.0% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.5% 10.6% 23.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -34.3% 82.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 13.0% 28.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAERGLMTGD
Gross margin 45.8% 11.7% 15.4%
EBITDA margin -4,975% 13.9% 12.0%
Operating margin -5,150% 11.8% 10.3%
Pretax margin -5,118% 9.7% 9.9%
Net margin -5,128% 8.2% 8.2%
FCF margin -3,312% 10.6% 11.8%
Operating cash flow margin -3,260% 12.8% 14.0%
Return on equity -440.1% 69.2% 17.0%
Return on assets -300.4% 10.3% 7.5%
Return on invested capital – 26.5% 13.6%
Return on capital employed -409.2% 23.9% 13.9%
Asset turnover 0.1x 1.2x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.6x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 1,759% 0.5% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAERGLMTGD
Debt / assets – 31.8% 12.5%
Debt / equity – 2.0x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.3x 0.5x
Debt / FCF – 2.4x 1.2x
Liabilities / assets 46.3% 84.4% 55.4%
Equity / assets 53.7% 15.6% 44.6%
Interest coverage – 8.6x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.3x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.1x 2.8x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 6.92 3.81 4.18

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAERGLMTGD
Dividend yield – 2.2% 1.8%
Net buyback yield -5.0% 0.5% 0.4%
Shareholder yield -5.0% 2.7% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 49.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 38.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 1.6% –

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.

ConsensusAERGLMTGD
Forward P/E – 21.5xFY2026 20.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $29.52FY2026 $17.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +37.4%FY2026 +13.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +7.7% +8.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $85.91BFY2026 $53.43BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +14.5%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +4.1% +12.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAERGLMTGD
Held by institutions 0.0% 75.5% 86.5%
Institutions holding 1 2,779 2,217
Change in shares held, QoQ – +0.4% +0.1%
Institutions buying 0 1,336 1,018
Institutions selling 0 1,026 831
Buyers to sellers – 1.30 1.23

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.

AERGLMTGD
AERG 1.00 0.04 -0.03
LMT 0.04 1.00 0.58
GD -0.03 0.58 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AERG, LMT and GD?

Lockheed Martin (LMT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Energetics (AERG) $209.21M, Lockheed Martin (LMT) $144.28B, General Dynamics (GD) $96.05B.

Which stock is cheaper, AERG, LMT and GD?

General Dynamics (GD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Energetics (AERG) -13.0x, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 22.2x, General Dynamics (GD) 21.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, General Dynamics (GD) is cheapest (Lockheed Martin (LMT) 21.5x, General Dynamics (GD) 20.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

General Dynamics (GD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Energetics (AERG) -82.5%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) +7.9%, General Dynamics (GD) +9.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lockheed Martin (LMT) has the highest net margin (Applied Energetics (AERG) -5,128.4%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 8.2%, General Dynamics (GD) 8.2%). On return on invested capital, Lockheed Martin (LMT) leads (Lockheed Martin (LMT) 26.5%, General Dynamics (GD) 13.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lockheed Martin (LMT) returned the most: Applied Energetics (AERG) -43.0%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) +30.9%, General Dynamics (GD) +1.8%. Over five years, Lockheed Martin (LMT) compounded fastest (Applied Energetics (AERG) -17.2%/yr, Lockheed Martin (LMT) +13.9%/yr, General Dynamics (GD) +11.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Applied Energetics (AERG) 0.00%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 0.02%, General Dynamics (GD) 0.00%. Applied Energetics (AERG) and General Dynamics (GD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, General Dynamics (GD) has been the steadiest (Applied Energetics (AERG) 72.0%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 30.0%, General Dynamics (GD) 22.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AERG, LMT and GD?

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 6. 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.