AERG vs NOC vs CW Stock Comparison

Applied Energetics, Northrop Grumman and Curtiss Wright Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CW Curtiss Wright Corp
$497.14 -6.9% 1M -17.4% 1Y
Market cap
$17.99B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.65B
Div. yield
–
Defense Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionAERGNOCCWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $195.59M $81.19B $17.99B NOC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -12.1x 18.0x 33.2x NOC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 18.3x 34.6x NOC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -82.5% +6.5% +10.5% CW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5,128.4% 10.4% 14.8% CW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 12.2% 14.7% CW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.7x 0.6x CW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -50.6% -3.8% -17.4% NOC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.1%/yr +9.5%/yr +31.3%/yr CW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 72.1% 28.7% 36.0% NOC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 15/100 57/100 67/100 CW

Percentile Scorecard

AERGNOCCW

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

AxisAERGNOCCW
Valuation 3 #97 of 100 75 #26 of 100 51 #50 of 100
Growth 2 #94 of 96 38 #60 of 96 59 #40 of 96
Profitability 5 #90 of 95 76 #24 of 95 94 #7 of 95
Financial Health 40 #63 of 105 38 #66 of 105 65 #37 of 105
Shareholder Returns 25 #49 of 65 59 #27 of 65 69 #21 of 65
Overall 15 57 67
  • AERG ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • NOC ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • CW 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

PeriodAERGNOCCWSPY
1 month -5.6%+11.4%-6.9% +0.7%
3 months -32.0%+5.2%-30.6% +3.7%
6 months -37.0%-2.9%-31.0% +7.1%
Year to date -53.0%-1.3%-9.8% +12.8%
1 year -50.6%-3.8%-17.4% +11.9%
3 years -64.6%+20.0%+153.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year -29.3%+6.3%+36.4% +22.8%
5 years -65.3%+57.5%+289.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year -19.1%+9.5%+31.3% +10.9%
10 years —+146.3%+455.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year —+9.4%+18.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAERGNOCCWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 72.1%28.7%36.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 73.2%28.6%38.0% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.08-0.011.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.70-0.13-0.48 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -84.1%-38.4%-41.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -56.4%-26.8%-37.3% -1.2%
52-week high $1.95$768.02$792.61 $779.14
52-week low $0.68$473.40$464.99 $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.

MultipleAERGNOCCW
P/E now vs peer median -12.1xmedian 26.9x 17.7xmedian 26.9x 33.9xmedian 26.9x
P/S now vs peer median 622.9xmedian 3.0x 1.8xmedian 3.0x 5.0xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -12.4xmedian 15.0x 14.7xmedian 15.0x 23.4xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -18.8xmedian 27.2x 20.9xmedian 27.2x 29.4xmedian 27.2x
P/B now vs peer median 89.5xmedian 2.5x 4.3xmedian 2.5x 6.6xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.36median 0.93 17.36median 0.93 1.65median 0.93

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 monthsAERGNOCCW
Revenue $313.97K $43.59B $3.65B
Gross profit $143.70K $8.73B $1.38B
Operating income -$16.17M $4.63B $686.21M
Net income -$16.07M $4.52B $541.18M
Free cash flow -$10.40M $3.83B $625.29M
R&D $2.09M – $98.16M
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $31.74 $14.58
Cash & equivalents $1.19M $3.74B $477.15M
Total debt – $58.43B $957.39M
Shares (diluted) 229.90M 142.40M 37.12M
Enterprise value $182.56M $68.64B $16.58B

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
MetricAERGNOCCW
P/E -12.1x 17.7x 33.9x
P/FCF -18.8x 20.9x 29.4x
P/Operating cash flow -19.1x 15.2x 25.5x
P/S 622.9x 1.8x 5.0x
P/B 89.5x 4.3x 6.6x
P/Tangible book 89.5x 4.3x 8.1x
EV/EBITDA -12.4x 14.7x 23.4x
EV/EBIT -12.0x 19.6x 27.5x
EV/Revenue 619.2x 2.1x 5.2x
EV/FCF -18.7x 23.7x 30.1x
EV/Operating cash flow -19.0x 17.2x 26.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.36 17.36 1.65

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAERGNOCCW
Revenue growth (1Y) -82.5% 6.5% 10.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 4.1% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -83.3% 9.8% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -54.8% 3.4% 11.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -41.9% 6.8% 17.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.6% 6.4% 14.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -41.0% 12.5% 19.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -37.4% -1.1% 19.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -36.1% 13.3% 22.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -33.4% 1.0% 20.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -56.2% 53.2% 25.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.5% 12.5% 21.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -34.3% 108.8% 24.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 22.3% 19.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAERGNOCCW
Gross margin 45.8% 20.0% 37.7%
EBITDA margin -4,975% 14.1% 22.0%
Operating margin -5,150% 10.6% 18.8%
Pretax margin -5,118% 12.0% 18.9%
Net margin -5,128% 10.4% 14.8%
FCF margin -3,312% 8.8% 17.1%
Operating cash flow margin -3,260% 12.1% 19.7%
Return on equity -440.1% 24.7% 20.0%
Return on assets -300.4% 8.8% 10.1%
Return on invested capital – 12.2% 14.7%
Return on capital employed -409.2% 12.2% 17.3%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.8x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 1,759% 0.3% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAERGNOCCW
Debt / assets – 27.5% 17.5%
Debt / equity – 0.8x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.7x 0.6x
Debt / FCF – 3.8x 1.5x
Liabilities / assets 46.3% 64.4% 49.2%
Equity / assets 53.7% 35.6% 50.8%
Interest coverage – 7.1x 16.2x
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.0x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.3x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 0.32 3.11 6.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAERGNOCCW
Dividend yield – 1.7% 0.2%
Net buyback yield -5.6% 0.7% 2.4%
Shareholder yield -5.6% 2.4% 2.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 35.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 8.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 7.4% –

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.

ConsensusAERGNOCCW
Forward P/E – 18.3xFY2026 34.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $30.81FY2026 $14.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +17.0%FY2026 +8.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +3.7% +11.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $42.95BFY2026 $4.03BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +2.4%FY2026 +15.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +3.7% -3.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAERGNOCCW
Held by institutions 0.0% 83.4% 85.6%
Institutions holding 1 1,810 947
Change in shares held, QoQ – +0.3% +2.8%
Institutions buying 0 840 480
Institutions selling 0 640 313
Buyers to sellers – 1.31 1.53

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.

AERGNOCCW
AERG 1.00 -0.04 0.06
NOC -0.04 1.00 0.32
CW 0.06 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AERG, NOC and CW?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Energetics (AERG) $195.59M, Northrop Grumman (NOC) $81.19B, Curtiss Wright (CW) $17.99B.

Which stock is cheaper, AERG, NOC and CW?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Energetics (AERG) -12.1x, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 18.0x, Curtiss Wright (CW) 33.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Northrop Grumman (NOC) is cheapest (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 18.3x, Curtiss Wright (CW) 34.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Curtiss Wright (CW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Energetics (AERG) -82.5%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +6.5%, Curtiss Wright (CW) +10.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Curtiss Wright (CW) has the highest net margin (Applied Energetics (AERG) -5,128.4%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 10.4%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.8%). On return on invested capital, Curtiss Wright (CW) leads (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 12.2%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Northrop Grumman (NOC) returned the most: Applied Energetics (AERG) -50.6%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) -3.8%, Curtiss Wright (CW) -17.4%. Over five years, Curtiss Wright (CW) compounded fastest (Applied Energetics (AERG) -19.1%/yr, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +9.5%/yr, Curtiss Wright (CW) +31.3%/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%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 0.02%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 0.00%. Applied Energetics (AERG) and Curtiss Wright (CW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Northrop Grumman (NOC) has been the steadiest (Applied Energetics (AERG) 72.1%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 28.7%, Curtiss Wright (CW) 36.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Curtiss Wright (CW) 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.