AERG vs NOC vs GD Stock Comparison

Applied Energetics, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GD General Dynamics Corp
$357.05 +6.1% 1M +1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$95.99B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$54.86B
Div. yield
–
Defense Industrials
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

General Dynamics leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (General Dynamics 8, Northrop Grumman 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAERGNOCGDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $209.21M $78.25B $95.99B GD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -13.0x 17.3x 21.4x NOC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 18.4x 20.3x NOC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -82.5% +6.5% +9.1% GD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5,128.4% 10.4% 8.2% NOC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 12.2% 13.6% GD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.7x 0.5x GD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -43.0% -6.6% +1.8% GD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -17.2%/yr +7.8%/yr +11.7%/yr GD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 72.0% 28.6% 22.3% GD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 18/100 57/100 71/100 GD

Percentile Scorecard

AERGNOCGD

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

AxisAERGNOCGD
Valuation 5 #95 of 100 74 #27 of 100 85 #16 of 100
Growth 2 #95 of 97 39 #60 of 97 43 #56 of 97
Profitability 5 #91 of 96 77 #23 of 96 78 #22 of 96
Financial Health 53 #50 of 105 39 #65 of 105 62 #41 of 105
Shareholder Returns 24 #49 of 64 59 #27 of 64 86 #10 of 64
Overall 18 57 71
  • AERG ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • NOC 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

PeriodAERGNOCGDSPY
1 month +6.8%+10.8%+6.1% -0.8%
3 months -26.6%+3.3%-8.2% +3.5%
6 months -30.4%-1.7%+14.2% +7.0%
Year to date -48.1%-0.8%+6.1% +12.2%
1 year -43.0%-6.6%+1.8% +13.0%
3 years -59.7%+19.5%+49.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year -26.1%+6.1%+14.4% +23.1%
5 years -61.0%+45.7%+73.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -17.2%+7.8%+11.7% +11.0%
10 years —+147.9%+136.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+9.5%+9.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAERGNOCGDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 72.0%28.6%22.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 73.3%28.3%20.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.100.000.33 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.60-0.230.08 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -84.1%-38.4%-23.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.8%-26.4%-9.8% -1.8%
52-week high $1.95$768.02$395.97 $779.14
52-week low $0.68$473.40$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.

MultipleAERGNOCGD
P/E now vs peer median -13.4xmedian 26.8x 17.8xmedian 26.8x 21.5xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 688.9xmedian 2.9x 1.8xmedian 2.9x 1.8xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -13.8xmedian 15.2x 14.8xmedian 15.2x 15.2xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median -20.8xmedian 25.5x 21.0xmedian 25.5x 15.0xmedian 25.5x
P/B now vs peer median 99.0xmedian 2.5x 4.3xmedian 2.5x 3.6xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.40median 0.94 17.45median 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 monthsAERGNOCGD
Revenue $313.97K $43.59B $54.86B
Gross profit $143.70K $8.73B $8.44B
Operating income -$16.17M $4.63B $5.66B
Net income -$16.07M $4.52B $4.49B
Free cash flow -$10.40M $3.83B $6.45B
R&D $2.09M – –
EPS (diluted) $-0.07 $31.74 $16.40
Cash & equivalents $1.19M $3.74B $4.33B
Total debt – $58.43B $7.52B
Shares (diluted) 229.90M 142.40M 273.52M
Enterprise value $196.18M $65.71B $83.10B

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
MetricAERGNOCGD
P/E -13.4x 17.8x 21.5x
P/FCF -20.8x 21.0x 15.0x
P/Operating cash flow -21.1x 15.3x 12.5x
P/S 688.9x 1.8x 1.8x
P/B 99.0x 4.3x 3.6x
P/Tangible book 99.0x 4.3x 3.8x
EV/EBITDA -13.8x 14.8x 15.2x
EV/EBIT -13.3x 19.7x 17.6x
EV/Revenue 685.1x 2.1x 1.8x
EV/FCF -20.7x 23.8x 15.5x
EV/Operating cash flow -21.0x 17.3x 13.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.40 17.45 2.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAERGNOCGD
Revenue growth (1Y) -82.5% 6.5% 9.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -47.4% 4.1% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -83.3% 9.8% 8.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -54.8% 3.4% 8.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -41.9% 6.8% 9.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -37.6% 6.4% 10.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -41.0% 12.5% 9.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -37.4% -1.1% 10.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -36.1% 13.3% 8.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -33.4% 1.0% 10.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -56.2% 53.2% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.5% 12.5% 23.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -34.3% 108.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -39.0% 22.3% 28.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAERGNOCGD
Gross margin 45.8% 20.0% 15.4%
EBITDA margin -4,975% 14.1% 12.0%
Operating margin -5,150% 10.6% 10.3%
Pretax margin -5,118% 12.0% 9.9%
Net margin -5,128% 10.4% 8.2%
FCF margin -3,312% 8.8% 11.8%
Operating cash flow margin -3,260% 12.1% 14.0%
Return on equity -440.1% 24.7% 17.0%
Return on assets -300.4% 8.8% 7.5%
Return on invested capital – 12.2% 13.6%
Return on capital employed -409.2% 12.2% 13.9%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 1.2x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 1,759% 0.3% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAERGNOCGD
Debt / assets – 27.5% 12.5%
Debt / equity – 0.8x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.7x 0.5x
Debt / FCF – 3.8x 1.2x
Liabilities / assets 46.3% 64.4% 55.4%
Equity / assets 53.7% 35.6% 44.6%
Interest coverage – 7.1x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.0x 2.8x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 6.92 3.12 4.18

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAERGNOCGD
Dividend yield – 1.7% 1.8%
Net buyback yield -5.0% 0.7% 0.4%
Shareholder yield -5.0% 2.3% 2.1%
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.

ConsensusAERGNOCGD
Forward P/E – 18.4xFY2026 20.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $30.81FY2026 $17.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +17.0%FY2026 +13.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +3.7% +8.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $42.95BFY2026 $53.43BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +2.4%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +3.7% +12.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAERGNOCGD
Held by institutions 0.0% 83.4% 86.5%
Institutions holding 1 1,809 2,217
Change in shares held, QoQ – +0.3% +0.1%
Institutions buying 0 840 1,018
Institutions selling 0 639 831
Buyers to sellers – 1.31 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.

AERGNOCGD
AERG 1.00 -0.04 -0.03
NOC -0.04 1.00 0.62
GD -0.03 0.62 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AERG, NOC and GD?

General Dynamics (GD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Energetics (AERG) $209.21M, Northrop Grumman (NOC) $78.25B, General Dynamics (GD) $95.99B.

Which stock is cheaper, AERG, NOC and GD?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Energetics (AERG) -13.0x, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 17.3x, General Dynamics (GD) 21.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Northrop Grumman (NOC) is cheapest (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 18.4x, 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%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +6.5%, General Dynamics (GD) +9.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) has the highest net margin (Applied Energetics (AERG) -5,128.4%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 10.4%, General Dynamics (GD) 8.2%). On return on invested capital, General Dynamics (GD) leads (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 12.2%, General Dynamics (GD) 13.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year General Dynamics (GD) returned the most: Applied Energetics (AERG) -43.0%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) -6.6%, General Dynamics (GD) +1.8%. Over five years, General Dynamics (GD) compounded fastest (Applied Energetics (AERG) -17.2%/yr, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +7.8%/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%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 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%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 28.6%, General Dynamics (GD) 22.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AERG, NOC 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 8. 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.