AME vs DAKT vs NDSN Stock Comparison

Ametek, Daktronics and Nordson Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AME Ametek Inc/
$237.12 -5.9% 1M +19.7% 1Y
Market cap
$54.38B
P/E
33.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.19B
Div. yield
0.56%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins
DAKT Daktronics Inc /Sd/
$20.32 +14.2% 1M +4.6% 1Y
Market cap
$977.24M
P/E
20.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$854.30M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins
NDSN Nordson Corp
$330.70 -1.1% 1M +43.6% 1Y
Market cap
$18.42B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
1.03%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Daktronics leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Daktronics 6, Ametek 3, Nordson 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAMEDAKTNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $54.38B $977.24M $18.42B AME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.3x 20.3x 33.2x DAKT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.9x 15.6x 29.7x DAKT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.3% +14.0% +7.0% AME
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.9% 5.7% 18.6% AME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.1% 15.3% 13.1% DAKT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x -1.8x 1.7x DAKT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.56% 0.00% 1.03% NDSN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.7% +4.6% +43.6% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.0%/yr +28.0%/yr +4.8%/yr DAKT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.7% 41.8% 22.3% NDSN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 73/100 57/100 DAKT

Percentile Scorecard

AMEDAKTNDSN

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

AxisAMEDAKTNDSN
Valuation 20 #164 of 204 77 #47 of 204 25 #153 of 204
Growth 72 #55 of 191 69 #60 of 191 58 #80 of 191
Profitability 92 #16 of 189 63 #70 of 189 96 #8 of 189
Financial Health 43 #126 of 221 82 #41 of 221 55 #101 of 221
Shareholder Returns 68 #52 of 159 75 #41 of 159 52 #77 of 159
Overall 59 73 57
  • AME ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • DAKT ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • NDSN ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAMEDAKTNDSNSPY
1 month -5.9%+14.2%-1.1% -1.0%
3 months -6.9%-7.3%+6.4% -0.4%
6 months -1.8%+1.2%+15.3% +4.5%
Year to date +15.5%+2.8%+37.5% +12.4%
1 year +19.7%+4.6%+43.6% +13.6%
3 years +65.0%+112.3%+49.3% +76.4%
3 years, per year +18.2%+28.6%+14.3% +20.8%
5 years +68.2%+243.2%+26.6% +63.7%
5 years, per year +11.0%+28.0%+4.8% +10.4%
10 years +434.2%+144.8%+242.9% +267.7%
10 years, per year +18.2%+9.4%+13.1% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureAMEDAKTNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.7%41.8%22.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.7%41.1%21.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.011.320.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.830.111.95 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.3%-70.7%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.3%-26.7%-1.2% -1.6%
52-week high $258.54$27.73$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $189.90$17.02$226.69 $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.

MultipleAMEDAKTNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 33.3xmedian 25.5x 20.3xmedian 25.5x 33.2xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 1.9x 1.1xmedian 1.9x 6.2xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 14.4x 10.2xmedian 14.4x 21.6xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.1xmedian 23.3x 24.6xmedian 23.3x 25.4xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.2x 3.1xmedian 2.2x 5.6xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 3.80median 1.16 1.51median 1.16 7.54median 1.16

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 monthsAMEDAKTNDSN
Revenue $8.19B $854.30M $2.98B
Gross profit $2.98B $235.53M $1.65B
Operating income $2.13B $62.51M $800.96M
Net income $1.63B $48.34M $555.18M
Free cash flow $1.93B $39.80M $724.01M
R&D – $44.90M –
EPS (diluted) $7.09 $0.99 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $666.15M $154.59M $113.43M
Total debt $6.67B $10.51M $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 230.04M 48.90M 56.03M
Enterprise value $52.28B $396.99M $17.98B

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
MetricAMEDAKTNDSN
P/E 33.3x 20.3x 33.2x
P/FCF 28.1x 24.6x 25.4x
P/Operating cash flow 26.1x 17.9x 23.8x
P/S 6.6x 1.1x 6.2x
P/B 4.6x 3.1x 5.6x
P/Tangible book 10.5x 3.1x 7.0x
EV/EBITDA 23.5x 10.2x 21.6x
EV/EBIT 28.3x 13.3x 25.0x
EV/Revenue 7.4x 1.0x 6.7x
EV/FCF 31.2x 20.9x 27.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 29.0x 15.3x 25.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.80 1.51 7.54

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMEDAKTNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.3% 14.0% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 1.6% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 15.1% 17.3% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.6% 6.2% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.9% 85.6% 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.7% -2.3% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.1% 327.9% 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.5% 15.6% 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.8% 335.2% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.8% 13.4% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 17.7% -47.7% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 9.6% -1.5% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 17.6% -53.5% 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.2% 1.7% 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMEDAKTNDSN
Gross margin 36.4% 27.6% 55.3%
EBITDA margin 31.3% 9.6% 31.2%
Operating margin 26.0% 7.3% 26.9%
Pretax margin 24.2% 7.2% 22.6%
Net margin 19.9% 5.7% 18.6%
FCF margin 23.6% 4.7% 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin 25.4% 6.4% 26.0%
Return on equity 14.2% 15.6% 17.2%
Return on assets 8.4% 8.3% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 11.1% 15.3% 13.1%
Return on capital employed 12.7% 17.9% 15.3%
Asset turnover 0.4x 1.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.1x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.6% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMEDAKTNDSN
Debt / assets 29.8% 1.7% 29.1%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.0x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x -1.8x 1.7x
Debt / FCF 3.5x 0.3x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 47.8% 47.7% 45.0%
Equity / assets 52.2% 52.3% 55.0%
Interest coverage 18.8x – 8.8x
Current ratio 1.4x 2.2x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.7x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.62 4.75 6.34

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMEDAKTNDSN
Dividend yield 0.6% – 1.0%
Net buyback yield 0.5% 1.8% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 1.8% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 18.7% – 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 15.8% – 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.1% – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.9% – 7.2%

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.

ConsensusAMEDAKTNDSN
Forward P/E 28.9xFY2026 15.6xFY2026 29.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.20FY2026 $1.30FY2026 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.4%FY2026 +23.8%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.4% +30.8% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.96BFY2026 $862.28MFY2026 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.5%FY2026 +2.8%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.3% +19.1% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMEDAKTNDSN
Held by institutions 89.6% 75.2% 76.0%
Institutions holding 1,197 191 757
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% +0.9% +3.1%
Institutions buying 615 84 390
Institutions selling 399 68 241
Buyers to sellers 1.54 1.24 1.62

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.

AMEDAKTNDSN
AME 1.00 0.30 0.63
DAKT 0.30 1.00 0.27
NDSN 0.63 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AME, DAKT and NDSN?

Ametek (AME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ametek (AME) $54.38B, Daktronics (DAKT) $977.24M, Nordson (NDSN) $18.42B.

Which stock is cheaper, AME, DAKT and NDSN?

Daktronics (DAKT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ametek (AME) 33.3x, Daktronics (DAKT) 20.3x, Nordson (NDSN) 33.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Daktronics (DAKT) is cheapest (Ametek (AME) 28.9x, Daktronics (DAKT) 15.6x, Nordson (NDSN) 29.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ametek (AME) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ametek (AME) +14.3%, Daktronics (DAKT) +14.0%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ametek (AME) has the highest net margin (Ametek (AME) 19.9%, Daktronics (DAKT) 5.7%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, Daktronics (DAKT) leads (Ametek (AME) 11.1%, Daktronics (DAKT) 15.3%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Ametek (AME) +19.7%, Daktronics (DAKT) +4.6%, Nordson (NDSN) +43.6%. Over five years, Daktronics (DAKT) compounded fastest (Ametek (AME) +11.0%/yr, Daktronics (DAKT) +28.0%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +4.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest dividend yield: Ametek (AME) 0.56%, Daktronics (DAKT) 0.00%, Nordson (NDSN) 1.03%. Daktronics (DAKT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nordson (NDSN) has been the steadiest (Ametek (AME) 23.7%, Daktronics (DAKT) 41.8%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AME, DAKT and NDSN?

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