AME vs KRNT vs NDSN Stock Comparison

Ametek, Kornit Digital and Nordson Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AME Ametek Inc/
$246.27 -1.9% 1M +31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$56.46B
P/E
35.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.86B
Div. yield
0.54%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins
KRNT Kornit Digital Ltd.
$18.20 +17.0% 1M +19.9% 1Y
Market cap
$842.49M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$215.85M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
NDSN Nordson Corp
$324.30 -0.5% 1M +36.1% 1Y
Market cap
$18.06B
P/E
32.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.98B
Div. yield
1.05%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionAMEKRNTNDSNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $56.46B $842.49M $18.06B AME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.8x -40.5x 32.5x NDSN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.0x 91.0x 29.1x NDSN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.7% +4.0% +7.0% AME
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.0% -9.4% 18.6% AME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.8% — 13.1% NDSN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x — 1.7x AME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.54% — 1.05% NDSN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +31.9% +19.9% +36.1% NDSN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.3%/yr -35.7%/yr +5.3%/yr AME
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.9% 43.8% 22.2% NDSN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 44/100 57/100 AME

Percentile Scorecard

AMEKRNTNDSN

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

AxisAMEKRNTNDSN
Valuation 18 #167 of 203 47 #108 of 203 30 #142 of 203
Growth 60 #76 of 188 41 #112 of 188 55 #85 of 188
Profitability 93 #14 of 183 23 #142 of 183 96 #8 of 183
Financial Health 69 #69 of 217 99 #3 of 217 54 #101 of 217
Shareholder Returns 68 #49 of 153 11 #137 of 153 51 #76 of 153
Overall 62 44 57
  • AME ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • KRNT ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • NDSN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAMEKRNTNDSNSPY
1 month -1.9%+17.0%-0.5% -0.2%
3 months +2.0%+19.1%+7.2% +3.9%
6 months +7.6%+18.2%+15.1% +8.2%
Year to date +20.0%+26.6%+34.9% +12.9%
1 year +31.9%+19.9%+36.1% +12.3%
3 years +76.9%+32.8%+52.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +21.0%+9.9%+15.2% +23.3%
5 years +86.6%-89.0%+29.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +13.3%-35.7%+5.3% +10.9%
10 years +457.3%+74.2%+225.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +18.7%+5.7%+12.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAMEKRNTNDSNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.9%43.8%22.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.8%40.5%21.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.981.520.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.340.451.62 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.3%-93.0%-39.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.7%-0.6%-3.1% -1.2%
52-week high $258.54$18.31$334.70 $779.14
52-week low $184.19$12.31$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.

MultipleAMEKRNTNDSN
P/E now vs peer median 35.8xmedian 25.2x -40.5xmedian 25.2x 32.5xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 7.2xmedian 1.9x 3.9xmedian 1.9x 6.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.6xmedian 14.0x -17.1xmedian 14.0x 21.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.9xmedian 21.7x 31.6xmedian 21.7x 24.9xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 2.3x 1.3xmedian 2.3x 5.5xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 4.11median 1.32 -1.11median 1.32 7.39median 1.32

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 monthsAMEKRNTNDSN
Revenue $7.86B $215.85M $2.98B
Gross profit $2.86B $97.83M $1.65B
Operating income $2.04B -$40.02M $800.96M
Net income $1.58B -$20.32M $555.18M
Free cash flow $1.82B $26.70M $724.01M
R&D – $20.41M –
EPS (diluted) $6.86 $-0.45 $9.91
Cash & equivalents $495.45M $33.81M $113.43M
Total debt $2.04B – $1.73B
Shares (diluted) 229.86M 45.24M 56.03M
Enterprise value $54.59B -$700.35M $17.62B

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
MetricAMEKRNTNDSN
P/E 35.8x -40.5x 32.5x
P/FCF 30.9x 31.6x 24.9x
P/Operating cash flow 28.8x 28.3x 23.4x
P/S 7.2x 3.9x 6.1x
P/B 5.0x 1.3x 5.5x
P/Tangible book 8.0x 1.3x 6.8x
EV/EBITDA 23.6x -17.1x 21.2x
EV/EBIT 28.5x -11.7x 24.6x
EV/Revenue 7.4x 2.2x 6.6x
EV/FCF 31.8x 17.6x 27.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 29.6x 15.8x 25.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.11 -1.11 7.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAMEKRNTNDSN
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.7% 4.0% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.0% -2.7% 4.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.4% -1.6% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.9% 9.5% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.2% -28.0% 18.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 8.2% 21.6% 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.6% -80.4% 22.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.5% 38.6% 3.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.4% -89.3% 23.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.7% 36.6% 4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.1% -40.1% 26.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 33.9% 5.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 8.4% -41.6% 33.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.0% 34.6% 5.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAMEKRNTNDSN
Gross margin 36.4% 45.3% 55.3%
EBITDA margin 31.2% -12.7% 31.2%
Operating margin 25.9% -18.5% 26.9%
Pretax margin 24.3% -9.0% 22.6%
Net margin 20.0% -9.4% 18.6%
FCF margin 23.2% 12.4% 24.3%
Operating cash flow margin 24.9% 13.8% 26.0%
Return on equity 14.2% -3.0% 17.2%
Return on assets 9.6% -2.7% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 12.8% – 13.1%
Return on capital employed 14.8% -5.9% 15.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x -1.5x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 9.6% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAMEKRNTNDSN
Debt / assets 12.3% – 29.1%
Debt / equity 0.2x – 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x – 1.7x
Debt / FCF 1.1x – 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 32.1% 11.4% 45.0%
Equity / assets 67.9% 88.6% 55.0%
Interest coverage 21.1x – 8.8x
Current ratio 1.2x 8.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 6.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 5.7x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 8.36 – 6.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAMEKRNTNDSN
Dividend yield 0.5% – 1.0%
Net buyback yield 0.7% -4.6% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 1.2% -4.6% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 18.9% – 33.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) 16.3% – 25.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 9.4% – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 11.3% – 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.

ConsensusAMEKRNTNDSN
Forward P/E 30.0xFY2026 91.0xFY2026 29.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.20FY2026 $0.20FY2026 $11.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.4%FY2026 -35.5%FY2026 +8.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.4% +50.0% +21.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.96BFY2026 $229.31MFY2026 $3.19BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.5%FY2026 +10.1%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.3% +0.8% +5.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAMEKRNTNDSN
Held by institutions 89.6% 90.9% 76.0%
Institutions holding 1,195 118 755
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% -3.9% +3.1%
Institutions buying 615 65 389
Institutions selling 399 35 240
Buyers to sellers 1.54 1.86 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.

AMEKRNTNDSN
AME 1.00 0.37 0.59
KRNT 0.37 1.00 0.28
NDSN 0.59 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AME, KRNT and NDSN?

Ametek (AME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ametek (AME) $56.46B, Kornit Digital (KRNT) $842.49M, Nordson (NDSN) $18.06B.

Which stock is cheaper, AME, KRNT and NDSN?

Nordson (NDSN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ametek (AME) 35.8x, Kornit Digital (KRNT) -40.5x, Nordson (NDSN) 32.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nordson (NDSN) is cheapest (Ametek (AME) 30.0x, Kornit Digital (KRNT) 91.0x, Nordson (NDSN) 29.1x). 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) +12.7%, Kornit Digital (KRNT) +4.0%, Nordson (NDSN) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ametek (AME) has the highest net margin (Ametek (AME) 20.0%, Kornit Digital (KRNT) -9.4%, Nordson (NDSN) 18.6%). On return on invested capital, Nordson (NDSN) leads (Ametek (AME) 12.8%, Nordson (NDSN) 13.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nordson (NDSN) returned the most: Ametek (AME) +31.9%, Kornit Digital (KRNT) +19.9%, Nordson (NDSN) +36.1%. Over five years, Ametek (AME) compounded fastest (Ametek (AME) +13.3%/yr, Kornit Digital (KRNT) -35.7%/yr, Nordson (NDSN) +5.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nordson (NDSN) has the highest dividend yield: Ametek (AME) 0.54%, Nordson (NDSN) 1.05%. Kornit Digital (KRNT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nordson (NDSN) has been the steadiest (Ametek (AME) 23.9%, Kornit Digital (KRNT) 43.8%, Nordson (NDSN) 22.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AME, KRNT 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, Ametek (AME) 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.