AOS vs LCUT vs CARR Stock Comparison

Smith A O, Lifetime Brands and Carrier Global Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AOS Smith A O Corp
$60.89 +4.3% 1M -8.9% 1Y
Market cap
$8.28B
P/E
16.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.80B
Div. yield
2.36%
HVAC Industrials
6 wins
LCUT Lifetime Brands, Inc
$8.24 -10.6% 1M +127.6% 1Y
Market cap
$189.43M
P/E
5.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$661.06M
Div. yield
2.00%
Home Appliances Consumer Discretionary
4 wins
CARR CARRIER GLOBAL Corp
$56.28 +0.8% 1M -4.2% 1Y
Market cap
$46.39B
P/E
38.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$22.11B
Div. yield
1.68%
HVAC Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Smith A O leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Smith A O 6, Lifetime Brands 4, Carrier Global 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAOSLCUTCARRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.28B $189.43M $46.39B CARR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.7x 5.7x 38.2x LCUT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.9x 4.2x 19.1x LCUT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +0.4% -1.5% -1.6% AOS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.1% 4.8% 5.5% AOS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.9% 13.6% 6.5% AOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.8x 3.5x AOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.36% 2.00% 1.68% AOS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -8.9% +127.6% -4.2% LCUT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.6%/yr -13.5%/yr +1.5%/yr CARR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.3% 81.4% 35.6% AOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 65/100 37/100 LCUT

Percentile Scorecard

AOSLCUTCARR

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

AxisAOSLCUTCARR
Valuation 67 #19 of 55 98 #2 of 41 28 #40 of 55
Growth 42 #30 of 51 75 #11 of 41 32 #35 of 51
Profitability 98 #2 of 48 76 #10 of 39 49 #25 of 48
Financial Health 68 #18 of 54 45 #24 of 43 17 #45 of 54
Shareholder Returns 40 #25 of 41 33 #19 of 28 60 #17 of 41
Overall 63 65 37
  • AOS ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • LCUT ranked among 44 companies in Household Durables
  • CARR ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAOSLCUTCARRSPY
1 month +4.3%-10.6%+0.8% +0.9%
3 months -1.8%-1.7%-6.1% +5.9%
6 months -4.4%+23.7%-8.8% +8.5%
Year to date -9.0%+108.6%+6.5% +13.3%
1 year -8.9%+127.6%-4.2% +12.4%
3 years -10.2%+55.8%+21.0% +88.1%
3 years, per year -3.5%+15.9%+6.6% +23.5%
5 years -16.7%-51.4%+7.8% +68.2%
5 years, per year -3.6%-13.5%+1.5% +11.0%
10 years +35.3%-41.6%— +263.4%
10 years, per year +3.1%-5.2%— +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAOSLCUTCARRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.3%81.4%35.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.3%74.4%36.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.710.921.25 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.331.57-0.12 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.4%-84.5%-40.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.3%-16.8%-25.9% -0.9%
52-week high $80.47$9.90$76.00 $779.14
52-week low $55.34$2.98$50.36 $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.

MultipleAOSLCUTCARR
P/E now vs peer median 16.7xmedian 20.0x 5.7xmedian 15.7x 38.2xmedian 20.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.5x 0.3xmedian 0.7x 2.1xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.5xmedian 11.3x 4.1xmedian 9.6x 19.0xmedian 11.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.9xmedian 15.3x 9.1xmedian 11.7x 24.1xmedian 15.3x
P/B now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 2.8x 0.9xmedian 1.1x 3.4xmedian 2.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.64median 0.99 0.11median 0.62 -2.28median 0.99

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 monthsAOSLCUTCARR
Revenue $3.80B $661.06M $22.11B
Gross profit $1.47B $286.63M $6.37B
Operating income $668.70M $56.07M $1.72B
Net income $500.30M $31.80M $1.32B
Free cash flow $639.40M $20.78M $1.93B
R&D – – $602.00M
EPS (diluted) $3.63 $1.41 $1.46
Cash & equivalents $181.30M $5.45M $1.34B
Total debt $637.50M $148.24M $11.95B
Shares (diluted) 137.86M 22.61M 836.50M
Enterprise value $7.52B $153.72M $41.03B

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
MetricAOSLCUTCARR
P/E 16.7x 5.7x 38.2x
P/FCF 12.9x 9.1x 24.1x
P/Operating cash flow 12.0x 6.9x 19.4x
P/S 2.2x 0.3x 2.1x
P/B 4.5x 0.9x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 6.6x 0.9x 6.0x
EV/EBITDA 11.5x 4.1x 19.0x
EV/EBIT 13.1x 5.9x 33.1x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 0.5x 2.6x
EV/FCF 13.7x 16.0x 29.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.6x 12.1x 23.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.64 0.11 -2.28

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTCARR
Revenue growth (1Y) 0.4% -1.5% -1.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.6% -1.2% 8.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 1.4% 14.6% 4.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.3% 4.4% 26.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5.2% 566.4% -43.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -2.5% 34.7% -12.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -3.5% 191.8% -67.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 22.3% 55.0% -16.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -0.3% 188.0% -68.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.2% 53.5% -16.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 16.1% 16.3% 19.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.0% -23.8% -0.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 29.3% 4.8% 24.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.2% -29.7% -2.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTCARR
Gross margin 38.6% 43.4% 28.8%
EBITDA margin 20.0% 12.1% 13.6%
Operating margin 17.6% 8.5% 7.8%
Pretax margin 17.0% 5.7% 6.0%
Net margin 13.1% 4.8% 5.5%
FCF margin 16.8% 3.1% 8.7%
Operating cash flow margin 18.2% 4.2% 10.8%
Return on equity 26.9% 15.3% 9.7%
Return on assets 13.7% 5.5% 3.5%
Return on invested capital 20.9% 13.6% 6.5%
Return on capital employed 24.1% 14.2% 6.1%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.2x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 0.9x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTCARR
Debt / assets 17.5% 24.0% 32.0%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.7x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.8x 3.5x
Debt / FCF 1.0x 7.1x 6.2x
Liabilities / assets 49.5% 64.8% 64.0%
Equity / assets 50.5% 35.2% 36.0%
Interest coverage 31.5x 3.0x –
Current ratio 1.6x 2.1x 1.0x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 6.15 1.92 2.38

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTCARR
Dividend yield 2.4% 2.0% 1.7%
Net buyback yield 3.8% – 4.3%
Shareholder yield 6.1% 2.0% 6.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.6% – 59.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) 31.0% – 40.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.2% – 7.1%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.2% – 11.7%

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.

ConsensusAOSLCUTCARR
Forward P/E 16.9xFY2026 4.2xFY2026 19.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.60FY2026 $1.96FY2026 $2.95FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -6.5%FY2026 +142.0%FY2026 +13.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.0% -46.9% +9.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.73BFY2026 $703.72MFY2026 $22.69BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.6%FY2026 +8.6%FY2026 +4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.9% +4.6% +5.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAOSLCUTCARR
Held by institutions 91.9% 43.3% 87.4%
Institutions holding 614 88 1,628
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.1% +9.6% +1.0%
Institutions buying 315 65 805
Institutions selling 226 15 544
Buyers to sellers 1.39 4.33 1.48

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.

AOSLCUTCARR
AOS 1.00 0.00 0.50
LCUT 0.00 1.00 0.01
CARR 0.50 0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AOS, LCUT and CARR?

Carrier Global (CARR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith A O (AOS) $8.28B, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) $189.43M, Carrier Global (CARR) $46.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, AOS, LCUT and CARR?

Lifetime Brands (LCUT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smith A O (AOS) 16.7x, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 5.7x, Carrier Global (CARR) 38.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) is cheapest (Smith A O (AOS) 16.9x, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 4.2x, Carrier Global (CARR) 19.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Smith A O (AOS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith A O (AOS) +0.4%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) -1.5%, Carrier Global (CARR) -1.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smith A O (AOS) has the highest net margin (Smith A O (AOS) 13.1%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 4.8%, Carrier Global (CARR) 5.5%). On return on invested capital, Smith A O (AOS) leads (Smith A O (AOS) 20.9%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 13.6%, Carrier Global (CARR) 6.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lifetime Brands (LCUT) returned the most: Smith A O (AOS) -8.9%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) +127.6%, Carrier Global (CARR) -4.2%. Over five years, Carrier Global (CARR) compounded fastest (Smith A O (AOS) -3.6%/yr, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) -13.5%/yr, Carrier Global (CARR) +1.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Smith A O (AOS) has the highest dividend yield: Smith A O (AOS) 2.36%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 2.00%, Carrier Global (CARR) 1.68%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smith A O (AOS) has been the steadiest (Smith A O (AOS) 27.3%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 81.4%, Carrier Global (CARR) 35.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AOS, LCUT and CARR?

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