AOS vs LCUT vs SPXC Stock Comparison

Smith A O, Lifetime Brands and SPX Technologies Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AOS Smith A O Corp
$63.51 +9.4% 1M -3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$8.60B
P/E
17.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.80B
Div. yield
0.02%
HVAC Industrials
5 wins
LCUT Lifetime Brands, Inc
$8.39 -3.3% 1M +133.1% 1Y
Market cap
$180.45M
P/E
5.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$661.06M
Div. yield
–
Home Appliances Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Smith A O leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Smith A O 5, Lifetime Brands 4, SPX Technologies 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAOSLCUTSPXCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.60B $180.45M $8.04B AOS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.4x 5.7x 31.0x LCUT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.6x 4.3x 19.5x LCUT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.7% -1.5% +20.2% SPXC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.0% 4.8% — AOS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.8% 13.6% — AOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.8x — AOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.2% +133.1% -16.2% LCUT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -2.8%/yr -13.1%/yr +23.6%/yr SPXC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.6% 81.4% 41.5% AOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 65/100 53/100 LCUT

Percentile Scorecard

AOSLCUTSPXC

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

AxisAOSLCUTSPXC
Valuation 67 #19 of 55 95 #3 of 41 17 #46 of 55
Growth 32 #35 of 51 75 #11 of 41 100 #1 of 51
Profitability 90 #6 of 49 76 #10 of 38 42 #29 of 49
Financial Health 70 #17 of 55 46 #23 of 42 –
Shareholder Returns 41 #24 of 40 31 #19 of 27 –
Overall 60 65 53
  • AOS ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products
  • LCUT ranked among 44 companies in Household Durables
  • SPXC ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAOSLCUTSPXCSPY
1 month +9.4%-3.3%-1.8% +0.7%
3 months +6.2%-0.1%-15.9% +3.7%
6 months +2.7%+24.3%-23.5% +7.1%
Year to date -5.0%+112.4%-16.3% +12.8%
1 year -3.2%+133.1%-16.2% +11.9%
3 years -8.6%+58.0%+110.9% +85.2%
3 years, per year -3.0%+16.5%+28.3% +22.8%
5 years -13.1%-50.5%+188.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year -2.8%-13.1%+23.6% +10.9%
10 years +41.2%-40.5%+785.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year +3.5%-5.1%+24.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAOSLCUTSPXCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.6%81.4%41.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 26.3%74.7%41.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.700.921.74 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.111.63-0.39 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.4%-84.5%-38.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.1%-15.3%-32.0% -1.2%
52-week high $80.47$9.90$246.41 $779.14
52-week low $55.34$2.98$160.01 $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.

MultipleAOSLCUTSPXC
P/E now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 20.3x 5.8xmedian 15.8x 31.0xmedian 20.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.6x 0.3xmedian 0.7x 3.2xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.8xmedian 12.6x 4.2xmedian 9.6x —median 12.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 16.9x 9.3xmedian 12.1x 28.4xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 3.0x 0.9xmedian 1.2x 3.4xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median 0.77median 1.13 0.11median 0.63 —median 1.13

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 monthsAOSLCUTSPXC
Revenue $3.80B $661.06M $2.60B
Gross profit $1.47B $286.63M –
Operating income $668.30M $56.07M $418.10M
Net income $494.60M $31.80M $298.10M
Free cash flow $561.70M $20.78M –
EPS (diluted) $3.63 $1.41 –
Cash & equivalents $234.50M $5.45M $119.20M
Total debt $673.10M $148.24M –
Shares (diluted) 136.10M 22.61M 50.68M
Enterprise value $7.78B $144.75M $8.04B

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
MetricAOSLCUTSPXC
P/E 17.4x 5.8x 31.0x
P/FCF 15.2x 9.3x 28.4x
P/Operating cash flow 13.9x 7.0x 22.3x
P/S 2.2x 0.3x 3.2x
P/B 4.7x 0.9x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 6.9x 0.9x 8.9x
EV/EBITDA 11.8x 4.2x –
EV/EBIT 13.4x 6.0x –
EV/Revenue 2.4x 0.5x 3.2x
EV/FCF 16.0x 16.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 12.2x 22.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.77 0.11 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTSPXC
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.7% -1.5% 20.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.0% -1.2% 15.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.4% 14.6% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.1% 4.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.2% 566.4% 22.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.9% 34.7% 46.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.8% 191.8% 33.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.2% 55.0% 112.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -3.5% 188.0% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 53.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.6% 16.3% 22.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.2% -23.8% 58.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.8% 4.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.5% -29.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTSPXC
Gross margin 38.6% 43.4% –
EBITDA margin 20.1% 12.1% –
Operating margin 17.6% 8.5% –
Pretax margin 16.8% 5.7% –
Net margin 13.0% 4.8% –
FCF margin 14.8% 3.1% –
Operating cash flow margin 16.1% 4.2% 14.5%
Return on equity 27.0% 15.3% 12.4%
Return on assets 13.6% 5.5% 6.8%
Return on invested capital 20.8% 13.6% –
Return on capital employed 24.0% 14.2% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.2x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 0.9x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.5% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTSPXC
Debt / assets 18.4% 24.0% –
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.8x –
Debt / FCF 1.2x 7.1x –
Liabilities / assets 50.1% 64.8% –
Equity / assets 49.9% 35.2% 50.4%
Interest coverage 26.4x 3.0x –
Current ratio 1.6x 2.1x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.0x –
Altman Z-score 6.22 1.93 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAOSLCUTSPXC
Dividend yield 2.3% 2.0% –
Net buyback yield 3.8% – –
Shareholder yield 6.1% 2.0% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 40.3% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 35.5% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.4% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 3.1% – –

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.

ConsensusAOSLCUTSPXC
Forward P/E 17.6xFY2026 4.3xFY2026 19.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.60FY2026 $1.96FY2026 $8.57FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -6.5%FY2026 +142.0%FY2026 +26.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.0% -46.9% +20.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.73BFY2026 $703.72MFY2026 $2.64BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.6%FY2026 +8.6%FY2026 +16.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.9% +4.6% +14.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAOSLCUTSPXC
Held by institutions 91.9% 43.3% 93.8%
Institutions holding 615 88 511
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.1% +9.6% +10.8%
Institutions buying 316 65 276
Institutions selling 226 15 162
Buyers to sellers 1.40 4.33 1.70

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.

AOSLCUTSPXC
AOS 1.00 0.01 0.29
LCUT 0.01 1.00 0.09
SPXC 0.29 0.09 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AOS, LCUT and SPXC?

Smith A O (AOS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smith A O (AOS) $8.60B, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) $180.45M, SPX Technologies (SPXC) $8.04B.

Which stock is cheaper, AOS, LCUT and SPXC?

Lifetime Brands (LCUT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smith A O (AOS) 17.4x, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 5.7x, SPX Technologies (SPXC) 31.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) is cheapest (Smith A O (AOS) 17.6x, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 4.3x, SPX Technologies (SPXC) 19.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

SPX Technologies (SPXC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smith A O (AOS) -0.7%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) -1.5%, SPX Technologies (SPXC) +20.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Smith A O (AOS) has the highest net margin (Smith A O (AOS) 13.0%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 4.8%). On return on invested capital, Smith A O (AOS) leads (Smith A O (AOS) 20.8%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 13.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lifetime Brands (LCUT) returned the most: Smith A O (AOS) -3.2%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) +133.1%, SPX Technologies (SPXC) -16.2%. Over five years, SPX Technologies (SPXC) compounded fastest (Smith A O (AOS) -2.8%/yr, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) -13.1%/yr, SPX Technologies (SPXC) +23.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Smith A O (AOS) 0.02%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 0.00%, SPX Technologies (SPXC) 0.00%. Lifetime Brands (LCUT) and SPX Technologies (SPXC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smith A O (AOS) has been the steadiest (Smith A O (AOS) 27.6%, Lifetime Brands (LCUT) 81.4%, SPX Technologies (SPXC) 41.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.