CW vs ESP vs LHX Stock Comparison

Curtiss Wright, Espey Mfg & Electronics and L3Harris Technologies Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CW Curtiss Wright Corp
$477.08 -11.6% 1M -16.8% 1Y
Market cap
$17.62B
P/E
32.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.65B
Div. yield
0.21%
Defense Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Espey Mfg & Electronics leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Espey Mfg & Electronics 6, L3Harris Technologies 3, Curtiss Wright 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCWESPLHXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.62B $167.33M $48.29B LHX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.6x 13.7x 26.0x ESP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 33.2x 14.0x 22.7x ESP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.5% +4.9% +83.2% LHX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.8% 24.2% 4.8% ESP
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.7% — 11.8% CW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x — 1.8x CW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.21% 2.72% 1.91% ESP
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -16.8% +42.5% -10.9% ESP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +29.9%/yr +29.5%/yr +3.0%/yr CW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.9% 46.6% 28.6% LHX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 71/100 67/100 ESP

Percentile Scorecard

CWESPLHX

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

AxisCWESPLHX
Valuation 52 #49 of 100 83 #18 of 100 93 #8 of 100
Growth 60 #39 of 97 69 #31 of 97 81 #19 of 97
Profitability 95 #6 of 96 84 #16 of 96 74 #26 of 96
Financial Health 66 #36 of 105 64 #38 of 105 36 #68 of 105
Shareholder Returns 67 #22 of 65 56 #29 of 65 53 #31 of 65
Overall 68 71 67
  • CW ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • ESP ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • LHX 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

PeriodCWESPLHXSPY
1 month -11.6%-16.1%+9.1% -0.2%
3 months -34.5%-6.1%-15.0% +3.9%
6 months -32.4%-20.9%-20.2% +8.2%
Year to date -13.5%+16.9%-11.7% +12.9%
1 year -16.8%+42.5%-10.9% +12.3%
3 years +143.8%+251.0%+51.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +34.6%+52.0%+14.9% +23.3%
5 years +269.8%+264.1%+15.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +29.9%+29.5%+3.0% +10.9%
10 years +438.6%+116.1%+191.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +18.3%+8.0%+11.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCWESPLHXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.9%46.6%28.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.0%50.5%29.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.410.870.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.470.91-0.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.3%-34.6%-40.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.8%-23.7%-31.5% -1.2%
52-week high $792.61$72.22$378.48 $779.14
52-week low $464.99$37.20$233.68 $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.

MultipleCWESPLHX
P/E now vs peer median 32.6xmedian 26.5x 13.7xmedian 26.5x 26.0xmedian 26.5x
P/S now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 3.0x 3.6xmedian 3.0x 1.2xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.5xmedian 14.6x 10.1xmedian 14.6x 11.1xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.2xmedian 26.4x 64.8xmedian 26.4x 17.2xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 6.4xmedian 2.5x 2.8xmedian 2.5x 2.4xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 1.58median 0.90 0.36median 0.90 0.79median 0.90

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 monthsCWESPLHX
Revenue $3.65B $46.12M $39.15B
Gross profit $1.38B $16.28M $10.02B
Operating income $686.21M $11.59M $4.04B
Net income $541.18M $11.18M $1.87B
Free cash flow $625.29M $2.58M $2.81B
R&D $98.16M – –
EPS (diluted) $14.58 $3.89 $9.93
Cash & equivalents $477.15M $19.44M $1.52B
Total debt $957.39M – $11.00B
Shares (diluted) 37.12M 2.87M 187.30M
Enterprise value $16.20B -$14.85M $45.74B

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
MetricCWESPLHX
P/E 32.6x 13.7x 26.0x
P/FCF 28.2x 64.8x 17.2x
P/Operating cash flow 24.4x 29.4x 14.7x
P/S 4.8x 3.6x 1.2x
P/B 6.4x 2.8x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 7.8x -2.3x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA 22.5x 10.1x 11.1x
EV/EBIT 26.4x 10.5x 14.3x
EV/Revenue 5.0x 2.6x 1.5x
EV/FCF 28.9x 47.2x 20.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.1x 21.4x 17.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.58 0.36 0.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCWESPLHX
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.5% 4.9% 83.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 9.0% 29.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 28.4% 82.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.1% 26.5% 27.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.3% 42.7% 86.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 39.2% 32.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 19.9% 37.3% 10.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.1% 44.9% 32.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 22.4% 28.9% 9.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 20.6% 37.8% 33.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 25.1% -72.9% 31.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 13.4% 15.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.2% -84.5% 29.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.5% -8.7% 15.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCWESPLHX
Gross margin 37.7% 35.3% 25.6%
EBITDA margin 22.0% 26.2% 13.4%
Operating margin 18.8% 25.1% 10.3%
Pretax margin 18.9% 28.9% 9.7%
Net margin 14.8% 24.2% 4.8%
FCF margin 17.1% 5.6% 7.2%
Operating cash flow margin 19.7% 12.3% 8.4%
Return on equity 20.0% 19.1% 9.5%
Return on assets 10.1% 11.6% 4.4%
Return on invested capital 14.7% – 11.8%
Return on capital employed 17.3% 19.3% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.5x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 0.5x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.5% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCWESPLHX
Debt / assets 17.5% – 25.6%
Debt / equity 0.3x – 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x – 1.8x
Debt / FCF 1.5x – 3.9x
Liabilities / assets 49.2% 37.7% 53.7%
Equity / assets 50.8% 62.3% 46.3%
Interest coverage 16.2x – –
Current ratio 1.6x 2.5x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.5x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 1.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 6.38 4.84 2.68

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCWESPLHX
Dividend yield 0.2% 2.7% 1.9%
Net buyback yield 2.5% -1.2% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.7% 1.5% 3.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 43.2% 49.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 187.2% 32.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 86.0% 2.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.1% 2.1%

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.

ConsensusCWESPLHX
Forward P/E 33.2xFY2026 14.0xFY2027 22.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.35FY2026 $3.93FY2027 $11.44FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.5%FY2026 +1.0%FY2027 +6.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.6% -2.0% +10.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.03BFY2026 $49.74MFY2027 $24.16BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.2%FY2026 +7.8%FY2027 +10.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.9% +14.5% +0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCWESPLHX
Held by institutions 85.6% 35.4% 87.5%
Institutions holding 946 78 1,691
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.8% +15.0% -0.5%
Institutions buying 479 50 847
Institutions selling 313 13 570
Buyers to sellers 1.53 3.85 1.49

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.

CWESPLHX
CW 1.00 0.24 0.37
ESP 0.24 1.00 0.06
LHX 0.37 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CW, ESP and LHX?

L3Harris Technologies (LHX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Curtiss Wright (CW) $17.62B, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) $167.33M, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) $48.29B.

Which stock is cheaper, CW, ESP and LHX?

Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Curtiss Wright (CW) 32.6x, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) 13.7x, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 26.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) is cheapest (Curtiss Wright (CW) 33.2x, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) 14.0x, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 22.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

L3Harris Technologies (LHX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Curtiss Wright (CW) +10.5%, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) +4.9%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) +83.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) has the highest net margin (Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.8%, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) 24.2%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 4.8%). On return on invested capital, Curtiss Wright (CW) leads (Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.7%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 11.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) returned the most: Curtiss Wright (CW) -16.8%, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) +42.5%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) -10.9%. Over five years, Curtiss Wright (CW) compounded fastest (Curtiss Wright (CW) +29.9%/yr, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) +29.5%/yr, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) +3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) has the highest dividend yield: Curtiss Wright (CW) 0.21%, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) 2.72%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 1.91%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has been the steadiest (Curtiss Wright (CW) 35.9%, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) 46.6%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 28.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CW, ESP and LHX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Espey Mfg & Electronics (ESP) 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.