CW vs NOC vs LHX Stock Comparison

Curtiss Wright, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris Technologies Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CW Curtiss Wright Corp
$464.99 -14.6% 1M -16.8% 1Y
Market cap
$17.57B
P/E
32.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.65B
Div. yield
–
Defense Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Curtiss Wright leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Curtiss Wright 5, Northrop Grumman 4, L3Harris Technologies 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCWNOCLHXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.57B $80.39B $48.43B NOC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.5x 17.8x 26.0x NOC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.5x 18.1x 22.2x NOC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.5% +6.5% +83.2% LHX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.8% 10.4% 4.8% CW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.7% 12.2% 11.8% CW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.7x 1.8x CW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.02% LHX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -16.8% -8.9% -13.4% NOC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +28.6%/yr +6.3%/yr +0.7%/yr CW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.9% 28.5% 28.5% LHX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 58/100 67/100 CW

Percentile Scorecard

CWNOCLHX

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

AxisCWNOCLHX
Valuation 52 #49 of 100 73 #28 of 100 93 #8 of 100
Growth 60 #39 of 97 41 #58 of 97 82 #18 of 97
Profitability 95 #6 of 96 76 #24 of 96 72 #28 of 96
Financial Health 67 #36 of 106 42 #62 of 106 35 #69 of 106
Shareholder Returns 67 #22 of 65 61 #26 of 65 52 #32 of 65
Overall 68 58 67
  • CW ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • NOC 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

PeriodCWNOCLHXSPY
1 month -14.6%+7.2%+6.2% -1.0%
3 months -38.0%+1.7%-15.4% +2.9%
6 months -35.2%-4.1%-20.0% +6.4%
Year to date -15.7%-3.3%-13.5% +11.4%
1 year -16.8%-8.9%-13.4% +13.1%
3 years +134.4%+15.3%+46.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +32.9%+4.9%+13.7% +21.5%
5 years +251.3%+35.8%+3.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +28.6%+6.3%+0.7% +10.9%
10 years +455.7%+155.5%+180.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +18.7%+9.8%+10.9% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCWNOCLHXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.9%28.5%28.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.0%28.2%28.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.40-0.020.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.47-0.31-0.47 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.3%-38.4%-40.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.3%-28.2%-32.9% -2.5%
52-week high $792.61$768.02$378.48 $779.14
52-week low $464.99$473.40$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.

MultipleCWNOCLHX
P/E now vs peer median 31.7xmedian 26.2x 17.3xmedian 26.2x 25.4xmedian 26.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.9x 1.8xmedian 2.9x 1.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.9xmedian 14.7x 14.5xmedian 14.7x 10.9xmedian 14.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.5xmedian 24.9x 20.5xmedian 24.9x 16.8xmedian 24.9x
P/B now vs peer median 6.2xmedian 2.4x 4.2xmedian 2.4x 2.4xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.54median 0.92 17.02median 0.92 0.77median 0.92

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 monthsCWNOCLHX
Revenue $3.65B $43.59B $39.15B
Gross profit $1.38B $8.73B $10.02B
Operating income $686.21M $4.63B $4.04B
Net income $541.18M $4.52B $1.87B
Free cash flow $625.29M $3.83B $2.81B
R&D $98.16M – –
EPS (diluted) $14.58 $31.74 $9.93
Cash & equivalents $477.15M $3.74B $1.52B
Total debt $957.39M $58.43B $45.19B
Shares (diluted) 37.12M 142.40M 187.30M
Enterprise value $16.15B $67.84B $44.91B

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
MetricCWNOCLHX
P/E 31.7x 17.3x 25.4x
P/FCF 27.5x 20.5x 16.8x
P/Operating cash flow 23.8x 14.9x 14.4x
P/S 4.7x 1.8x 1.2x
P/B 6.2x 4.2x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 7.6x 4.2x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 21.9x 14.5x 10.9x
EV/EBIT 25.7x 19.3x 14.1x
EV/Revenue 4.8x 2.0x 1.4x
EV/FCF 28.2x 23.3x 20.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.5x 16.9x 17.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.54 17.02 0.77

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCWNOCLHX
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.5% 6.5% 83.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 4.1% 29.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 9.8% 82.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.1% 3.4% 27.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.3% 6.8% 86.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 6.4% 32.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 19.9% 12.5% 10.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.1% -1.1% 32.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 22.4% 13.3% 9.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 20.6% 1.0% 33.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 25.1% 53.2% 31.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 12.5% 15.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.2% 108.8% 29.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.5% 22.3% 15.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCWNOCLHX
Gross margin 37.7% 20.0% 25.6%
EBITDA margin 22.0% 14.1% 13.4%
Operating margin 18.8% 10.6% 10.3%
Pretax margin 18.9% 12.0% 9.7%
Net margin 14.8% 10.4% 4.8%
FCF margin 17.1% 8.8% 7.2%
Operating cash flow margin 19.7% 12.1% 8.4%
Return on equity 20.0% 24.7% 9.5%
Return on assets 10.1% 8.8% 4.4%
Return on invested capital 14.7% 12.2% 11.8%
Return on capital employed 17.3% 12.2% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.2x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 0.3% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCWNOCLHX
Debt / assets 17.5% 27.5% 25.6%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.8x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.6x 1.7x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 1.5x 3.8x 3.9x
Liabilities / assets 49.2% 64.4% 53.7%
Equity / assets 50.8% 35.6% 46.3%
Interest coverage 16.2x 7.1x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.0x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 6.28 3.08 2.65

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCWNOCLHX
Dividend yield 0.2% 1.7% 1.9%
Net buyback yield 2.6% 0.7% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.8% 2.4% 3.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.2% 49.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 35.6% 32.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 8.0% 2.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 7.4% 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.

ConsensusCWNOCLHX
Forward P/E 32.5xFY2026 18.1xFY2026 22.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.31FY2026 $30.52FY2026 $11.43FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 +15.9%FY2026 +6.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.5% +5.9% +10.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.03BFY2026 $42.94BFY2026 $24.17BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.2%FY2026 +2.4%FY2026 +10.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.9% +3.7% +0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCWNOCLHX
Held by institutions 85.6% 83.4% 87.5%
Institutions holding 946 1,809 1,691
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.8% +0.3% -0.5%
Institutions buying 479 840 847
Institutions selling 313 639 570
Buyers to sellers 1.53 1.31 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.

CWNOCLHX
CW 1.00 0.31 0.36
NOC 0.31 1.00 0.65
LHX 0.36 0.65 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CW, NOC and LHX?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Curtiss Wright (CW) $17.57B, Northrop Grumman (NOC) $80.39B, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) $48.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, CW, NOC and LHX?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Curtiss Wright (CW) 32.5x, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 17.8x, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 26.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Northrop Grumman (NOC) is cheapest (Curtiss Wright (CW) 32.5x, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 18.1x, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 22.2x). 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%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +6.5%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) +83.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Curtiss Wright (CW) has the highest net margin (Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.8%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 10.4%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 4.8%). On return on invested capital, Curtiss Wright (CW) leads (Curtiss Wright (CW) 14.7%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 12.2%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 11.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Northrop Grumman (NOC) returned the most: Curtiss Wright (CW) -16.8%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) -8.9%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) -13.4%. Over five years, Curtiss Wright (CW) compounded fastest (Curtiss Wright (CW) +28.6%/yr, Northrop Grumman (NOC) +6.3%/yr, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) +0.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has the highest dividend yield: Curtiss Wright (CW) 0.00%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 0.02%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 0.02%. Curtiss Wright (CW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has been the steadiest (Curtiss Wright (CW) 35.9%, Northrop Grumman (NOC) 28.5%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 28.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CW, NOC 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, Curtiss Wright (CW) 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.