ESAB vs MSA vs SNA Stock Comparison

Esab, MSA Safety and Snap-on Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ESAB ESAB Corp
$67.38 -6.2% 1M -43.9% 1Y
Market cap
$4.23B
P/E
24.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.00B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
2 wins
MSA MSA Safety Inc
$182.59 +0.1% 1M +8.6% 1Y
Market cap
$6.94B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.95B
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
5 wins
SNA Snap-on Inc
$358.00 -3.0% 1M +4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$18.49B
P/E
18.3x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Power Tools Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

MSA Safety leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (MSA Safety 5, Snap-on 4, Esab 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESABMSASNALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.23B $6.94B $18.49B SNA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.7x 22.1x 18.3x SNA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.1x 19.6x 19.5x ESAB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +6.5% — ESAB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.7% 16.1% — MSA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.2% 15.9% — MSA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.7x 0.8x — MSA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -43.9% +8.6% +4.1% MSA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +3.7%/yr +12.1%/yr SNA
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.2% 25.5% 19.1% SNA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 77/100 65/100 MSA

Percentile Scorecard

ESABMSASNA

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

AxisESABMSASNA
Valuation 62 #77 of 203 55 #91 of 203 52 #98 of 203
Growth 25 #140 of 187 86 #27 of 187 33 #126 of 187
Profitability 48 #97 of 185 97 #7 of 185 68 #60 of 185
Financial Health 21 #173 of 219 76 #53 of 219 86 #32 of 219
Shareholder Returns 23 #118 of 153 73 #42 of 153 88 #19 of 153
Overall 36 77 65
  • ESAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MSA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • SNA ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESABMSASNASPY
1 month -6.2%+0.1%-3.0% -0.8%
3 months -23.7%+4.0%-12.1% +3.5%
6 months -34.7%+6.8%-6.9% +7.0%
Year to date -39.7%+14.0%+3.9% +12.2%
1 year -43.9%+8.6%+4.1% +13.0%
3 years +6.8%+15.9%+41.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +2.2%+5.0%+12.4% +23.1%
5 years —+20.0%+77.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+3.7%+12.1% +11.0%
10 years —+228.8%+131.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+12.6%+8.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureESABMSASNASPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.2%25.5%19.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 46.1%24.1%19.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.810.820.58 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.950.340.21 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -52.3%-34.9%-21.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -50.0%-10.1%-14.6% -1.8%
52-week high $134.82$203.08$419.26 $779.14
52-week low $64.45$152.94$328.69 $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.

MultipleESABMSASNA
P/E now vs peer median 24.1xmedian 26.0x 22.5xmedian 26.0x 18.3xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.9x 3.6xmedian 1.9x 3.6xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.8xmedian 14.0x 15.3xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.3xmedian 21.4x 19.9xmedian 21.4x 17.2xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 2.2x 5.0xmedian 2.2x 3.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -3.35median 1.26 0.12median 1.26 12.84median 1.26

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 monthsESABMSASNA
Revenue $3.00B $1.95B –
Gross profit $1.11B $925.88M –
Operating income $362.44M $413.17M $1.31B
Net income $178.52M $314.01M $1.04B
Free cash flow $196.61M $354.30M –
R&D – $68.19M –
EPS (diluted) $2.78 $8.11 $19.25
Cash & equivalents $217.49M $200.06M $1.67B
Total debt $2.40B $599.74M –
Shares (diluted) 61.63M 38.70M 52.52M
Enterprise value $2.61B $6.22B $18.49B

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
MetricESABMSASNA
P/E 24.1x 22.5x 18.3x
P/FCF 21.3x 19.9x 17.2x
P/Operating cash flow 16.2x 17.4x 16.0x
P/S 1.4x 3.6x 3.6x
P/B 1.6x 5.0x 3.0x
P/Tangible book 3.5x 6.3x 3.2x
EV/EBITDA 13.8x 15.3x –
EV/EBIT 17.6x 18.0x –
EV/Revenue 2.1x 3.8x –
EV/FCF 32.4x 21.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.6x 18.4x 16.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.35 0.12 12.84

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESABMSASNA
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 6.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.7% 5.2% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.4% 8.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 6.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -16.9% 10.8% -0.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.3% 34.5% 0.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -32.0% 13.4% -0.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -6.2% 186.8% 0.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -33.6% 15.3% 0.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -7.2% 188.5% 1.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.5% 26.3% 4.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.6% 96.0% 2.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -23.8% 40.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.8% 72.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESABMSASNA
Gross margin 37.0% 47.6% –
EBITDA margin 15.4% 25.1% –
Operating margin 12.1% 21.2% –
Pretax margin 8.7% 21.1% –
Net margin 5.7% 16.1% –
FCF margin 6.5% 18.2% –
Operating cash flow margin 8.6% 20.9% –
Return on equity 7.4% 22.8% 17.0%
Return on assets 2.9% 12.2% 12.0%
Return on invested capital 6.2% 15.9% –
Return on capital employed 6.8% 18.0% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.3x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 1.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESABMSASNA
Debt / assets 36.5% 23.1% –
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.4x –
Net debt / EBITDA 4.7x 0.8x –
Debt / FCF 12.2x 1.7x –
Liabilities / assets 60.6% 46.1% 29.3%
Equity / assets 39.4% 53.9% 70.7%
Interest coverage 3.5x 12.7x –
Current ratio 2.0x 3.2x 3.5x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.9x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.7x –
Altman Z-score 1.59 5.99 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESABMSASNA
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.2% 2.7%
Net buyback yield – 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 0.7% 2.9% 2.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusESABMSASNA
Forward P/E 13.1xFY2026 19.6xFY2026 19.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.13FY2026 $9.33FY2026 $18.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -2.8%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 -4.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +27.7% +3.4% +17.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.86BFY2026 $1.98BFY2026 $4.58BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.9%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026 -3.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.3% +19.6% +14.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESABMSASNA
Held by institutions 100.0% 91.0% 96.3%
Institutions holding 347 457 1,069
Change in shares held, QoQ +11.0% +3.0% +2.8%
Institutions buying 187 236 497
Institutions selling 111 147 370
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.61 1.34

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.

ESABMSASNA
ESAB 1.00 0.47 0.50
MSA 0.47 1.00 0.48
SNA 0.50 0.48 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESAB, MSA and SNA?

Snap-on (SNA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Esab (ESAB) $4.23B, MSA Safety (MSA) $6.94B, Snap-on (SNA) $18.49B.

Which stock is cheaper, ESAB, MSA and SNA?

Snap-on (SNA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Esab (ESAB) 24.7x, MSA Safety (MSA) 22.1x, Snap-on (SNA) 18.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Esab (ESAB) is cheapest (Esab (ESAB) 13.1x, MSA Safety (MSA) 19.6x, Snap-on (SNA) 19.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Esab (ESAB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Esab (ESAB) +9.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

MSA Safety (MSA) has the highest net margin (Esab (ESAB) 5.7%, MSA Safety (MSA) 16.1%). On return on invested capital, MSA Safety (MSA) leads (Esab (ESAB) 6.2%, MSA Safety (MSA) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year MSA Safety (MSA) returned the most: Esab (ESAB) -43.9%, MSA Safety (MSA) +8.6%, Snap-on (SNA) +4.1%. Over five years, Snap-on (SNA) compounded fastest (MSA Safety (MSA) +3.7%/yr, Snap-on (SNA) +12.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Snap-on (SNA) has been the steadiest (Esab (ESAB) 46.2%, MSA Safety (MSA) 25.5%, Snap-on (SNA) 19.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESAB, MSA and SNA?

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