ETN vs POWL vs WAB Stock Comparison

Eaton, Powell Industries and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ETN Eaton Corp plc
$393.05 -8.9% 1M +4.5% 1Y
Market cap
$152.20B
P/E
39.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.03B
Div. yield
–
Electrical Equipment Industrials
2 wins
POWL Powell Industries Inc
$168.01 -10.3% 1M +31.2% 1Y
Market cap
$6.10B
P/E
32.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.16B
Div. yield
0.00%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Powell Industries leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Powell Industries 4, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 3, Eaton 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionETNPOWLWABLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $152.20B $6.10B $48.19B ETN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.7x 32.0x 35.2x POWL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 28.3x 32.5x 24.3x WAB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +15.5% +7.0% +13.2% ETN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.8% 16.5% — POWL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.3% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.5% +31.2% +42.6% WAB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +19.0%/yr +81.2%/yr +25.5%/yr POWL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.7% 64.3% 26.2% WAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 70/100 46/100 POWL

Percentile Scorecard

ETNPOWLWAB

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

AxisETNPOWLWAB
Valuation 14 #175 of 203 41 #120 of 203 35 #132 of 203
Growth 74 #50 of 188 91 #18 of 188 89 #22 of 188
Profitability 74 #49 of 184 98 #5 of 184 55 #84 of 184
Financial Health 20 #173 of 217 76 #54 of 217 28 #156 of 217
Shareholder Returns 43 #87 of 153 45 #85 of 153 21 #121 of 153
Overall 45 70 46
  • ETN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • POWL ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodETNPOWLWABSPY
1 month -8.9%-10.3%-3.5% +0.9%
3 months +8.6%-9.9%-3.2% +5.9%
6 months -4.3%-33.7%+8.0% +8.5%
Year to date +23.4%+58.1%+32.2% +13.3%
1 year +4.5%+31.2%+42.6% +12.4%
3 years +101.2%+580.0%+171.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year +26.3%+89.5%+39.5% +23.5%
5 years +138.6%+1,849.1%+211.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year +19.0%+81.2%+25.5% +11.0%
10 years +530.1%+1,330.2%+267.4% +263.4%
10 years, per year +20.2%+30.5%+13.9% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureETNPOWLWABSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.7%64.3%26.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.8%67.8%24.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.872.510.99 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.110.481.63 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.7%-55.9%-23.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.5%-47.8%-7.7% -0.9%
52-week high $459.94$322.05$305.87 $779.14
52-week low $315.82$94.02$196.14 $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.

MultipleETNPOWLWAB
P/E now vs peer median 39.9xmedian 25.4x 32.1xmedian 25.4x 34.9xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 1.9x 5.3xmedian 1.9x 3.9xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 26.5xmedian 14.3x 23.2xmedian 14.3x —median 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 38.8xmedian 21.8x 25.1xmedian 21.8x 28.7xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 2.2x 8.1xmedian 2.2x 4.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 3.00median 1.41 0.44median 1.41 1.45median 1.41

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 monthsETNPOWLWAB
Revenue $30.03B $1.16B $12.21B
Gross profit $10.78B $348.18M $4.35B
Operating income $5.32B $227.67M $2.10B
Net income $3.83B $190.86M –
Free cash flow $3.93B $243.96M –
R&D $844.00M $14.98M $261.00M
EPS (diluted) $9.83 $5.21 $8.07
Cash & equivalents $483.00M $633.56M $489.00M
Total debt $20.61B – –
Shares (diluted) 389.50M 36.60M 169.60M
Enterprise value $149.39B $3.95B $48.19B

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
MetricETNPOWLWAB
P/E 39.9x 32.1x 34.9x
P/FCF 38.8x 25.1x 28.7x
P/Operating cash flow 30.8x 23.9x 22.9x
P/S 5.1x 5.3x 3.9x
P/B 7.5x 8.1x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 19.9x 8.2x 6.5x
EV/EBITDA 26.5x 23.2x –
EV/EBIT 32.5x 24.1x –
EV/Revenue 5.7x 4.7x 3.9x
EV/FCF 43.9x 22.5x –
EV/Operating cash flow 34.9x 21.4x 22.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.00 0.44 1.45

Growth

14 metrics
MetricETNPOWLWAB
Revenue growth (1Y) 15.5% 7.0% 13.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.8% 21.0% 8.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.7% 11.9% 19.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 39.2% 15.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.7% 8.0% 18.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 74.2% 20.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -2.4% 8.8% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.2% 73.1% –
EPS growth (1Y) -2.0% 8.6% 17.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 72.8% 24.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.9% 153.9% 40.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 25.5% 31.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.1% 201.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.3% 25.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricETNPOWLWAB
Gross margin 35.9% 30.1% –
EBITDA margin 21.7% 20.4% –
Operating margin 17.7% 19.7% –
Pretax margin 16.1% 21.2% –
Net margin 12.8% 16.5% –
FCF margin 13.1% 21.1% –
Operating cash flow margin 16.5% 22.1% 17.1%
Return on equity 19.1% 26.1% 12.2%
Return on assets 6.9% 14.8% 5.9%
Return on invested capital 10.3% – –
Return on capital employed 12.2% 34.0% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.3x –
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricETNPOWLWAB
Debt / assets 36.7% – –
Debt / equity 1.0x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x – –
Debt / FCF 5.2x – –
Liabilities / assets 63.9% 46.2% 50.9%
Equity / assets 36.1% 53.8% 49.1%
Interest coverage 12.0x – –
Current ratio 1.2x 2.0x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.8x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.0x –
Altman Z-score 3.75 8.28 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricETNPOWLWAB
Dividend yield 1.1% 0.2% 0.4%
Net buyback yield 0.3% – –
Shareholder yield 1.4% 0.2% 0.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 6.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 5.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.6% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 1.8% –

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.

ConsensusETNPOWLWAB
Forward P/E 28.3xFY2026 32.5xFY2026 24.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $13.88FY2026 $5.17FY2026 $11.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.0%FY2026 +4.4%FY2026 +29.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.4% +26.9% +5.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $31.83BFY2026 $1.24BFY2026 $12.82BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.0%FY2026 +12.4%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +21.7% +26.2% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersETNPOWLWAB
Held by institutions 84.7% 75.0% 92.6%
Institutions holding 2,642 581 1,195
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.6% -4.3% +0.2%
Institutions buying 1,399 318 553
Institutions selling 892 215 409
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.48 1.35

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.

ETNPOWLWAB
ETN 1.00 0.69 0.57
POWL 0.69 1.00 0.51
WAB 0.57 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ETN, POWL and WAB?

Eaton (ETN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Eaton (ETN) $152.20B, Powell Industries (POWL) $6.10B, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) $48.19B.

Which stock is cheaper, ETN, POWL and WAB?

Powell Industries (POWL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Eaton (ETN) 39.7x, Powell Industries (POWL) 32.0x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 35.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) is cheapest (Eaton (ETN) 28.3x, Powell Industries (POWL) 32.5x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 24.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Eaton (ETN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Eaton (ETN) +15.5%, Powell Industries (POWL) +7.0%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +13.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Powell Industries (POWL) has the highest net margin (Eaton (ETN) 12.8%, Powell Industries (POWL) 16.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) returned the most: Eaton (ETN) +4.5%, Powell Industries (POWL) +31.2%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +42.6%. Over five years, Powell Industries (POWL) compounded fastest (Eaton (ETN) +19.0%/yr, Powell Industries (POWL) +81.2%/yr, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +25.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Eaton (ETN) 0.00%, Powell Industries (POWL) 0.00%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 0.00%. Eaton (ETN) and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) has been the steadiest (Eaton (ETN) 40.7%, Powell Industries (POWL) 64.3%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 26.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ETN, POWL and WAB?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Powell Industries (POWL) leads on 4. 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.