FSS vs ST vs VICR Stock Comparison

Federal Signal, Sensata Technologies Holding and Vicor Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FSS Federal Signal Corp /De/
$113.43 -1.4% 1M -9.9% 1Y
Market cap
$7.00B
P/E
24.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Heavy Equipment Industrials
5 wins
VICR Vicor Corp
$216.65 -24.0% 1M +141.7% 1Y
Market cap
$9.46B
P/E
52.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$560.70M
Div. yield
–
Electrical Equipment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Federal Signal leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Federal Signal 5, Vicor 4, Sensata Technologies Holding 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFSSSTVICRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.00B $5.99B $9.46B VICR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.5x 16.3x 52.5x ST
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.1x 11.4x 56.6x ST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +24.0% +4.1% +27.0% VICR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.7% 9.5% 32.2% VICR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.3% 8.2% — FSS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 2.3x — FSS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.9% +32.6% +141.7% VICR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +21.5%/yr -5.8%/yr +7.4%/yr FSS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.0% 39.9% 95.2% FSS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 64/100 61/100 FSS

Percentile Scorecard

FSSSTVICR

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

AxisFSSSTVICR
Valuation 54 #95 of 203 87 #27 of 203 9 #184 of 203
Growth 94 #13 of 188 73 #52 of 188 91 #17 of 188
Profitability 91 #18 of 184 70 #56 of 184 90 #20 of 184
Financial Health 76 #53 of 217 42 #126 of 217 100 #1 of 217
Shareholder Returns 66 #53 of 153 49 #79 of 153 15 #131 of 153
Overall 76 64 61
  • FSS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ST ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • VICR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodFSSSTVICRSPY
1 month -1.4%-2.0%-24.0% +0.9%
3 months +1.3%-11.1%+18.5% +5.9%
6 months -6.6%+3.4%-15.6% +8.5%
Year to date +4.5%+22.9%+97.7% +13.3%
1 year -9.9%+32.6%+141.7% +12.4%
3 years +98.1%+19.3%+433.9% +88.1%
3 years, per year +25.6%+6.1%+74.8% +23.5%
5 years +165.0%-25.7%+42.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +21.5%-5.8%+7.4% +11.0%
10 years +834.3%+13.7%+1,566.5% +263.4%
10 years, per year +25.0%+1.3%+32.5% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureFSSSTVICRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.0%39.9%95.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.9%37.0%101.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.281.933.76 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.280.821.49 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.3%-72.8%-80.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.2%-23.6%-43.0% -0.9%
52-week high $133.73$53.55$379.78 $779.14
52-week low $104.77$28.53$83.28 $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.

MultipleFSSSTVICR
P/E now vs peer median 24.2xmedian 25.4x 16.2xmedian 25.4x 55.4xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 1.9x 1.5xmedian 1.9x 17.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 14.3x 9.7xmedian 14.3x 58.9xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.4xmedian 21.8x 9.3xmedian 21.8x 196.6xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.2x 1.9xmedian 2.2x 11.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.85median 1.41 2.37median 1.41 1.16median 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 monthsFSSSTVICR
Revenue $2.45B $3.85B $560.70M
Gross profit $714.00M $1.19B $339.59M
Operating income $395.40M $582.40M $139.60M
Net income $285.40M $366.60M $180.33M
Free cash flow $339.20M $641.20M $50.83M
R&D – $128.60M $87.44M
EPS (diluted) $4.64 $2.49 $3.79
Cash & equivalents $62.80M $553.40M $513.14M
Total debt $453.60M $2.40B –
Shares (diluted) 61.50M 147.00M 47.61M
Enterprise value $6.75B $3.82B $7.68B

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
MetricFSSSTVICR
P/E 24.2x 16.2x 55.4x
P/FCF 20.4x 9.3x 196.6x
P/Operating cash flow 18.6x 7.8x 104.0x
P/S 2.8x 1.5x 17.8x
P/B 4.6x 1.9x 11.0x
P/Tangible book 6.2x 2.2x 11.0x
EV/EBITDA 15.1x 9.7x 58.9x
EV/EBIT 18.5x 13.4x 67.9x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 2.0x 16.9x
EV/FCF 21.6x 12.2x 186.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.6x 10.3x 98.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.85 2.37 1.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFSSSTVICR
Revenue growth (1Y) 24.0% 4.1% 27.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.1% -1.9% 10.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 24.5% 11.4% 35.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 22.1% -3.3% 18.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 27.8% 175.8% 85.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 28.8% 2.8% 38.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 28.8% 1,505% 119.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 28.6% 5.6% 50.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 28.4% 1,492% 106.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.6% 6.9% 47.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 45.6% 28.5% -28.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 59.2% 9.6% 21.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 49.8% 34.4% -56.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 73.3% 17.0% 50.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFSSSTVICR
Gross margin 29.2% 30.8% 60.6%
EBITDA margin 19.8% 20.9% 28.7%
Operating margin 16.2% 15.1% 24.9%
Pretax margin 15.2% 12.4% 28.1%
Net margin 11.7% 9.5% 32.2%
FCF margin 13.9% 16.7% 9.1%
Operating cash flow margin 15.2% 19.7% 17.1%
Return on equity 19.4% 12.2% 20.7%
Return on assets 11.7% 5.5% 19.2%
Return on invested capital 15.3% 8.2% –
Return on capital employed 18.5% 10.0% 16.0%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 2.1x 0.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.8% 3.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFSSSTVICR
Debt / assets 18.6% 35.8% –
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 2.3x –
Debt / FCF 1.3x 3.7x –
Liabilities / assets 38.2% 54.1% 7.6%
Equity / assets 61.8% 45.9% 92.4%
Interest coverage 19.3x 4.4x –
Current ratio 2.7x 2.4x 11.4x
Quick ratio 1.1x 1.5x 9.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.7x 7.7x
Altman Z-score 7.10 2.59 82.58

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFSSSTVICR
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.2% –
Net buyback yield 0.0% 0.4% -0.8%
Shareholder yield 0.5% 1.6% -0.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 12.6% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 10.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 13.6% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 17.0% – –

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.

ConsensusFSSSTVICR
Forward P/E 23.1xFY2026 11.4xFY2026 56.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.92FY2026 $3.60FY2026 $3.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.3%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026 +46.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +19.7% +72.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.79BFY2026 $3.79BFY2026 $609.82MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.1%FY2026 +2.3%FY2026 +34.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.3% +1.1% +63.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFSSSTVICR
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 47.7%
Institutions holding 474 467 510
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.9% +1.1% +3.9%
Institutions buying 249 265 348
Institutions selling 152 149 130
Buyers to sellers 1.64 1.78 2.68

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.

FSSSTVICR
FSS 1.00 0.49 0.35
ST 0.49 1.00 0.54
VICR 0.35 0.54 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FSS, ST and VICR?

Vicor (VICR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Federal Signal (FSS) $7.00B, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) $5.99B, Vicor (VICR) $9.46B.

Which stock is cheaper, FSS, ST and VICR?

Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Federal Signal (FSS) 24.5x, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 16.3x, Vicor (VICR) 52.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) is cheapest (Federal Signal (FSS) 23.1x, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 11.4x, Vicor (VICR) 56.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Vicor (VICR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Federal Signal (FSS) +24.0%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) +4.1%, Vicor (VICR) +27.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Vicor (VICR) has the highest net margin (Federal Signal (FSS) 11.7%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 9.5%, Vicor (VICR) 32.2%). On return on invested capital, Federal Signal (FSS) leads (Federal Signal (FSS) 15.3%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 8.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Vicor (VICR) returned the most: Federal Signal (FSS) -9.9%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) +32.6%, Vicor (VICR) +141.7%. Over five years, Federal Signal (FSS) compounded fastest (Federal Signal (FSS) +21.5%/yr, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) -5.8%/yr, Vicor (VICR) +7.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Federal Signal (FSS) 0.01%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 0.00%, Vicor (VICR) 0.00%. Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) and Vicor (VICR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Federal Signal (FSS) has been the steadiest (Federal Signal (FSS) 35.0%, Sensata Technologies Holding (ST) 39.9%, Vicor (VICR) 95.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FSS, ST and VICR?

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