GD vs MSI vs ESLT Stock Comparison

General Dynamics, Motorola Solutions and Elbit Systems Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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GD General Dynamics Corp
$364.99 +10.0% 1M +6.3% 1Y
Market cap
$98.63B
P/E
21.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$56.52B
Div. yield
1.72%
Defense Industrials
6 wins
ESLT Elbit Systems Ltd
$703.46 -0.8% 1M +48.7% 1Y
Market cap
$32.67B
P/E
50.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.55B
Div. yield
0.53%
Defense Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

General Dynamics leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (General Dynamics 6, Elbit Systems 4, Motorola Solutions 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGDMSIESLTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $98.63B $82.27B $32.67B GD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.2x 39.5x 50.6x GD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.8x 27.0x 50.5x GD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +11.4% +13.7% ESLT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.2% 16.5% 7.4% MSI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.0% 18.8% 17.8% MSI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 2.6x -0.9x ESLT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.72% 0.97% 0.53% GD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.3% +26.1% +48.7% ESLT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.7%/yr +15.0%/yr +35.0%/yr ESLT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.7% 25.1% 45.8% GD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 73/100 52/100 61/100 GD

Percentile Scorecard

GDMSIESLT

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

AxisGDMSIESLT
Valuation 84 #17 of 101 46 #55 of 101 50 #51 of 101
Growth 54 #46 of 98 37 #62 of 98 86 #15 of 98
Profitability 78 #22 of 97 98 #3 of 97 73 #27 of 97
Financial Health 62 #41 of 107 20 #86 of 107 59 #45 of 107
Shareholder Returns 89 #8 of 66 62 #26 of 66 39 #41 of 66
Overall 73 52 61
  • GD ranked among 108 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • MSI ranked among 108 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • ESLT ranked among 108 companies in Aerospace and Defense

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGDMSIESLTSPY
1 month +10.0%+9.1%-0.8% -1.0%
3 months -5.0%+13.5%-18.6% -0.4%
6 months +5.1%+14.6%-15.3% +4.5%
Year to date +8.4%+29.7%+21.8% +12.4%
1 year +6.3%+26.1%+48.7% +13.6%
3 years +50.1%+66.0%+269.4% +76.4%
3 years, per year +14.5%+18.4%+54.6% +20.8%
5 years +81.6%+100.9%+347.7% +63.7%
5 years, per year +12.7%+15.0%+35.0% +10.4%
10 years +143.6%+554.9%+637.4% +267.7%
10 years, per year +9.3%+20.7%+22.1% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureGDMSIESLTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.7%25.1%45.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.0%25.1%41.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.290.150.65 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.281.041.06 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.0%-27.9%-35.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.8%0.0%-30.6% -1.6%
52-week high $395.97$497.09$1,014.33 $779.14
52-week low $312.53$363.83$454.95 $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.

MultipleGDMSIESLT
P/E now vs peer median 21.2xmedian 25.9x 39.5xmedian 25.9x 50.6xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.8x 6.5xmedian 2.8x 3.8xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 14.7x 25.2xmedian 14.7x 32.9xmedian 14.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 17.1xmedian 26.9x 32.5xmedian 26.9x 32.9xmedian 26.9x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 2.5x 26.7xmedian 2.5x 7.4xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 1.73median 0.94 5.00median 0.94 1.61median 0.94

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 monthsGDMSIESLT
Revenue $56.52B $12.60B $8.55B
Gross profit $8.72B $6.58B $2.14B
Operating income $5.86B $3.06B $787.82M
Net income $4.66B $2.09B $636.61M
Free cash flow $5.78B $2.53B $992.19M
R&D – $1.06B $582.72M
EPS (diluted) $17.01 $12.45 $13.56
Cash & equivalents $4.40B $774.00M $255.34M
Total debt $7.02B $10.11B $92.13M
Shares (diluted) 273.78M 167.40M 46.92M
Enterprise value $83.86B $78.75B $29.23B

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
MetricGDMSIESLT
P/E 21.2x 39.5x 50.6x
P/FCF 17.1x 32.5x 32.9x
P/Operating cash flow 13.5x 29.0x 32.9x
P/S 1.7x 6.5x 3.8x
P/B 3.6x 26.7x 7.4x
P/Tangible book 3.8x -197.8x 7.4x
EV/EBITDA 14.9x 25.2x 32.9x
EV/EBIT 17.3x 30.0x 40.4x
EV/Revenue 1.8x 7.3x 3.7x
EV/FCF 17.5x 36.2x 32.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.9x 32.3x 32.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.73 5.00 1.61

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGDMSIESLT
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 11.4% 13.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 8.6% 14.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.4% 13.1% 18.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.8% 10.6% 14.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 10.0% 6.9% 37.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.9% 10.8% 26.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 10.5% -1.6% 58.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.1% 7.0% 33.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.0% -0.6% 50.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 7.9% 31.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 27.7% 7.1% 22.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.4% 11.1% 82.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.1% 5.0% 105.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.2% 11.5% 175.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGDMSIESLT
Gross margin 15.4% 52.2% 25.0%
EBITDA margin 12.0% 28.9% 11.3%
Operating margin 10.4% 24.2% 9.2%
Pretax margin 10.0% 21.6% 8.1%
Net margin 8.2% 16.5% 7.4%
FCF margin 10.2% 20.1% 11.6%
Operating cash flow margin 12.9% 22.5% 11.6%
Return on equity 17.2% 72.4% 14.7%
Return on assets 7.7% 10.4% 4.7%
Return on invested capital 14.0% 18.8% 17.8%
Return on capital employed 14.2% 21.7% 11.0%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.4x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 3.1% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGDMSIESLT
Debt / assets 11.7% 47.8% 0.7%
Debt / equity 0.3x 3.3x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 2.6x -0.9x
Debt / FCF 1.2x 4.0x 0.1x
Liabilities / assets 54.7% 85.4% 68.2%
Equity / assets 45.3% 14.6% 31.8%
Interest coverage – 6.7x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.1x 1.4x
Quick ratio 2.9x 0.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.29 4.03 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGDMSIESLT
Dividend yield 1.7% 1.0% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 0.6% 1.1% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 2.1% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 37.5% 22.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 30.9% 14.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 10.4% -54.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 10.9% -17.4%

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.

ConsensusGDMSIESLT
Forward P/E 20.8xFY2026 27.0xFY2026 50.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.56FY2026 $18.41FY2026 $13.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +19.7%FY2026 +22.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.9% +10.4% +21.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $53.43BFY2026 $12.12BFY2026 $8.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026 +11.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.6% +8.2% +21.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGDMSIESLT
Held by institutions 86.6% 88.3% 19.9%
Institutions holding 2,221 1,469 386
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.1% +3.4% -7.1%
Institutions buying 1,020 640 202
Institutions selling 833 596 108
Buyers to sellers 1.22 1.07 1.87

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.

GDMSIESLT
GD 1.00 0.22 0.42
MSI 0.22 1.00 0.13
ESLT 0.42 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GD, MSI and ESLT?

General Dynamics (GD) is the largest by market capitalisation: General Dynamics (GD) $98.63B, Motorola Solutions (MSI) $82.27B, Elbit Systems (ESLT) $32.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, GD, MSI and ESLT?

General Dynamics (GD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (General Dynamics (GD) 21.2x, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 39.5x, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 50.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, General Dynamics (GD) is cheapest (General Dynamics (GD) 20.8x, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 27.0x, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 50.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Elbit Systems (ESLT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: General Dynamics (GD) +9.7%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) +11.4%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +13.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Motorola Solutions (MSI) has the highest net margin (General Dynamics (GD) 8.2%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 16.5%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 7.4%). On return on invested capital, Motorola Solutions (MSI) leads (General Dynamics (GD) 14.0%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 18.8%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 17.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Elbit Systems (ESLT) returned the most: General Dynamics (GD) +6.3%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) +26.1%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +48.7%. Over five years, Elbit Systems (ESLT) compounded fastest (General Dynamics (GD) +12.7%/yr, Motorola Solutions (MSI) +15.0%/yr, Elbit Systems (ESLT) +35.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

General Dynamics (GD) has the highest dividend yield: General Dynamics (GD) 1.72%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 0.97%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 0.53%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, General Dynamics (GD) has been the steadiest (General Dynamics (GD) 22.7%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 25.1%, Elbit Systems (ESLT) 45.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GD, MSI and ESLT?

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