GD vs MSI vs LMT Stock Comparison

General Dynamics, Motorola Solutions and Lockheed Martin Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GD General Dynamics Corp
$357.05 +6.1% 1M +1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$95.99B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$54.86B
Div. yield
–
Defense Industrials
5 wins
LMT Lockheed Martin Corp
$635.32 +22.3% 1M +30.9% 1Y
Market cap
$143.69B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$79.12B
Div. yield
0.02%
Defense Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

General Dynamics leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (General Dynamics 5, Lockheed Martin 4, Motorola Solutions 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGDMSILMTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $95.99B $80.30B $143.69B LMT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.4x 37.6x 22.1x GD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.3x 26.4x 21.5x GD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.1% +10.3% +7.9% MSI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.2% 17.4% 8.2% MSI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.6% 20.3% 26.5% LMT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.5x 2.3x 1.3x GD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.02% LMT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.8% +10.6% +30.9% LMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.7%/yr +14.2%/yr +13.9%/yr MSI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 22.3% 26.2% 30.0% GD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 55/100 60/100 GD

Percentile Scorecard

GDMSILMT

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

AxisGDMSILMT
Valuation 85 #16 of 100 48 #53 of 100 68 #33 of 100
Growth 43 #56 of 97 46 #53 of 97 62 #38 of 97
Profitability 78 #22 of 96 99 #2 of 96 90 #11 of 96
Financial Health 62 #41 of 105 20 #84 of 105 41 #62 of 105
Shareholder Returns 86 #10 of 64 60 #26 of 64 40 #39 of 64
Overall 71 55 60
  • GD ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • MSI ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • LMT 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

PeriodGDMSILMTSPY
1 month +6.1%+6.3%+22.3% -0.8%
3 months -8.2%+14.6%+9.5% +3.5%
6 months +14.2%+12.5%+23.8% +7.0%
Year to date +6.1%+26.7%+31.4% +12.2%
1 year +1.8%+10.6%+30.9% +13.0%
3 years +49.9%+78.3%+43.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +14.4%+21.3%+12.7% +23.1%
5 years +73.5%+94.2%+92.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +11.7%+14.2%+13.9% +11.0%
10 years +136.2%+560.0%+154.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.0%+20.8%+9.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGDMSILMTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 22.3%26.2%30.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.9%27.1%26.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.330.12-0.08 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.080.411.03 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.0%-27.9%-33.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.8%-1.2%-6.1% -1.8%
52-week high $395.97$491.32$676.70 $779.14
52-week low $312.53$363.83$439.19 $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.

MultipleGDMSILMT
P/E now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 26.8x 37.7xmedian 26.8x 22.5xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 2.9x 6.6xmedian 2.9x 1.9xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 15.2x 24.7xmedian 15.2x 14.7xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 25.5x 30.0xmedian 25.5x 17.5xmedian 25.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 2.5x 29.9xmedian 2.5x 14.6xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 2.10median 0.94 2.85median 0.94 64.50median 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 monthsGDMSILMT
Revenue $54.86B $12.24B $79.12B
Gross profit $8.44B $6.36B $9.28B
Operating income $5.66B $3.05B $9.32B
Net income $4.49B $2.14B $6.51B
Free cash flow $6.45B $2.68B $8.38B
R&D – $1.02B –
EPS (diluted) $16.40 $12.76 $28.13
Cash & equivalents $4.33B $710.00M $5.96B
Total debt $7.52B $9.03B $20.50B
Shares (diluted) 273.52M 167.20M 231.50M
Enterprise value $83.10B $76.64B $127.92B

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
MetricGDMSILMT
P/E 21.5x 37.7x 22.5x
P/FCF 15.0x 30.0x 17.5x
P/Operating cash flow 12.5x 27.0x 14.5x
P/S 1.8x 6.6x 1.9x
P/B 3.6x 29.9x 14.6x
P/Tangible book 3.8x -305.6x 17.6x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x 24.7x 14.7x
EV/EBIT 17.6x 29.1x 17.3x
EV/Revenue 1.8x 7.2x 2.0x
EV/FCF 15.5x 33.1x 19.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 13.0x 29.8x 16.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.10 2.85 64.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGDMSILMT
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.1% 10.3% 7.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 8.2% 5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.9% 11.7% 55.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.6% 11.3% 3.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.4% 8.9% 52.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 10.3% 15.4% 3.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.8% 0.8% 55.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 10.0% 12.0% -2.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.8% 1.8% 55.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.2% 13.2% 0.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 13.9% 59.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.0% 19.4% 10.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 12.3% 82.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.7% 21.4% 13.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGDMSILMT
Gross margin 15.4% 52.0% 11.7%
EBITDA margin 12.0% 29.4% 13.9%
Operating margin 10.3% 24.9% 11.8%
Pretax margin 9.9% 22.6% 9.7%
Net margin 8.2% 17.4% 8.2%
FCF margin 11.8% 21.9% 10.6%
Operating cash flow margin 14.0% 24.3% 12.8%
Return on equity 17.0% 81.5% 69.2%
Return on assets 7.5% 11.2% 10.3%
Return on invested capital 13.6% 20.3% 26.5%
Return on capital employed 13.9% 22.4% 23.9%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.6x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.4x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 2.9% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGDMSILMT
Debt / assets 12.5% 46.9% 31.8%
Debt / equity 0.3x 3.4x 2.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.5x 2.3x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 1.2x 3.4x 2.4x
Liabilities / assets 55.4% 86.0% 84.4%
Equity / assets 44.6% 14.0% 15.6%
Interest coverage – 6.9x 8.6x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.1x 1.3x
Quick ratio 2.8x 0.8x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.18 4.30 3.81

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGDMSILMT
Dividend yield 1.8% 1.0% 2.2%
Net buyback yield 0.4% 1.3% 0.5%
Shareholder yield 2.1% 2.3% 2.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 35.8% 49.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 28.6% 38.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 10.7% 1.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 11.0% 1.6%

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.

ConsensusGDMSILMT
Forward P/E 20.3xFY2026 26.4xFY2026 21.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.56FY2026 $18.41FY2026 $29.52FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +13.7%FY2026 +19.7%FY2026 +37.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.9% +10.4% +7.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $53.43BFY2026 $12.12BFY2026 $85.91BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.6% +8.2% +4.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGDMSILMT
Held by institutions 86.5% 88.3% 75.5%
Institutions holding 2,217 1,466 2,779
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.1% +3.4% +0.4%
Institutions buying 1,018 639 1,336
Institutions selling 831 596 1,026
Buyers to sellers 1.23 1.07 1.30

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.

GDMSILMT
GD 1.00 0.22 0.58
MSI 0.22 1.00 0.21
LMT 0.58 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GD, MSI and LMT?

Lockheed Martin (LMT) is the largest by market capitalisation: General Dynamics (GD) $95.99B, Motorola Solutions (MSI) $80.30B, Lockheed Martin (LMT) $143.69B.

Which stock is cheaper, GD, MSI and LMT?

General Dynamics (GD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (General Dynamics (GD) 21.4x, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 37.6x, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 22.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, General Dynamics (GD) is cheapest (General Dynamics (GD) 20.3x, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 26.4x, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 21.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Motorola Solutions (MSI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: General Dynamics (GD) +9.1%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) +10.3%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) +7.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Motorola Solutions (MSI) has the highest net margin (General Dynamics (GD) 8.2%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 17.4%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 8.2%). On return on invested capital, Lockheed Martin (LMT) leads (General Dynamics (GD) 13.6%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 20.3%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 26.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lockheed Martin (LMT) returned the most: General Dynamics (GD) +1.8%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) +10.6%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) +30.9%. Over five years, Motorola Solutions (MSI) compounded fastest (General Dynamics (GD) +11.7%/yr, Motorola Solutions (MSI) +14.2%/yr, Lockheed Martin (LMT) +13.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Lockheed Martin (LMT) has the highest dividend yield: General Dynamics (GD) 0.00%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 0.01%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 0.02%. General Dynamics (GD) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, General Dynamics (GD) has been the steadiest (General Dynamics (GD) 22.3%, Motorola Solutions (MSI) 26.2%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) 30.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.