GE vs PRLB vs HWM Stock Comparison

General Electric, Proto Labs and Howmet Aerospace Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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GE General Electric Co
$315.80 +2.0% 1M +2.2% 1Y
Market cap
$326.33B
P/E
35.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$52.58B
Div. yield
0.56%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
5 wins
PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$67.18 -31.5% 1M +35.0% 1Y
Market cap
$1.60B
P/E
46.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$579.49M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
2 wins
HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc.
$212.94 -8.0% 1M +3.4% 1Y
Market cap
$84.75B
P/E
41.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.73B
Div. yield
0.23%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

General Electric leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (General Electric 5, Howmet Aerospace 5, Proto Labs 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGEPRLBHWMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $326.33B $1.60B $84.75B GE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.9x 46.1x 41.3x GE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 41.6x 29.3x 41.0x PRLB
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +19.6% +11.8% +22.0% HWM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.3% 6.0% 21.1% HWM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -38.7% — 21.5% HWM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.7x — 1.4x GE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.56% — 0.23% GE
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.2% +35.0% +3.4% PRLB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +36.8%/yr +1.6%/yr +47.6%/yr HWM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.9% 50.3% 36.2% GE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 59/100 73/100 HWM

Percentile Scorecard

GEPRLBHWM

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

AxisGEPRLBHWM
Valuation 34 #67 of 101 47 #108 of 203 38 #63 of 101
Growth 32 #67 of 98 80 #39 of 189 91 #10 of 98
Profitability 62 #38 of 97 50 #94 of 187 99 #2 of 97
Financial Health 21 #85 of 107 94 #15 of 221 46 #58 of 107
Shareholder Returns 86 #10 of 64 26 #113 of 152 89 #8 of 64
Overall 47 59 73
  • GE ranked among 108 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • PRLB ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • HWM 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

PeriodGEPRLBHWMSPY
1 month +2.0%-31.5%-8.0% -2.3%
3 months -14.4%-16.3%-25.6% -0.7%
6 months +12.6%+4.4%-11.2% +4.8%
Year to date +2.5%+32.8%+3.9% +10.3%
1 year +2.2%+35.0%+3.4% +10.3%
3 years +263.3%+112.0%+343.8% +73.0%
3 years, per year +53.8%+28.5%+64.4% +20.1%
5 years +378.3%+8.3%+599.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +36.8%+1.6%+47.6% +10.1%
10 years +131.3%+51.8%+1,447.5% +258.6%
10 years, per year +8.7%+4.3%+31.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureGEPRLBHWMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.9%50.3%36.2% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.0%47.7%36.7% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.212.251.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.070.700.09 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.1%-65.4%-36.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.1%-31.9%-27.3% -3.5%
52-week high $381.07$98.64$292.71 $779.14
52-week low $273.25$46.81$185.88 $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.

MultipleGEPRLBHWM
P/E now vs peer median 35.9xmedian 26.9x 46.1xmedian 25.6x 41.3xmedian 26.9x
P/S now vs peer median 6.2xmedian 2.9x 2.8xmedian 1.9x 8.7xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -22.0xmedian 14.7x 19.4xmedian 14.4x 29.2xmedian 14.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 40.8xmedian 27.6x 33.0xmedian 22.5x 43.9xmedian 27.6x
P/B now vs peer median 18.4xmedian 2.5x 2.3xmedian 2.2x 14.7xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median -125.71median 0.91 1.39median 1.36 0.83median 0.91

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 monthsGEPRLBHWM
Revenue $52.58B $579.49M $9.73B
Gross profit $18.52B $261.97M $3.56B
Operating income -$16.58B $42.44M $2.73B
Net income $9.13B $35.02M $2.05B
Free cash flow $7.99B $48.61M $1.93B
R&D $1.81B $42.67M $38.00M
EPS (diluted) $8.74 $1.43 $5.13
Cash & equivalents $8.76B $133.78M $507.00M
Total debt $19.33B – $4.83B
Shares (diluted) 1.04B 24.44M 400.00M
Enterprise value $285.08B $1.05B $80.50B

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
MetricGEPRLBHWM
P/E 35.9x 46.1x 41.3x
P/FCF 40.8x 33.0x 43.9x
P/Operating cash flow 34.6x 22.2x 35.3x
P/S 6.2x 2.8x 8.7x
P/B 18.4x 2.3x 14.7x
P/Tangible book 23.8x 2.3x 17.3x
EV/EBITDA -22.0x 19.4x 29.2x
EV/EBIT -20.3x 34.2x 32.6x
EV/Revenue 6.4x 2.5x 9.2x
EV/FCF 42.2x 29.9x 46.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 35.7x 20.1x 37.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -125.71 1.39 0.83

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGEPRLBHWM
Revenue growth (1Y) 19.6% 11.8% 22.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.2% 5.4% 14.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 14.5% 33.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.9% 6.8% 26.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.2% 152.4% 36.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -98.5% 34.6% 35.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 13.2% 136.0% 41.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 32.6% 47.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.5% 133.6% 43.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -0.3% 33.1% 49.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.4% -4.2% 40.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.3% 2.7% 38.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 20.1% -28.2% 50.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% -1.8% 41.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGEPRLBHWM
Gross margin 35.2% 45.2% 36.6%
EBITDA margin -29.1% 12.9% 31.4%
Operating margin -31.5% 7.3% 28.1%
Pretax margin 20.3% 8.3% 25.8%
Net margin 17.3% 6.0% 21.1%
FCF margin 15.2% 8.4% 19.8%
Operating cash flow margin 17.9% 12.5% 24.7%
Return on equity 51.2% 5.0% 35.7%
Return on assets 7.2% 4.4% 15.5%
Return on invested capital -38.7% – 21.5%
Return on capital employed -19.5% 5.9% 24.7%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 2.1x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 2.5% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGEPRLBHWM
Debt / assets 15.2% – 36.4%
Debt / equity 1.1x – 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.7x – 1.4x
Debt / FCF 2.4x – 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 86.0% 13.1% 56.6%
Equity / assets 14.0% 86.9% 43.4%
Interest coverage -17.9x – –
Current ratio 1.0x 3.6x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.3x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 2.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.79 10.71 8.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGEPRLBHWM
Dividend yield 0.6% – 0.2%
Net buyback yield 2.6% 0.4% 1.5%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 0.4% 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 19.1% – 9.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) 21.8% – 10.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) 26.6% – 23.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 36.5% – 43.3%

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.

ConsensusGEPRLBHWM
Forward P/E 41.6xFY2026 29.3xFY2026 41.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.59FY2026 $2.29FY2026 $5.19FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +19.2%FY2026 +38.0%FY2026 +37.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +28.1% +10.0% +31.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $54.10BFY2026 $612.40MFY2026 $10.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +27.8%FY2026 +14.9%FY2026 +25.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.8% +4.8% +15.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGEPRLBHWM
Held by institutions 79.4% 93.7% 91.0%
Institutions holding 3,445 278 1,602
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.5% +1.7% +0.7%
Institutions buying 1,831 146 908
Institutions selling 1,150 89 485
Buyers to sellers 1.59 1.64 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.

GEPRLBHWM
GE 1.00 0.31 0.68
PRLB 0.31 1.00 0.30
HWM 0.68 0.30 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GE, PRLB and HWM?

General Electric (GE) is the largest by market capitalisation: General Electric (GE) $326.33B, Proto Labs (PRLB) $1.60B, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) $84.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, GE, PRLB and HWM?

General Electric (GE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (General Electric (GE) 35.9x, Proto Labs (PRLB) 46.1x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 41.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Proto Labs (PRLB) is cheapest (General Electric (GE) 41.6x, Proto Labs (PRLB) 29.3x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 41.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: General Electric (GE) +19.6%, Proto Labs (PRLB) +11.8%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +22.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest net margin (General Electric (GE) 17.3%, Proto Labs (PRLB) 6.0%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.1%). On return on invested capital, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) leads (General Electric (GE) -38.7%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Proto Labs (PRLB) returned the most: General Electric (GE) +2.2%, Proto Labs (PRLB) +35.0%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +3.4%. Over five years, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) compounded fastest (General Electric (GE) +36.8%/yr, Proto Labs (PRLB) +1.6%/yr, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +47.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

General Electric (GE) has the highest dividend yield: General Electric (GE) 0.56%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 0.23%. Proto Labs (PRLB) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, General Electric (GE) has been the steadiest (General Electric (GE) 33.9%, Proto Labs (PRLB) 50.3%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 36.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GE, PRLB and HWM?

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