ITW vs LASR Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works and Nlight Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.58B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
2.37%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
4 wins
LASR Nlight, Inc.
$38.07 -5.6% 1M +13.5% 1Y
Market cap
$2.20B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$310.70M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

6 decided of 12

Illinois Tool Works leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Illinois Tool Works 4, Nlight 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionITWLASRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $78.58B $2.20B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x -173.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.9x 71.8x ITW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +43.2% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -4.0% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -3.8% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.37% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.3% +13.5% LASR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.0%/yr +6.3%/yr LASR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 87.3% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 46/100 ITW

Percentile Scorecard

ITWLASR

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

AxisITWLASR
Valuation 24 #154 of 203 12 #179 of 203
Growth 35 #123 of 188 98 #5 of 188
Profitability – 26 #136 of 183
Financial Health – 89 #25 of 217
Shareholder Returns 87 #21 of 153 7 #143 of 153
Overall 49 46
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • LASR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodITWLASRSPY
1 month +0.7%-5.6% -0.2%
3 months -6.5%-39.9% +3.9%
6 months +2.8%-42.1% +8.2%
Year to date +12.0%+1.5% +12.9%
1 year +11.3%+13.5% +12.3%
3 years +23.6%+360.3% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.3%+66.4% +23.3%
5 years +21.8%+35.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year +4.0%+6.3% +10.9%
10 years +143.5%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureITWLASRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%87.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.7%88.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.473.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.530.16 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-80.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-55.2% -1.2%
52-week high $299.60$84.95 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$28.60 $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.

MultipleITWLASR
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 25.2x -173.9xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 1.9x 7.1xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x -598.8xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 21.7x 52.5xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 25.0xmedian 2.3x 5.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.32 -4.11median 1.32

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 monthsITWLASR
Revenue – $310.70M
Gross profit – $97.95M
Operating income – -$16.99M
Net income $3.23B -$12.48M
Free cash flow – $41.83M
R&D – $50.56M
EPS (diluted) – $-0.22
Cash & equivalents $809.00M $295.76M
Total debt – $60.00M
Shares (diluted) 287.00M 56.98M
Enterprise value $78.59B $1.28B

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
MetricITWLASR
P/E 24.0x -173.9x
P/FCF 26.0x 52.5x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 41.3x
P/S 4.6x 7.1x
P/B 25.0x 5.0x
P/Tangible book 30.2x 5.0x
EV/EBITDA – -598.8x
EV/EBIT – -109.7x
EV/Revenue – 6.0x
EV/FCF – 44.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x 35.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -4.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWLASR
Revenue growth (1Y) – 43.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 11.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 113.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 29.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 67.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 33.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.7% 73.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 37.9%
EPS growth (1Y) – 76.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 42.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.5% 587.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.5% 119.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 311.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 65.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWLASR
Gross margin – 31.5%
EBITDA margin – -1.0%
Operating margin – -5.5%
Pretax margin – -3.8%
Net margin – -4.0%
FCF margin – 13.5%
Operating cash flow margin – 17.1%
Return on equity 106.9% -2.9%
Return on assets – -2.4%
Return on invested capital – -3.8%
Return on capital employed – -3.7%
Asset turnover – 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x -4.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 13.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWLASR
Debt / assets – –
Debt / equity – –
Net debt / EBITDA – –
Debt / FCF – –
Liabilities / assets – 15.0%
Equity / assets – 85.0%
Interest coverage – -14.7x
Current ratio 1.3x 8.2x
Quick ratio – 6.9x
Cash ratio – 6.0x
Altman Z-score – 17.41

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWLASR
Dividend yield 2.4% –
Net buyback yield – -8.9%
Shareholder yield 2.4% -8.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

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.

ConsensusITWLASR
Forward P/E 25.9xFY2026 71.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $0.53FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +120.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% +13.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $313.28MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +19.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +17.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWLASR
Held by institutions 84.9% 89.4%
Institutions holding 1,969 357
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +5.4%
Institutions buying 846 220
Institutions selling 750 112
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.96

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.

ITWLASR
ITW 1.00 0.10
LASR 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW and LASR?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.58B, Nlight (LASR) $2.20B.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nlight (LASR) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Nlight (LASR) +13.5%. Over five years, Nlight (LASR) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Nlight (LASR) +6.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 2.37%. Nlight (LASR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%, Nlight (LASR) 87.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ITW and LASR move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.10, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ITW and LASR?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 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.