ITW vs LECO vs TMO Stock Comparison

Illinois Tool Works, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Thermo Fisher Scientific Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.87B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

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

QuestionITWLECOTMOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $78.87B $15.31B $259.78B TMO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x 26.6x 36.7x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.9x 24.3x 26.8x LECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +11.1% +8.3% LECO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 12.4% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.3% +16.6% +23.0% TMO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +4.0%/yr +15.0%/yr +2.3%/yr LECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 30.8% 29.8% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 54/100 51/100 LECO

Percentile Scorecard

ITWLECOTMO

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

AxisITWLECOTMO
Valuation 24 #154 of 203 36 #130 of 203 50 #113 of 227
Growth 35 #123 of 188 44 #106 of 188 41 #130 of 219
Profitability – 94 #12 of 183 70 #63 of 206
Financial Health – 44 #121 of 217 –
Shareholder Returns 87 #21 of 153 54 #71 of 153 44 #76 of 134
Overall 49 54 51
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • TMO ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodITWLECOTMOSPY
1 month +0.7%+3.9%+2.9% -0.2%
3 months -6.5%+5.7%+20.3% +3.9%
6 months +2.8%+8.6%+47.4% +8.2%
Year to date +12.0%+17.8%+19.7% +12.9%
1 year +11.3%+16.6%+23.0% +12.3%
3 years +23.6%+63.5%+60.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.3%+17.8%+17.1% +23.3%
5 years +21.8%+101.1%+11.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +4.0%+15.0%+2.3% +10.9%
10 years +143.5%+331.4%+364.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.3%+15.7%+16.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureITWLECOTMOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%30.8%29.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.7%31.2%28.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.471.180.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.530.540.77 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.9%-35.3%-41.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.9%-5.5%-0.5% -1.2%
52-week high $299.60$298.88$696.55 $779.14
52-week low $241.07$220.64$438.34 $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.

MultipleITWLECOTMO
P/E now vs peer median 24.0xmedian 25.2x 26.7xmedian 25.2x 36.4xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 1.9x 3.3xmedian 1.9x 5.4xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 17.8xmedian 14.0x —median 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 21.7x 29.9xmedian 21.7x 34.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 25.0xmedian 2.3x 9.8xmedian 2.3x 4.7xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.32 3.82median 1.32 4.80median 1.04

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 monthsITWLECOTMO
Revenue – $4.64B $47.35B
Gross profit – $1.65B –
Operating income – $802.52M $8.47B
Net income $3.23B $575.27M $7.09B
Free cash flow – $511.89M –
R&D – – $1.40B
EPS (diluted) – $10.48 $19.06
Cash & equivalents $809.00M $283.24M $5.46B
Total debt – $1.15B –
Shares (diluted) 287.00M 54.87M 371.00M
Enterprise value $78.87B $14.17B $259.78B

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
MetricITWLECOTMO
P/E 24.0x 26.7x 36.4x
P/FCF 26.0x 29.9x 34.0x
P/Operating cash flow 24.1x 22.9x 27.5x
P/S 4.6x 3.3x 5.4x
P/B 25.0x 9.8x 4.7x
P/Tangible book 30.2x 9.8x 7.0x
EV/EBITDA – 17.8x –
EV/EBIT – 20.1x –
EV/Revenue – 3.5x 5.4x
EV/FCF – 31.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.1x 24.2x 27.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 3.82 4.80

Growth

14 metrics
MetricITWLECOTMO
Revenue growth (1Y) – 11.1% 8.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 4.5% 2.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 12.9% 12.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 7.0% 7.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 6.7% 9.6% 7.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 4.9% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) – 11.0% 9.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 7.0% 7.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.5% 0.7% 21.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.5% 0.5% 4.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -6.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -3.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricITWLECOTMO
Gross margin – 35.5% –
EBITDA margin – 19.5% –
Operating margin – 17.3% –
Pretax margin – 16.2% –
Net margin – 12.4% –
FCF margin – 11.0% –
Operating cash flow margin – 14.4% 19.7%
Return on equity 106.9% 37.0% 13.2%
Return on assets – 14.9% 6.2%
Return on invested capital – 22.6% –
Return on capital employed – 27.7% –
Asset turnover – 1.2x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricITWLECOTMO
Debt / assets – 29.5% –
Debt / equity – 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x –
Debt / FCF – 2.2x –
Liabilities / assets – 60.1% –
Equity / assets – 39.9% 47.9%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.9x 1.8x
Quick ratio – 1.0x –
Cash ratio – 0.3x –
Altman Z-score – 7.74 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricITWLECOTMO
Dividend yield 2.4% 1.1% 0.3%
Net buyback yield – 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 2.4% 2.9% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 33.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.3% –

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.

ConsensusITWLECOTMO
Forward P/E 25.9xFY2026 24.3xFY2026 26.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.67FY2026 $11.62FY2026 $25.91FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +13.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +19.3% +0.4% +2.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.46BFY2026 $4.84BFY2026 $50.12BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026 +12.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.4% +5.5% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersITWLECOTMO
Held by institutions 84.9% 81.3% 90.2%
Institutions holding 1,969 701 2,622
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +5.5% +0.8%
Institutions buying 846 297 1,142
Institutions selling 750 266 1,144
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.12 1.00

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.

ITWLECOTMO
ITW 1.00 0.61 0.16
LECO 0.61 1.00 0.21
TMO 0.16 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ITW, LECO and TMO?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.87B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.31B, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) $259.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, ITW, LECO and TMO?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.6x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 36.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is cheapest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.3x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 26.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +8.3%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) returned the most: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +16.6%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +23.0%. Over five years, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) compounded fastest (Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +15.0%/yr, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +2.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.00%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 0.01%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 0.00%. Illinois Tool Works (ITW) and Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 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%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 29.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ITW, LECO and TMO?

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