LDOS vs AERG Stock Comparison

Leidos Holdings and Applied Energetics Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LDOS Leidos Holdings, Inc.
$139.91 +13.2% 1M -26.3% 1Y
Market cap
$17.59B
P/E
12.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.63B
Div. yield
0.01%
Defense Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Leidos Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Leidos Holdings 7). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLDOSAERGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.59B $209.21M LDOS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 12.8x -13.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 11.0x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.4% -82.5% LDOS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.8% -5,128.4% LDOS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 13.9% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -26.3% -43.0% LDOS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.2%/yr -17.2%/yr LDOS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.6% 72.0% LDOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 18/100 LDOS

Percentile Scorecard

LDOSAERG

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

AxisLDOSAERG
Valuation 98 #3 of 100 5 #95 of 100
Growth 57 #42 of 97 2 #95 of 97
Profitability 85 #15 of 96 5 #91 of 96
Financial Health 34 #70 of 105 53 #50 of 105
Shareholder Returns 75 #17 of 64 24 #49 of 64
Overall 70 18
  • LDOS ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • AERG 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

PeriodLDOSAERGSPY
1 month +13.2%+6.8% -0.8%
3 months +21.6%-26.6% +3.5%
6 months -3.0%-30.4% +7.0%
Year to date -22.4%-48.1% +12.2%
1 year -26.3%-43.0% +13.0%
3 years +54.6%-59.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +15.6%-26.1% +23.1%
5 years +41.4%-61.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +7.2%-17.2% +11.0%
10 years +235.6%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +12.9%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureLDOSAERGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.6%72.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.3%73.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.261.10 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.74-0.60 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.3%-84.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -29.9%-51.8% -1.8%
52-week high $199.55$1.95 $779.14
52-week low $100.00$0.68 $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.

MultipleLDOSAERG
P/E now vs peer median 12.8xmedian 26.8x -13.4xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.9x 688.9xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 9.8xmedian 15.2x -13.8xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 8.1xmedian 25.5x -20.8xmedian 25.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.5x 99.0xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.45median 0.94 0.40median 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 monthsLDOSAERG
Revenue $17.63B $313.97K
Gross profit $3.14B $143.70K
Operating income $2.03B -$16.17M
Net income $1.40B -$16.07M
Free cash flow $2.16B -$10.40M
R&D – $2.09M
EPS (diluted) $10.92 $-0.07
Cash & equivalents $748.00M $1.19M
Total debt $21.66B –
Shares (diluted) 126.00M 229.90M
Enterprise value $14.30B $196.18M

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
MetricLDOSAERG
P/E 12.8x -13.4x
P/FCF 8.1x -20.8x
P/Operating cash flow 7.6x -21.1x
P/S 1.0x 688.9x
P/B 3.3x 99.0x
P/Tangible book 4.0x 99.0x
EV/EBITDA 9.8x -13.8x
EV/EBIT 11.3x -13.3x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 685.1x
EV/FCF 10.6x -20.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 9.9x -21.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.45 0.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLDOSAERG
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.4% -82.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% -47.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.8% -83.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -54.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.4% -41.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 21.1% -37.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -0.8% -41.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 24.8% -37.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 1.3% -36.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.6% -33.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 54.9% -56.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 35.7% -39.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 63.2% -34.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 41.7% -39.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLDOSAERG
Gross margin 17.8% 45.8%
EBITDA margin 13.2% -4,975%
Operating margin 11.5% -5,150%
Pretax margin 10.2% -5,118%
Net margin 7.8% -5,128%
FCF margin 12.3% -3,312%
Operating cash flow margin 13.0% -3,260%
Return on equity 26.8% -440.1%
Return on assets 9.0% -300.4%
Return on invested capital 13.9% –
Return on capital employed 16.5% -409.2%
Asset turnover 1.1x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 0.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 1,759%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLDOSAERG
Debt / assets 38.6% –
Debt / equity 1.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x –
Debt / FCF 2.8x –
Liabilities / assets 65.9% 46.3%
Equity / assets 34.1% 53.7%
Interest coverage – –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.4x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.9x
Altman Z-score 3.20 6.92

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLDOSAERG
Dividend yield 1.2% –
Net buyback yield 3.7% -5.0%
Shareholder yield 5.0% -5.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 15.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 10.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 2.8% –

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.

ConsensusLDOSAERG
Forward P/E 11.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $12.75FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +6.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -9.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.52BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +2.0%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +14.9% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLDOSAERG
Held by institutions 79.3% 0.0%
Institutions holding 773 1
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.1% –
Institutions buying 380 0
Institutions selling 294 0
Buyers to sellers 1.29 –

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.

LDOSAERG
LDOS 1.00 0.00
AERG 0.00 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LDOS and AERG?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Leidos Holdings (LDOS) $17.59B, Applied Energetics (AERG) $209.21M.

Which company is growing faster?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +3.4%, Applied Energetics (AERG) -82.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) has the highest net margin (Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 7.8%, Applied Energetics (AERG) -5,128.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Leidos Holdings (LDOS) returned the most: Leidos Holdings (LDOS) -26.3%, Applied Energetics (AERG) -43.0%. Over five years, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) compounded fastest (Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +7.2%/yr, Applied Energetics (AERG) -17.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 0.01%, Applied Energetics (AERG) 0.00%. Applied Energetics (AERG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) has been the steadiest (Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 35.6%, Applied Energetics (AERG) 72.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do LDOS and AERG move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.00, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, LDOS and AERG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) leads on 7. 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.