MMM vs ITW vs AME Stock Comparison

3M, Illinois Tool Works and Ametek Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MMM 3M Co
$173.47 +1.9% 1M +1.1% 1Y
Market cap
$89.47B
P/E
25.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.25B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.75 +0.8% 1M +7.1% 1Y
Market cap
$79.10B
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.47B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
4 wins
AME Ametek Inc/
$240.00 -2.6% 1M +26.8% 1Y
Market cap
$55.62B
P/E
35.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.86B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ametek leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Ametek 6, Illinois Tool Works 4, 3M 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMMMITWAMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $89.47B $79.10B $55.62B MMM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.3x 24.8x 35.3x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.8x 25.8x 29.3x MMM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.7% +4.3% +12.7% AME
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.0% 19.4% 20.0% AME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.0% 27.1% 12.8% ITW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 1.9x 0.6x AME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.02% 0.01% ITW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +1.1% +7.1% +26.8% AME
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.8%/yr +4.2%/yr +12.9%/yr AME
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.6% 21.8% 23.8% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 48/100 62/100 AME

Percentile Scorecard

MMMITWAME

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

AxisMMMITWAME
Valuation 37 #129 of 203 24 #154 of 203 17 #168 of 203
Growth 60 #76 of 188 33 #127 of 188 64 #69 of 188
Profitability 87 #25 of 187 100 #2 of 187 92 #16 of 187
Financial Health 18 #183 of 222 23 #172 of 222 68 #72 of 222
Shareholder Returns 44 #86 of 153 60 #62 of 153 70 #47 of 153
Overall 49 48 62
  • MMM ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • AME ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMMMITWAMESPY
1 month +1.9%+0.8%-2.6% -1.0%
3 months +0.5%-2.6%-0.9% +2.9%
6 months +18.8%+2.4%+3.0% +6.4%
Year to date +8.4%+12.0%+16.9% +11.4%
1 year +1.1%+7.1%+26.8% +13.1%
3 years +130.2%+23.6%+70.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +32.1%+7.3%+19.4% +21.5%
5 years +14.8%+22.8%+83.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year +2.8%+4.2%+12.9% +10.9%
10 years +22.4%+143.9%+430.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +2.0%+9.3%+18.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMMMITWAMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.6%21.8%23.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.7%21.8%22.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.680.450.95 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.040.331.13 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -53.4%-28.9%-27.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.6%-8.0%-7.2% -2.5%
52-week high $183.81$299.60$258.54 $779.14
52-week low $141.20$241.07$184.19 $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.

MultipleMMMITWAME
P/E now vs peer median 25.5xmedian 25.9x 24.7xmedian 25.9x 34.9xmedian 25.9x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.9x 4.8xmedian 1.9x 7.0xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 13.7x 18.3xmedian 13.7x 23.0xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 33.5xmedian 21.1x 26.9xmedian 21.1x 30.2xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 2.3x 27.1xmedian 2.3x 4.9xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.71median 1.19 8.36median 1.19 4.01median 1.19

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 monthsMMMITWAME
Revenue $25.25B $16.47B $7.86B
Gross profit $9.98B $7.27B $2.86B
Operating income $4.74B $4.36B $2.04B
Net income $3.58B $3.19B $1.58B
Free cash flow $2.68B $2.92B $1.82B
R&D $1.21B – –
EPS (diluted) $6.77 $11.13 $6.86
Cash & equivalents $4.84B $839.00M $495.45M
Total debt $15.00B $9.69B $8.62B
Shares (diluted) 522.60M 287.00M 229.86M
Enterprise value $70.91B $75.66B $53.75B

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
MetricMMMITWAME
P/E 25.5x 24.7x 34.9x
P/FCF 33.5x 26.9x 30.2x
P/Operating cash flow 24.7x 23.6x 28.1x
P/S 3.6x 4.8x 7.0x
P/B 21.5x 27.1x 4.9x
P/Tangible book 42.3x 33.6x 7.8x
EV/EBITDA 16.1x 18.3x 23.0x
EV/EBIT 21.0x 20.0x 27.8x
EV/Revenue 3.9x 5.3x 7.2x
EV/FCF 37.2x 29.9x 31.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.4x 26.2x 28.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.71 8.36 4.01

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMMMITWAME
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.7% 4.3% 12.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 0.8% 7.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.8% 5.3% 13.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.0% 2.7% 7.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) -3.7% 6.4% 11.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.4% 3.4% 8.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.8% -5.1% 9.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.4% 1.0% 8.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 7.1% -3.1% 10.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.8% 3.0% 8.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 42.8% 5.8% 8.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.1% 3.1% 11.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.6% 7.2% 8.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.0% 4.1% 12.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMMMITWAME
Gross margin 39.5% 44.2% 36.4%
EBITDA margin 24.4% 28.9% 31.2%
Operating margin 18.8% 26.5% 25.9%
Pretax margin 17.5% 25.0% 24.3%
Net margin 14.0% 19.4% 20.0%
FCF margin 10.6% 17.7% 23.2%
Operating cash flow margin 14.4% 20.2% 24.9%
Return on equity 101.3% 104.3% 14.2%
Return on assets 9.8% 19.5% 9.6%
Return on invested capital 22.0% 27.1% 12.8%
Return on capital employed 18.7% 41.9% 14.8%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.0x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.0x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.4% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMMMITWAME
Debt / assets 37.9% 58.8% 12.3%
Debt / equity 3.6x 3.3x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 1.9x 0.6x
Debt / FCF 5.6x 3.3x 1.1x
Liabilities / assets 89.5% 82.4% 32.1%
Equity / assets 10.5% 17.6% 67.9%
Interest coverage – 14.5x 21.1x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.1x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.7x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.10 8.00 8.20

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMMMITWAME
Dividend yield 1.8% 2.4% 0.6%
Net buyback yield 3.0% 2.3% 0.7%
Shareholder yield 4.8% 4.7% 1.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 44.8% 57.4% 18.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) 59.9% 62.8% 16.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.2% 5.5% 9.4%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -21.4% 5.1% 11.3%

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.

ConsensusMMMITWAME
Forward P/E 19.8xFY2026 25.8xFY2026 29.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.75FY2026 $10.67FY2026 $8.20FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.6%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026 +10.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +19.3% +8.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $23.87BFY2026 $16.46BFY2026 $7.98BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.8%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.4% +11.4% +18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMMMITWAME
Held by institutions 74.5% 84.9% 89.6%
Institutions holding 2,208 1,969 1,195
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +0.8% +2.3%
Institutions buying 914 846 615
Institutions selling 837 750 399
Buyers to sellers 1.09 1.13 1.54

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.

MMMITWAME
MMM 1.00 0.56 0.41
ITW 0.56 1.00 0.50
AME 0.41 0.50 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MMM, ITW and AME?

3M (MMM) is the largest by market capitalisation: 3M (MMM) $89.47B, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $79.10B, Ametek (AME) $55.62B.

Which stock is cheaper, MMM, ITW and AME?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (3M (MMM) 25.3x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.8x, Ametek (AME) 35.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, 3M (MMM) is cheapest (3M (MMM) 19.8x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.8x, Ametek (AME) 29.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ametek (AME) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: 3M (MMM) +1.7%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.3%, Ametek (AME) +12.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ametek (AME) has the highest net margin (3M (MMM) 14.0%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 19.4%, Ametek (AME) 20.0%). On return on invested capital, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) leads (3M (MMM) 22.0%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 27.1%, Ametek (AME) 12.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ametek (AME) returned the most: 3M (MMM) +1.1%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +7.1%, Ametek (AME) +26.8%. Over five years, Ametek (AME) compounded fastest (3M (MMM) +2.8%/yr, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.2%/yr, Ametek (AME) +12.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has the highest dividend yield: 3M (MMM) 0.02%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.02%, Ametek (AME) 0.01%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (3M (MMM) 25.6%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.8%, Ametek (AME) 23.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MMM, ITW and AME?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ametek (AME) leads on 6. 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.