MMM vs ZBRA vs ITW Stock Comparison

3M, Zebra Technologies and Illinois Tool Works Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MMM 3M Co
$177.38 +5.3% 1M +7.7% 1Y
Market cap
$90.04B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$25.25B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
ZBRA Zebra Technologies Corp
$377.38 +0.4% 1M +39.4% 1Y
Market cap
$17.11B
P/E
31.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.85B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Components Technology
4 wins
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$281.43 +5.3% 1M +16.3% 1Y
Market cap
$79.39B
P/E
24.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.65B
Div. yield
0.02%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

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

QuestionMMMZBRAITWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $90.04B $17.11B $79.39B MMM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.5x 31.7x 24.6x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.0x 16.7x 26.4x ZBRA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.7% +12.7% +4.8% ZBRA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 14.0% 9.2% 19.4% ITW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.0% 10.6% 27.1% ITW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 2.4x 1.8x MMM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.02% ITW
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +7.7% +39.4% +16.3% ZBRA
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.5%/yr -6.7%/yr +4.3%/yr ITW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.6% 45.5% 21.3% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 62/100 50/100 ZBRA

Percentile Scorecard

MMMZBRAITW

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

AxisMMMZBRAITW
Valuation 36 #130 of 203 69 #35 of 112 28 #147 of 203
Growth 60 #75 of 188 46 #59 of 108 35 #122 of 188
Profitability 89 #22 of 183 85 #17 of 104 100 #2 of 183
Financial Health 19 #176 of 216 17 #96 of 116 26 #161 of 216
Shareholder Returns 46 #82 of 152 92 #7 of 78 62 #58 of 152
Overall 50 62 50
  • MMM ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ZBRA ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMMMZBRAITWSPY
1 month +5.3%+0.4%+5.3% +0.7%
3 months +0.7%+30.8%-0.8% +3.7%
6 months +21.1%+66.8%+9.1% +7.1%
Year to date +10.8%+55.4%+14.3% +12.8%
1 year +7.7%+39.4%+16.3% +11.9%
3 years +137.0%+79.9%+25.9% +85.2%
3 years, per year +33.3%+21.6%+8.0% +22.8%
5 years +18.7%-29.3%+23.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +3.5%-6.7%+4.3% +10.9%
10 years +28.0%+469.5%+147.2% +262.0%
10 years, per year +2.5%+19.0%+9.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMMMZBRAITWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.6%45.5%21.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.7%38.1%20.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.681.700.47 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.300.870.77 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -53.4%-67.8%-28.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.5%-3.5%-6.1% -1.2%
52-week high $183.81$391.00$299.60 $779.14
52-week low $141.20$199.30$241.07 $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.

MultipleMMMZBRAITW
P/E now vs peer median 26.0xmedian 25.8x 33.4xmedian 32.9x 24.8xmedian 25.8x
P/S now vs peer median 3.6xmedian 1.9x 3.1xmedian 2.9x 4.8xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.5xmedian 14.6x 19.1xmedian 20.0x 18.3xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.2xmedian 22.2x 19.8xmedian 30.2x 27.9xmedian 22.2x
P/B now vs peer median 22.0xmedian 2.2x 5.2xmedian 2.9x 25.5xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.73median 1.45 -8.84median 1.08 8.57median 1.45

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 monthsMMMZBRAITW
Revenue $25.25B $5.85B $16.65B
Gross profit $9.98B $2.90B $7.38B
Operating income $4.74B $858.00M $4.43B
Net income $3.58B $539.00M $3.23B
Free cash flow $2.68B $904.00M $2.87B
R&D $1.21B $622.00M –
EPS (diluted) $6.77 $11.20 $11.31
Cash & equivalents $4.84B $157.00M $809.00M
Total debt $15.00B $2.77B $9.37B
Shares (diluted) 522.60M 48.13M 285.30M
Enterprise value $71.48B $15.66B $76.06B

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
MetricMMMZBRAITW
P/E 26.0x 33.4x 24.8x
P/FCF 34.2x 19.8x 27.9x
P/Operating cash flow 25.3x 18.2x 24.5x
P/S 3.6x 3.1x 4.8x
P/B 22.0x 5.2x 25.5x
P/Tangible book 43.3x 6.6x 30.8x
EV/EBITDA 16.5x 19.1x 18.3x
EV/EBIT 21.4x 23.9x 20.0x
EV/Revenue 4.0x 3.5x 5.3x
EV/FCF 37.9x 22.6x 30.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 28.0x 20.9x 27.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.73 -8.84 8.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMMMZBRAITW
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.7% 12.7% 4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.7% 2.1% 1.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.8% 14.9% 5.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 17.0% 4.2% 2.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -3.7% 8.1% 6.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.4% -0.9% 3.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.8% -1.6% 6.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.4% -6.1% 0.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 7.1% 4.8% 9.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.8% -3.8% 2.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 42.8% 5.8% -0.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.1% 63.5% -0.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.6% 6.0% 0.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.0% 83.6% 0.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMMMZBRAITW
Gross margin 39.5% 49.6% 44.3%
EBITDA margin 24.4% 18.3% 29.0%
Operating margin 18.8% 14.7% 26.6%
Pretax margin 17.5% 12.1% 25.2%
Net margin 14.0% 9.2% 19.4%
FCF margin 10.6% 15.5% 17.2%
Operating cash flow margin 14.4% 16.7% 19.6%
Return on equity 101.3% 15.6% 106.9%
Return on assets 9.8% 6.4% 19.6%
Return on invested capital 22.0% 10.6% 27.1%
Return on capital employed 18.7% 19.1% 38.9%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.8x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 3.0% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMMMZBRAITW
Debt / assets 37.9% 32.0% 56.8%
Debt / equity 3.6x 0.8x 3.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.6x 2.4x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 5.6x 3.1x 3.3x
Liabilities / assets 89.5% 60.2% 81.0%
Equity / assets 10.5% 39.8% 19.0%
Interest coverage – – 14.3x
Current ratio 1.4x 0.5x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.3x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 4.14 3.71 8.24

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMMMZBRAITW
Dividend yield 1.7% – 2.3%
Net buyback yield 3.0% 5.1% 2.0%
Shareholder yield 4.7% 5.1% 4.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 44.8% – 57.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) 59.9% – 64.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.2% – 5.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -21.4% – 5.1%

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.

ConsensusMMMZBRAITW
Forward P/E 20.0xFY2026 16.7xFY2026 26.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.88FY2026 $22.59FY2026 $10.67FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.2%FY2026 +42.6%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +16.7% -4.5% +19.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $23.87BFY2026 $6.35BFY2026 $16.46BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.8%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +17.6% +1.2% +11.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMMMZBRAITW
Held by institutions 74.5% 100.0% 84.9%
Institutions holding 2,211 645 1,970
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.8% +4.5% +0.8%
Institutions buying 916 309 847
Institutions selling 838 242 750
Buyers to sellers 1.09 1.28 1.13

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.

MMMZBRAITW
MMM 1.00 0.35 0.56
ZBRA 0.35 1.00 0.33
ITW 0.56 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MMM, ZBRA and ITW?

3M (MMM) is the largest by market capitalisation: 3M (MMM) $90.04B, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) $17.11B, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $79.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, MMM, ZBRA and ITW?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (3M (MMM) 25.5x, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 31.7x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) is cheapest (3M (MMM) 20.0x, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 16.7x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 26.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: 3M (MMM) +1.7%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) +12.7%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has the highest net margin (3M (MMM) 14.0%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 9.2%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 19.4%). On return on invested capital, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) leads (3M (MMM) 22.0%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 10.6%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 27.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) returned the most: 3M (MMM) +7.7%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) +39.4%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +16.3%. Over five years, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) compounded fastest (3M (MMM) +3.5%/yr, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) -6.7%/yr, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.3%/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%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 0.00%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.02%. Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (3M (MMM) 25.6%, Zebra Technologies (ZBRA) 45.5%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.