NOC vs BA vs LHX Stock Comparison

Northrop Grumman, Boeing and L3Harris Technologies Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BA Boeing Co
$188.24 -4.9% 1M -15.0% 1Y
Market cap
$132.57B
P/E
63.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$94.00B
Div. yield
–
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Northrop Grumman leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Northrop Grumman 8, L3Harris Technologies 3, Boeing 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNOCBALHXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $78.55B $132.57B $48.29B BA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.4x 63.4x 26.0x NOC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.4x — 22.7x NOC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% +24.8% +83.2% LHX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.4% 2.2% 4.8% NOC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.2% 7.7% 11.8% NOC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 3.8x 1.8x NOC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.02% LHX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.6% -15.0% -11.2% NOC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.8%/yr -1.8%/yr +2.6%/yr NOC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.6% 34.5% 28.7% NOC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 48/100 67/100 LHX

Percentile Scorecard

NOCBALHX

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

AxisNOCBALHX
Valuation 74 #27 of 100 44 #56 of 100 93 #8 of 100
Growth 39 #60 of 97 81 #19 of 97 82 #18 of 97
Profitability 77 #23 of 96 54 #45 of 96 73 #27 of 96
Financial Health 39 #65 of 105 12 #93 of 105 36 #68 of 105
Shareholder Returns 59 #27 of 64 – 51 #32 of 64
Overall 57 48 67
  • NOC ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • BA ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • LHX 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

PeriodNOCBALHXSPY
1 month +10.8%-4.9%+9.5% -0.8%
3 months +3.3%-11.0%-14.2% +3.5%
6 months -1.7%-18.6%-18.8% +7.0%
Year to date -0.8%-13.3%-11.4% +12.2%
1 year -6.6%-15.0%-11.2% +13.0%
3 years +19.5%+4.8%+52.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +6.1%+1.6%+15.1% +23.1%
5 years +45.7%-8.9%+13.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +7.8%-1.8%+2.6% +11.0%
10 years +147.9%+29.3%+184.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.5%+2.6%+11.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNOCBALHXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.6%34.5%28.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.3%33.1%29.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.001.230.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.23-0.43-0.39 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-50.3%-40.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -26.4%-25.3%-31.2% -1.8%
52-week high $768.02$252.15$378.48 $779.14
52-week low $473.40$179.12$233.68 $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.

MultipleNOCBALHX
P/E now vs peer median 17.8xmedian 26.8x 71.2xmedian 26.8x 26.1xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 2.9x 1.6xmedian 2.9x 1.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 15.2x 25.7xmedian 15.2x 11.1xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.0xmedian 25.5x -708.5xmedian 25.5x 17.3xmedian 25.5x
P/B now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.5x 24.3xmedian 2.5x 2.4xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 17.45median 0.94 2.15median 0.94 0.79median 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 monthsNOCBALHX
Revenue $43.59B $94.00B $39.15B
Gross profit $8.73B $4.40B $10.02B
Operating income $4.63B $4.60B $4.04B
Net income $4.52B $2.43B $1.87B
Free cash flow $3.83B -$210.00M $2.81B
R&D – $3.69B –
EPS (diluted) $31.74 $2.64 $9.93
Cash & equivalents $3.74B $7.24B $1.52B
Total debt $58.43B $45.90B $11.00B
Shares (diluted) 142.40M 790.80M 187.30M
Enterprise value $66.01B $39.26B $44.77B

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
MetricNOCBALHX
P/E 17.8x 71.2x 26.1x
P/FCF 21.0x -708.5x 17.3x
P/Operating cash flow 15.3x 40.9x 14.7x
P/S 1.8x 1.6x 1.2x
P/B 4.3x 24.3x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 32.5x 3.6x
EV/EBITDA 14.8x 25.7x 11.1x
EV/EBIT 19.7x 38.0x 14.4x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 1.9x 1.5x
EV/FCF 23.8x -831.7x 20.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.3x 48.0x 17.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 17.45 2.15 0.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNOCBALHX
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% 24.8% 83.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.1% 8.5% 29.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 9.8% 1,902% 82.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.4% -3.6% 27.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.8% 149.8% 86.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.4% 49.8% 32.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 12.5% 122.8% 10.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -1.1% 36.4% 32.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 13.3% 118.3% 9.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 1.0% 33.1% 33.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 53.2% 158.8% 31.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.5% -26.6% 15.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 108.8% 97.5% 29.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.3% -26.6% 15.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNOCBALHX
Gross margin 20.0% 4.7% 25.6%
EBITDA margin 14.1% 7.2% 13.4%
Operating margin 10.6% 4.9% 10.3%
Pretax margin 12.0% 3.0% 9.7%
Net margin 10.4% 2.2% 4.8%
FCF margin 8.8% -0.2% 7.2%
Operating cash flow margin 12.1% 3.9% 8.4%
Return on equity 24.7% 40.4% 9.5%
Return on assets 8.8% 1.5% 4.4%
Return on invested capital 12.2% 7.7% 11.8%
Return on capital employed 12.2% 8.2% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.5x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.5% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNOCBALHX
Debt / assets 27.5% 27.7% 25.6%
Debt / equity 0.8x 7.5x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.7x 3.8x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 3.8x -218.6x 3.9x
Liabilities / assets 64.4% 96.3% 53.7%
Equity / assets 35.6% 3.7% 46.3%
Interest coverage 7.1x 1.8x –
Current ratio 1.2x 1.1x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.3x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.12 1.47 2.68

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNOCBALHX
Dividend yield 1.7% – 1.9%
Net buyback yield 0.7% – 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 0.0% 3.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 30.2% – 49.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) 35.6% – 32.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.0% – 2.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 7.4% – 2.1%

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.

ConsensusNOCBALHX
Forward P/E 18.4xFY2026 – 22.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $30.81FY2026 $-0.99FY2026 $11.44FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.0%FY2026 -183.2%FY2026 +6.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +3.7% – +10.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $42.95BFY2026 $91.05BFY2026 $24.16BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.4%FY2026 +1.8%FY2026 +10.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +3.7% +18.5% +0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNOCBALHX
Held by institutions 83.4% 75.6% 87.5%
Institutions holding 1,809 2,626 1,691
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% +2.3% -0.5%
Institutions buying 840 1,327 847
Institutions selling 639 843 570
Buyers to sellers 1.31 1.57 1.49

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.

NOCBALHX
NOC 1.00 0.25 0.65
BA 0.25 1.00 0.19
LHX 0.65 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NOC, BA and LHX?

Boeing (BA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Northrop Grumman (NOC) $78.55B, Boeing (BA) $132.57B, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) $48.29B.

Which stock is cheaper, NOC, BA and LHX?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 17.4x, Boeing (BA) 63.4x, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 26.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Northrop Grumman (NOC) is cheapest (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 18.4x, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 22.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

L3Harris Technologies (LHX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Northrop Grumman (NOC) +6.5%, Boeing (BA) +24.8%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) +83.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Northrop Grumman (NOC) has the highest net margin (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 10.4%, Boeing (BA) 2.2%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 4.8%). On return on invested capital, Northrop Grumman (NOC) leads (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 12.2%, Boeing (BA) 7.7%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 11.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Northrop Grumman (NOC) returned the most: Northrop Grumman (NOC) -6.6%, Boeing (BA) -15.0%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) -11.2%. Over five years, Northrop Grumman (NOC) compounded fastest (Northrop Grumman (NOC) +7.8%/yr, Boeing (BA) -1.8%/yr, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) +2.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

L3Harris Technologies (LHX) has the highest dividend yield: Northrop Grumman (NOC) 0.02%, Boeing (BA) 0.00%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 0.02%. Boeing (BA) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Northrop Grumman (NOC) has been the steadiest (Northrop Grumman (NOC) 28.6%, Boeing (BA) 34.5%, L3Harris Technologies (LHX) 28.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NOC, BA and LHX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Northrop Grumman (NOC) leads on 8. 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.