POWL vs WAB vs APTV Stock Comparison

Powell Industries, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies and Aptiv Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
POWL Powell Industries Inc
$157.07 -17.1% 1M +29.1% 1Y
Market cap
$5.88B
P/E
30.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.16B
Div. yield
0.00%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
4 wins
APTV Aptiv PLC
$43.62 -2.6% 1M -49.4% 1Y
Market cap
$9.24B
P/E
42.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.73B
Div. yield
–
Electrical Equipment Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 4, Powell Industries 4, Aptiv 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPOWLWABAPTVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.88B $47.21B $9.24B WAB
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.8x 34.5x 42.0x POWL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.4x 23.9x 7.9x APTV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.0% +13.2% +5.3% WAB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.5% — 1.2% POWL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 2.6% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 2.3x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +29.1% +40.6% -49.4% WAB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +79.3%/yr +25.6%/yr -23.8%/yr POWL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 64.3% 26.3% 44.7% WAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 45/100 56/100 POWL

Percentile Scorecard

POWLWABAPTV

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

AxisPOWLWABAPTV
Valuation 43 #117 of 203 34 #135 of 203 96 #9 of 203
Growth 91 #18 of 187 89 #22 of 187 15 #159 of 187
Profitability 97 #6 of 185 56 #82 of 185 36 #118 of 185
Financial Health 75 #56 of 219 28 #159 of 219 34 #145 of 219
Shareholder Returns 45 #84 of 153 20 #123 of 153 98 #4 of 153
Overall 70 45 56
  • POWL ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • APTV ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPOWLWABAPTVSPY
1 month -17.1%-3.6%-2.6% -0.8%
3 months -28.4%-7.7%-24.1% +3.5%
6 months -39.7%+3.9%-27.4% +7.0%
Year to date +47.8%+30.1%-42.7% +12.2%
1 year +29.1%+40.6%-49.4% +13.0%
3 years +535.7%+167.1%-49.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +85.3%+38.8%-20.3% +23.1%
5 years +1,747.2%+212.4%-74.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +79.3%+25.6%-23.8% +11.0%
10 years +1,215.8%+260.2%-32.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +29.4%+13.7%-3.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePOWLWABAPTVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 64.3%26.3%44.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 67.8%24.1%48.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.500.991.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.451.54-1.11 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.9%-23.7%-76.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.2%-9.2%-50.8% -1.8%
52-week high $322.05$305.87$88.67 $779.14
52-week low $94.02$196.14$42.69 $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.

MultiplePOWLWABAPTV
P/E now vs peer median 30.0xmedian 26.0x 34.3xmedian 26.0x 41.9xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 1.9x 3.8xmedian 1.9x 0.5xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x 6.8xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 21.4x 28.7xmedian 21.4x 11.1xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 2.2x 4.1xmedian 2.2x 1.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.41median 1.26 1.43median 1.26 -1.32median 1.26

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 monthsPOWLWABAPTV
Revenue $1.16B $12.21B $18.73B
Gross profit $348.18M $4.35B $3.68B
Operating income $227.67M $2.10B $995.00M
Net income $190.86M – $231.00M
Free cash flow $243.96M – $817.00M
R&D $14.98M $261.00M –
EPS (diluted) $5.21 $8.07 $1.04
Cash & equivalents $633.56M $489.00M $761.00M
Total debt – – $5.35B
Shares (diluted) 36.60M 169.60M 212.10M
Enterprise value $3.73B $47.21B $2.09B

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
MetricPOWLWABAPTV
P/E 30.0x 34.3x 41.9x
P/FCF 23.5x 28.7x 11.1x
P/Operating cash flow 22.3x 22.5x 6.1x
P/S 4.9x 3.8x 0.5x
P/B 7.6x 4.1x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 7.6x 6.4x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA 21.5x – 6.8x
EV/EBIT 22.4x – 13.8x
EV/Revenue 4.4x 3.8x 0.7x
EV/FCF 20.9x – 16.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.9x 22.5x 9.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.41 1.43 -1.32

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPOWLWABAPTV
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.0% 13.2% 5.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 8.9% -1.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.9% 19.7% 4.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 39.2% 15.4% 4.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.0% 18.5% -43.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 74.2% 20.3% -15.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.8% – -77.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 73.1% – -38.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.6% 17.0% -77.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 72.8% 24.0% -31.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 153.9% 40.1% -36.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.5% 31.2% -7.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 201.1% – -52.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.0% – -7.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPOWLWABAPTV
Gross margin 30.1% – 19.6%
EBITDA margin 20.4% – 10.7%
Operating margin 19.7% – 5.3%
Pretax margin 21.2% – 4.1%
Net margin 16.5% – 1.2%
FCF margin 21.1% – 4.4%
Operating cash flow margin 22.1% 17.1% 7.9%
Return on equity 26.1% 12.2% 2.6%
Return on assets 14.8% 5.9% 1.1%
Return on invested capital – – 2.6%
Return on capital employed 34.0% – 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.5x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x – 6.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% – 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPOWLWABAPTV
Debt / assets – – 29.8%
Debt / equity – – 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 2.3x
Debt / FCF – – 6.6x
Liabilities / assets 46.2% 50.9% 51.4%
Equity / assets 53.8% 49.1% 48.6%
Interest coverage – – 3.0x
Current ratio 2.0x 1.1x 2.0x
Quick ratio 1.8x – 1.1x
Cash ratio 1.0x – 0.3x
Altman Z-score 7.91 – 2.45

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPOWLWABAPTV
Dividend yield 0.2% 0.4% –
Net buyback yield – – 7.9%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 0.4% 7.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 6.8% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 5.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.6% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.8% – –

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.

ConsensusPOWLWABAPTV
Forward P/E 30.4xFY2026 23.9xFY2026 7.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.17FY2026 $11.63FY2026 $5.49FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.4%FY2026 +29.7%FY2026 -17.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +26.9% +5.7% +13.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.24BFY2026 $12.82BFY2026 $13.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.4%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026 -36.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +26.2% -2.8% +4.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPOWLWABAPTV
Held by institutions 75.0% 92.6% 98.6%
Institutions holding 581 1,195 659
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.3% +0.2% +9.2%
Institutions buying 318 553 330
Institutions selling 215 409 260
Buyers to sellers 1.48 1.35 1.27

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.

POWLWABAPTV
POWL 1.00 0.50 0.27
WAB 0.50 1.00 0.30
APTV 0.27 0.30 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, POWL, WAB and APTV?

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) is the largest by market capitalisation: Powell Industries (POWL) $5.88B, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) $47.21B, Aptiv (APTV) $9.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, POWL, WAB and APTV?

Powell Industries (POWL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Powell Industries (POWL) 30.8x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 34.5x, Aptiv (APTV) 42.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Aptiv (APTV) is cheapest (Powell Industries (POWL) 30.4x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 23.9x, Aptiv (APTV) 7.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Powell Industries (POWL) +7.0%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +13.2%, Aptiv (APTV) +5.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Powell Industries (POWL) has the highest net margin (Powell Industries (POWL) 16.5%, Aptiv (APTV) 1.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) returned the most: Powell Industries (POWL) +29.1%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +40.6%, Aptiv (APTV) -49.4%. Over five years, Powell Industries (POWL) compounded fastest (Powell Industries (POWL) +79.3%/yr, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +25.6%/yr, Aptiv (APTV) -23.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Powell Industries (POWL) 0.00%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 0.00%, Aptiv (APTV) 0.00%. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) and Aptiv (APTV) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) has been the steadiest (Powell Industries (POWL) 64.3%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 26.3%, Aptiv (APTV) 44.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, POWL, WAB and APTV?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 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.