POWL vs WAB vs TEL Stock Comparison

Powell Industries, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies and TE Connectivity Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
POWL Powell Industries Inc
$157.07 -17.1% 1M +29.1% 1Y
Market cap
$5.84B
P/E
30.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.16B
Div. yield
0.00%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
2 wins
TEL TE Connectivity plc
$213.88 -2.2% 1M -9.2% 1Y
Market cap
$63.58B
P/E
21.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.32B
Div. yield
0.01%
Electrical Equipment Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

TE Connectivity leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (TE Connectivity 6, Powell Industries 2, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPOWLWABTELLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.84B $47.15B $63.58B TEL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.6x 34.5x 21.1x TEL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.4x 23.9x 20.0x TEL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.0% +13.2% +16.5% TEL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.5% — 15.6% POWL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 16.2% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 0.9x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% TEL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +29.1% +40.6% -9.2% WAB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +79.3%/yr +25.6%/yr +8.4%/yr POWL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 64.3% 26.3% 35.9% WAB
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 45/100 76/100 TEL

Percentile Scorecard

POWLWABTEL

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

AxisPOWLWABTEL
Valuation 43 #117 of 203 34 #135 of 203 60 #81 of 203
Growth 91 #18 of 187 89 #22 of 187 86 #28 of 187
Profitability 97 #6 of 185 56 #82 of 185 93 #14 of 185
Financial Health 75 #56 of 219 28 #159 of 219 66 #76 of 219
Shareholder Returns 45 #84 of 153 20 #123 of 153 74 #41 of 153
Overall 70 45 76
  • POWL ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WAB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • TEL ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPOWLWABTELSPY
1 month -17.1%-3.6%-2.2% -0.8%
3 months -28.4%-7.7%+3.0% +3.5%
6 months -39.7%+3.9%+2.1% +7.0%
Year to date +47.8%+30.1%-6.0% +12.2%
1 year +29.1%+40.6%-9.2% +13.0%
3 years +535.7%+167.1%+85.2% +86.3%
3 years, per year +85.3%+38.8%+22.8% +23.1%
5 years +1,747.2%+212.4%+49.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year +79.3%+25.6%+8.4% +11.0%
10 years +1,215.8%+260.2%+240.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +29.4%+13.7%+13.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePOWLWABTELSPY
Volatility, 1Y 64.3%26.3%35.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 67.8%24.1%39.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.500.991.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.451.54-0.26 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.9%-23.7%-35.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -51.2%-9.2%-14.1% -1.8%
52-week high $322.05$305.87$249.00 $779.14
52-week low $94.02$196.14$195.84 $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.

MultiplePOWLWABTEL
P/E now vs peer median 30.0xmedian 26.0x 34.3xmedian 26.0x 20.6xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 1.9x 3.8xmedian 1.9x 3.2xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x 13.8xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 21.4x 28.7xmedian 21.4x 18.7xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 7.6xmedian 2.2x 4.1xmedian 2.2x 4.7xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.41median 1.26 1.43median 1.26 1.25median 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 monthsPOWLWABTEL
Revenue $1.16B $12.21B $19.32B
Gross profit $348.18M $4.35B $6.98B
Operating income $227.67M $2.10B $3.81B
Net income $190.86M – $3.02B
Free cash flow $243.96M – $3.32B
R&D $14.98M $261.00M $919.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.21 $8.07 $10.29
Cash & equivalents $633.56M $489.00M $1.24B
Total debt – – $5.63B
Shares (diluted) 36.60M 169.60M 293.00M
Enterprise value $3.68B $47.15B $58.73B

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
MetricPOWLWABTEL
P/E 30.0x 34.3x 20.6x
P/FCF 23.5x 28.7x 18.7x
P/Operating cash flow 22.3x 22.5x 14.0x
P/S 4.9x 3.8x 3.2x
P/B 7.6x 4.1x 4.7x
P/Tangible book 7.6x 6.4x 5.5x
EV/EBITDA 21.5x – 13.8x
EV/EBIT 22.4x – 17.4x
EV/Revenue 4.4x 3.8x 3.4x
EV/FCF 20.9x – 20.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.9x 22.5x 15.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.41 1.43 1.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPOWLWABTEL
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.0% 13.2% 16.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 8.9% 5.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.9% 19.7% 20.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 39.2% 15.4% 10.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.0% 18.5% 29.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 74.2% 20.3% 17.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.8% – 107.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 73.1% – 13.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.6% 17.0% 110.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 72.8% 24.0% 16.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 153.9% 40.1% 17.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.5% 31.2% 14.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 201.1% – 15.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.0% – 14.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPOWLWABTEL
Gross margin 30.1% – 36.1%
EBITDA margin 20.4% – 24.9%
Operating margin 19.7% – 19.7%
Pretax margin 21.2% – 19.5%
Net margin 16.5% – 15.6%
FCF margin 21.1% – 17.2%
Operating cash flow margin 22.1% 17.1% 22.9%
Return on equity 26.1% 12.2% 22.8%
Return on assets 14.8% 5.9% 11.7%
Return on invested capital – – 16.2%
Return on capital employed 34.0% – 18.0%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.5x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x – 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% – 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPOWLWABTEL
Debt / assets – – 21.6%
Debt / equity – – 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 0.9x
Debt / FCF – – 1.7x
Liabilities / assets 46.2% 50.9% 49.2%
Equity / assets 53.8% 49.1% 50.8%
Interest coverage – – 31.3x
Current ratio 2.0x 1.1x 1.9x
Quick ratio 1.8x – 1.1x
Cash ratio 1.0x – 0.3x
Altman Z-score 7.91 – 5.09

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPOWLWABTEL
Dividend yield 0.2% 0.4% 1.4%
Net buyback yield – – 2.6%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 0.4% 4.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 6.8% – 28.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) 5.3% – 25.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.6% – 7.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.8% – 5.8%

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.

ConsensusPOWLWABTEL
Forward P/E 30.4xFY2026 23.9xFY2026 20.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.17FY2026 $11.63FY2026 $10.67FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.4%FY2026 +29.7%FY2026 +21.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +26.9% +5.7% +15.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.24BFY2026 $12.82BFY2026 $20.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.4%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026 +20.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +26.2% -2.8% +10.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPOWLWABTEL
Held by institutions 75.0% 92.6% 94.1%
Institutions holding 581 1,195 1,281
Change in shares held, QoQ -4.3% +0.2% +3.0%
Institutions buying 318 553 608
Institutions selling 215 409 451
Buyers to sellers 1.48 1.35 1.35

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.

POWLWABTEL
POWL 1.00 0.50 0.36
WAB 0.50 1.00 0.42
TEL 0.36 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, POWL, WAB and TEL?

TE Connectivity (TEL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Powell Industries (POWL) $5.84B, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) $47.15B, TE Connectivity (TEL) $63.58B.

Which stock is cheaper, POWL, WAB and TEL?

TE Connectivity (TEL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Powell Industries (POWL) 30.6x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 34.5x, TE Connectivity (TEL) 21.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, TE Connectivity (TEL) is cheapest (Powell Industries (POWL) 30.4x, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 23.9x, TE Connectivity (TEL) 20.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

TE Connectivity (TEL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Powell Industries (POWL) +7.0%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +13.2%, TE Connectivity (TEL) +16.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Powell Industries (POWL) has the highest net margin (Powell Industries (POWL) 16.5%, TE Connectivity (TEL) 15.6%).

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%, TE Connectivity (TEL) -9.2%. Over five years, Powell Industries (POWL) compounded fastest (Powell Industries (POWL) +79.3%/yr, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) +25.6%/yr, TE Connectivity (TEL) +8.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

TE Connectivity (TEL) has the highest dividend yield: Powell Industries (POWL) 0.00%, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 0.00%, TE Connectivity (TEL) 0.01%. Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB) 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%, TE Connectivity (TEL) 35.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, TE Connectivity (TEL) 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.