PRLB vs GE vs LECO Stock Comparison

Proto Labs, General Electric and Lincoln Electric Holdings Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$91.00 -6.1% 1M +70.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.18B
P/E
71.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$560.54M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
2 wins
GE General Electric Co
$301.37 -5.3% 1M -2.7% 1Y
Market cap
$311.42B
P/E
34.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$52.58B
Div. yield
0.59%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

General Electric leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (General Electric 5, Lincoln Electric Holdings 5, Proto Labs 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPRLBGELECOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.18B $311.42B $15.20B GE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 71.6x 34.3x 26.5x LECO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 39.7x 39.7x 24.1x LECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.2% +19.6% +11.1% GE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.4% 17.3% 12.4% GE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -38.7% 22.6% LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.7x 1.0x GE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.59% 1.13% LECO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +70.1% -2.7% +16.6% PRLB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.8%/yr +35.8%/yr +14.5%/yr GE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.9% 33.2% 30.8% LECO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 45/100 55/100 PRLB

Percentile Scorecard

PRLBGELECO

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

AxisPRLBGELECO
Valuation 32 #138 of 203 32 #68 of 100 36 #130 of 203
Growth 83 #32 of 188 33 #65 of 97 43 #107 of 188
Profitability 49 #94 of 184 57 #42 of 96 95 #11 of 184
Financial Health 95 #11 of 217 18 #86 of 105 45 #119 of 217
Shareholder Returns 38 #96 of 153 84 #11 of 65 57 #66 of 153
Overall 60 45 55
  • PRLB ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • GE ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPRLBGELECOSPY
1 month -6.1%-5.3%+3.5% +0.9%
3 months +27.6%-14.1%+8.8% +5.9%
6 months +46.2%+6.3%+9.0% +8.5%
Year to date +79.9%-2.2%+17.1% +13.3%
1 year +70.1%-2.7%+16.6% +12.4%
3 years +290.9%+255.1%+62.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year +57.6%+52.6%+17.6% +23.5%
5 years +52.1%+361.2%+97.0% +68.2%
5 years, per year +8.8%+35.8%+14.5% +11.0%
10 years +104.7%+115.2%+328.4% +263.4%
10 years, per year +7.4%+8.0%+15.7% +13.8%

Risk

MeasurePRLBGELECOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.9%33.2%30.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.1%35.3%31.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.081.221.18 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.50-0.080.54 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.6%-45.1%-35.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.7%-20.9%-6.1% -0.9%
52-week high $98.64$381.07$298.88 $779.14
52-week low $46.81$273.25$220.64 $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.

MultiplePRLBGELECO
P/E now vs peer median 71.6xmedian 25.4x 34.3xmedian 26.4x 26.5xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 1.9x 5.9xmedian 3.0x 3.3xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 29.3xmedian 14.3x -21.0xmedian 14.5x 17.7xmedian 14.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 38.4xmedian 21.8x 39.0xmedian 26.1x 29.7xmedian 21.8x
P/B now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 2.2x 17.5xmedian 2.5x 9.8xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.24median 1.41 -119.97median 0.90 3.80median 1.41

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 monthsPRLBGELECO
Revenue $560.54M $52.58B $4.64B
Gross profit $254.60M $18.52B $1.65B
Operating income $36.81M -$16.58B $802.52M
Net income $30.48M $9.13B $575.27M
Free cash flow $56.66M $7.99B $511.89M
R&D $42.36M $1.81B –
EPS (diluted) $1.25 $8.74 $10.48
Cash & equivalents $127.92M $8.76B $283.24M
Total debt – $19.33B $1.15B
Shares (diluted) 24.42M 1.04B 54.87M
Enterprise value $1.65B $270.17B $14.06B

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
MetricPRLBGELECO
P/E 71.6x 34.3x 26.5x
P/FCF 38.4x 39.0x 29.7x
P/Operating cash flow 27.7x 33.0x 22.8x
P/S 3.9x 5.9x 3.3x
P/B 3.1x 17.5x 9.8x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 22.7x 9.8x
EV/EBITDA 29.3x -21.0x 17.7x
EV/EBIT 55.3x -19.4x 20.0x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 6.1x 3.5x
EV/FCF 35.9x 40.3x 31.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.9x 34.2x 24.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.24 -119.97 3.80

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPRLBGELECO
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.2% 19.6% 11.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 7.2% 4.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.3% 11.7% 7.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 10.9% 5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 121.9% 13.2% 12.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.2% -98.5% 7.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 105.8% 13.2% 9.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 31.6% -3.4% 4.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 103.1% 15.5% 11.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 32.0% -0.3% 7.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.6% 21.4% 0.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 6.3% 0.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -14.0% 20.1% -6.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.9% 2.7% -3.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPRLBGELECO
Gross margin 45.4% 35.2% 35.5%
EBITDA margin 12.4% -29.1% 19.5%
Operating margin 6.6% -31.5% 17.3%
Pretax margin 7.6% 20.3% 16.2%
Net margin 5.4% 17.3% 12.4%
FCF margin 10.1% 15.2% 11.0%
Operating cash flow margin 14.0% 17.9% 14.4%
Return on equity 4.4% 51.2% 37.0%
Return on assets 3.9% 7.2% 14.9%
Return on invested capital – -38.7% 22.6%
Return on capital employed 5.2% -19.5% 27.7%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.6x 1.0x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% – 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPRLBGELECO
Debt / assets – 15.2% 29.5%
Debt / equity – 1.1x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.7x 1.0x
Debt / FCF – 2.4x 2.2x
Liabilities / assets 12.6% 86.0% 60.1%
Equity / assets 87.4% 14.0% 39.9%
Interest coverage – -17.9x –
Current ratio 3.6x 1.0x 1.9x
Quick ratio 3.2x 0.6x 1.0x
Cash ratio 2.0x 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 14.72 2.70 7.71

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPRLBGELECO
Dividend yield – 0.6% 1.1%
Net buyback yield 0.6% 2.7% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 0.6% 3.3% 2.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 19.1% 30.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 21.8% 33.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 26.6% 3.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 36.5% 6.3%

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.

ConsensusPRLBGELECO
Forward P/E 39.7xFY2026 39.7xFY2026 24.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.29FY2026 $7.59FY2026 $11.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +38.0%FY2026 +19.2%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +28.1% +0.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $612.40MFY2026 $54.10BFY2026 $4.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.9%FY2026 +27.8%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% +11.8% +5.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPRLBGELECO
Held by institutions 93.7% 79.4% 81.3%
Institutions holding 276 3,443 701
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +1.5% +5.5%
Institutions buying 145 1,830 297
Institutions selling 89 1,149 266
Buyers to sellers 1.63 1.59 1.12

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.

PRLBGELECO
PRLB 1.00 0.36 0.50
GE 0.36 1.00 0.41
LECO 0.50 0.41 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PRLB, GE and LECO?

General Electric (GE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Proto Labs (PRLB) $2.18B, General Electric (GE) $311.42B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.20B.

Which stock is cheaper, PRLB, GE and LECO?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Proto Labs (PRLB) 71.6x, General Electric (GE) 34.3x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is cheapest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 39.7x, General Electric (GE) 39.7x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

General Electric (GE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Proto Labs (PRLB) +10.2%, General Electric (GE) +19.6%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

General Electric (GE) has the highest net margin (Proto Labs (PRLB) 5.4%, General Electric (GE) 17.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (General Electric (GE) -38.7%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 22.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Proto Labs (PRLB) returned the most: Proto Labs (PRLB) +70.1%, General Electric (GE) -2.7%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +16.6%. Over five years, General Electric (GE) compounded fastest (Proto Labs (PRLB) +8.8%/yr, General Electric (GE) +35.8%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +14.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest dividend yield: General Electric (GE) 0.59%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 1.13%. Proto Labs (PRLB) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has been the steadiest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 46.9%, General Electric (GE) 33.2%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PRLB, GE and LECO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, General Electric (GE) leads on 5. 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.