PRLB vs LECO vs LXFR Stock Comparison

Proto Labs, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Luxfer Holdings Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PRLB Proto Labs Inc
$66.43 -32.7% 1M +37.6% 1Y
Market cap
$1.59B
P/E
45.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$579.49M
Div. yield
–
3D Printing Industrials
2 wins
LXFR Luxfer Holdings Plc
$17.31 +0.3% 1M +40.0% 1Y
Market cap
$463.21M
P/E
74.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$355.20M
Div. yield
2.25%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 7, Luxfer Holdings 3, Proto Labs 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPRLBLECOLXFRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.59B $15.13B $463.21M LECO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 45.6x 26.4x 74.7x LECO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.0x 24.0x 17.5x LXFR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.8% +11.1% -11.8% PRLB
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 12.4% 1.7% LECO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.6% 5.2% LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.0x 1.2x LECO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.13% 2.25% LXFR
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +37.6% +24.1% +40.0% LXFR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.5%/yr +14.3%/yr -4.7%/yr LECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 49.3% 30.9% 32.5% LECO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 55/100 52/100 PRLB

Percentile Scorecard

PRLBLECOLXFR

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

AxisPRLBLECOLXFR
Valuation 47 #108 of 204 36 #131 of 204 59 #84 of 204
Growth 80 #40 of 191 46 #103 of 191 17 #158 of 191
Profitability 51 #94 of 189 94 #13 of 189 38 #117 of 189
Financial Health 94 #14 of 221 47 #118 of 221 66 #77 of 221
Shareholder Returns 27 #116 of 159 54 #73 of 159 79 #34 of 159
Overall 60 55 52
  • PRLB ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • LECO ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • LXFR ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPRLBLECOLXFRSPY
1 month -32.7%+1.6%+0.3% -1.0%
3 months -26.5%0.0%+1.2% -0.4%
6 months -3.6%+1.6%+9.4% +4.5%
Year to date +31.3%+16.6%+27.9% +12.4%
1 year +37.6%+24.1%+40.0% +13.6%
3 years +109.6%+51.9%+100.8% +76.4%
3 years, per year +28.0%+15.0%+26.2% +20.8%
5 years +7.8%+94.9%-21.4% +63.7%
5 years, per year +1.5%+14.3%-4.7% +10.4%
10 years +48.4%+332.3%— +267.7%
10 years, per year +4.0%+15.8%— +13.9%

Risk

MeasurePRLBLECOLXFRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 49.3%30.9%32.5% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 45.7%31.1%37.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.111.140.90 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.760.781.23 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -65.0%-35.3%-67.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.7%-6.5%-9.3% -1.6%
52-week high $98.64$298.88$19.08 $779.14
52-week low $46.81$220.64$11.51 $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.

MultiplePRLBLECOLXFR
P/E now vs peer median 45.6xmedian 25.5x 26.4xmedian 25.5x 74.7xmedian 25.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 1.9x 3.3xmedian 1.9x 1.3xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.2xmedian 14.4x 17.6xmedian 14.4x 15.6xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.6xmedian 23.3x 29.6xmedian 23.3x 24.5xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 2.2x 9.7xmedian 2.2x 2.1xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.38median 1.16 3.78median 1.16 56.62median 1.16

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 monthsPRLBLECOLXFR
Revenue $579.49M $4.64B $355.20M
Gross profit $261.97M $1.65B $89.00M
Operating income $42.44M $802.52M $22.40M
Net income $35.02M $575.27M $6.20M
Free cash flow $48.61M $511.89M $18.90M
R&D $42.67M – $5.60M
EPS (diluted) $1.43 $10.48 $0.23
Cash & equivalents $133.78M $283.24M $19.90M
Total debt – $1.15B $57.70M
Shares (diluted) 24.44M 54.87M 27.30M
Enterprise value $1.03B $13.99B $408.71M

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
MetricPRLBLECOLXFR
P/E 45.6x 26.4x 74.7x
P/FCF 32.6x 29.6x 24.5x
P/Operating cash flow 22.0x 22.7x 15.4x
P/S 2.7x 3.3x 1.3x
P/B 2.3x 9.7x 2.1x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 9.7x 2.2x
EV/EBITDA 19.2x 17.6x 15.6x
EV/EBIT 33.8x 19.9x 22.4x
EV/Revenue 2.5x 3.4x 1.4x
EV/FCF 29.5x 31.2x 26.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.9x 24.0x 16.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.38 3.78 56.62

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOLXFR
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.8% 11.1% -11.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 4.5% -5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 14.5% 7.7% -3.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 5.5% 2.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 152.4% 12.9% 0.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 34.6% 7.0% -4.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 136.0% 9.6% -56.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 32.6% 4.9% 1.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 133.6% 11.0% -56.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 33.1% 7.0% 1.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -4.2% 0.7% -31.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 0.5% 0.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -28.2% -6.3% -47.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -1.8% -3.6% 0.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOLXFR
Gross margin 45.2% 35.5% 25.1%
EBITDA margin 12.9% 19.5% 9.1%
Operating margin 7.3% 17.3% 6.3%
Pretax margin 8.3% 16.2% 5.2%
Net margin 6.0% 12.4% 1.7%
FCF margin 8.4% 11.0% 5.3%
Operating cash flow margin 12.5% 14.4% 8.4%
Return on equity 5.0% 37.0% 2.8%
Return on assets 4.4% 14.9% 1.6%
Return on invested capital – 22.6% 5.2%
Return on capital employed 5.9% 27.7% 7.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.2x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.1x 1.2x 4.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.5% 0.5% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOLXFR
Debt / assets – 29.5% 15.1%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.0x 1.2x
Debt / FCF – 2.2x 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 13.1% 60.1% 42.1%
Equity / assets 86.9% 39.9% 57.9%
Interest coverage – – 6.6x
Current ratio 3.6x 1.9x 2.5x
Quick ratio 3.3x 1.0x 1.1x
Cash ratio 2.0x 0.3x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 10.60 7.69 3.57

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPRLBLECOLXFR
Dividend yield – 1.1% 2.3%
Net buyback yield 0.4% 1.8% 0.6%
Shareholder yield 0.4% 2.9% 2.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 33.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 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.

ConsensusPRLBLECOLXFR
Forward P/E 29.0xFY2026 24.0xFY2026 17.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.29FY2026 $11.62FY2026 $0.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +38.0%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 -10.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +0.4% +41.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $612.40MFY2026 $4.84BFY2026 $386.72MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.9%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026 +4.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% +5.5% +2.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPRLBLECOLXFR
Held by institutions 93.7% 81.3% 91.6%
Institutions holding 279 705 138
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.7% +5.5% -1.6%
Institutions buying 147 299 76
Institutions selling 89 266 42
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.12 1.81

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.

PRLBLECOLXFR
PRLB 1.00 0.46 0.34
LECO 0.46 1.00 0.31
LXFR 0.34 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PRLB, LECO and LXFR?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Proto Labs (PRLB) $1.59B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.13B, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) $463.21M.

Which stock is cheaper, PRLB, LECO and LXFR?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Proto Labs (PRLB) 45.6x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.4x, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 74.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) is cheapest (Proto Labs (PRLB) 29.0x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.0x, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 17.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Proto Labs (PRLB) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Proto Labs (PRLB) +11.8%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) -11.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest net margin (Proto Labs (PRLB) 6.0%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 1.7%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 22.6%, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 5.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) returned the most: Proto Labs (PRLB) +37.6%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +24.1%, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) +40.0%. Over five years, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) compounded fastest (Proto Labs (PRLB) +1.5%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +14.3%/yr, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) -4.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) has the highest dividend yield: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 1.13%, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 2.25%. 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) 49.3%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.9%, Luxfer Holdings (LXFR) 32.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads on 7. 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.