ROK vs LASR vs MIDD Stock Comparison

Rockwell Automation, Nlight and Middleby Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ROK Rockwell Automation, Inc
$429.70 -1.0% 1M +20.5% 1Y
Market cap
$48.75B
P/E
40.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.97B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
8 wins
LASR Nlight, Inc.
$36.71 -9.0% 1M +12.6% 1Y
Market cap
$2.17B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$310.70M
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
1 win
MIDD MIDDLEBY Corp
$114.46 +6.3% 1M -13.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.22B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$3.35B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
1 win

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Rockwell Automation leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Rockwell Automation 8, Middleby 1, Nlight 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionROKLASRMIDDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $48.75B $2.17B $5.22B ROK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 40.6x -173.8x -16.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.4x 69.3x 16.1x MIDD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.3% +43.2% +7.0% LASR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.4% -4.0% -9.4% ROK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 21.0% -3.8% 9.2% ROK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x — 2.8x ROK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +20.5% +12.6% -13.7% ROK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.5%/yr +6.3%/yr -8.1%/yr ROK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.3% 87.4% 42.7% ROK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 54/100 46/100 38/100 ROK

Percentile Scorecard

ROKLASRMIDD

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

AxisROKLASRMIDD
Valuation 15 #173 of 203 12 #179 of 203 58 #86 of 203
Growth 52 #91 of 187 98 #5 of 187 12 #164 of 187
Profitability 95 #11 of 185 26 #138 of 185 52 #90 of 185
Financial Health 33 #148 of 219 89 #25 of 219 28 #157 of 219
Shareholder Returns 75 #39 of 153 6 #144 of 153 –
Overall 54 46 38
  • ROK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • LASR ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MIDD ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodROKLASRMIDDSPY
1 month -1.0%-9.0%+6.3% -0.8%
3 months -7.8%-45.8%-15.8% +3.5%
6 months +5.6%-47.6%-19.8% +7.0%
Year to date +10.4%-2.1%-23.0% +12.2%
1 year +20.5%+12.6%-13.7% +13.0%
3 years +64.0%+343.9%+2.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +17.9%+64.4%+0.7% +23.1%
5 years +37.0%+35.8%-34.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +6.5%+6.3%-8.1% +11.0%
10 years +256.2%—+3.0% +258.0%
10 years, per year +13.5%—+0.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureROKLASRMIDDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.3%87.4%42.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.8%88.7%47.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.403.181.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.660.14-0.32 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.6%-80.5%-48.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -13.2%-56.8%-36.1% -1.8%
52-week high $495.08$84.95$179.20 $779.14
52-week low $348.51$28.60$102.69 $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.

MultipleROKLASRMIDD
P/E now vs peer median 39.7xmedian 26.0x -167.7xmedian 26.0x -16.5xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 1.9x 6.8xmedian 1.9x 1.5xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 24.1xmedian 14.0x -573.6xmedian 14.0x 10.6xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.7xmedian 21.4x 50.6xmedian 21.4x —median 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 2.2x 4.8xmedian 2.2x 2.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -9.05median 1.26 -3.96median 1.26 0.40median 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 monthsROKLASRMIDD
Revenue $8.97B $310.70M $3.35B
Gross profit $4.41B $97.95M $1.29B
Operating income $1.77B -$16.99M $574.47M
Net income $1.20B -$12.48M -$315.27M
Free cash flow $1.50B $41.83M –
R&D $716.00M $50.56M –
EPS (diluted) $10.76 $-0.22 $-6.95
Cash & equivalents $479.00M $295.76M $159.18M
Total debt $13.81B $60.00M $8.60B
Shares (diluted) 111.60M 56.98M 45.34M
Enterprise value $46.93B $1.26B $4.15B

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
MetricROKLASRMIDD
P/E 39.7x -167.7x -16.5x
P/FCF 31.7x 50.6x –
P/Operating cash flow 27.6x 39.8x –
P/S 5.3x 6.8x 1.5x
P/B 13.6x 4.8x 2.3x
P/Tangible book 17.1x 4.8x 4.4x
EV/EBITDA 24.1x -573.6x 10.6x
EV/EBIT 28.5x -105.1x 12.2x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 5.7x 2.1x
EV/FCF 33.6x 42.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 29.2x 33.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -9.05 -3.96 0.40

Growth

14 metrics
MetricROKLASRMIDD
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.3% 43.2% 7.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.3% 11.5% -6.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 1.9% 113.2% 4.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 29.0% -5.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.1% 67.4% -7.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 33.0% -6.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 23.8% 73.4% -174.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -5.5% 37.9% -39.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 25.2% 76.9% -187.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -4.4% 42.3% -41.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 13.8% 587.2% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.8% 119.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 13.9% 311.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 23.6% 65.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricROKLASRMIDD
Gross margin 49.1% 31.5% 38.7%
EBITDA margin 23.3% -1.0% 19.7%
Operating margin 19.7% -5.5% 17.2%
Pretax margin 14.7% -3.8% 14.4%
Net margin 13.4% -4.0% -9.4%
FCF margin 16.8% 13.5% –
Operating cash flow margin 19.3% 17.1% –
Return on equity 30.9% -2.9% -12.6%
Return on assets 9.8% -2.4% -5.4%
Return on invested capital 21.0% -3.8% 9.2%
Return on capital employed 23.6% -3.7% 11.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -4.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.0% 13.8% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricROKLASRMIDD
Debt / assets 29.4% – 36.9%
Debt / equity 0.9x – 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x – 2.8x
Debt / FCF 2.2x – –
Liabilities / assets 68.5% 15.0% 58.8%
Equity / assets 31.5% 85.0% 41.2%
Interest coverage 12.8x -14.7x 5.6x
Current ratio 1.1x 8.2x 2.0x
Quick ratio 0.7x 6.9x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.1x 6.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 5.88 16.81 3.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricROKLASRMIDD
Dividend yield 1.3% – –
Net buyback yield 1.5% -9.2% –
Shareholder yield 2.8% -9.2% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusROKLASRMIDD
Forward P/E 34.4xFY2026 69.3xFY2026 16.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.50FY2026 $0.53FY2026 $7.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +18.7%FY2026 +120.8%FY2026 +5.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.3% +13.2% +15.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.50BFY2026 $313.28MFY2026 $2.66BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.9%FY2026 +19.9%FY2026 -16.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.4% +17.9% +0.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersROKLASRMIDD
Held by institutions 89.2% 89.4% 91.7%
Institutions holding 1,540 357 452
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% +5.4% -1.4%
Institutions buying 805 220 205
Institutions selling 437 112 172
Buyers to sellers 1.84 1.96 1.19

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.

ROKLASRMIDD
ROK 1.00 0.34 0.33
LASR 0.34 1.00 0.19
MIDD 0.33 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ROK, LASR and MIDD?

Rockwell Automation (ROK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Rockwell Automation (ROK) $48.75B, Nlight (LASR) $2.17B, Middleby (MIDD) $5.22B.

Which company is growing faster?

Nlight (LASR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Rockwell Automation (ROK) +11.3%, Nlight (LASR) +43.2%, Middleby (MIDD) +7.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Rockwell Automation (ROK) has the highest net margin (Rockwell Automation (ROK) 13.4%, Nlight (LASR) -4.0%, Middleby (MIDD) -9.4%). On return on invested capital, Rockwell Automation (ROK) leads (Rockwell Automation (ROK) 21.0%, Nlight (LASR) -3.8%, Middleby (MIDD) 9.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Rockwell Automation (ROK) returned the most: Rockwell Automation (ROK) +20.5%, Nlight (LASR) +12.6%, Middleby (MIDD) -13.7%. Over five years, Rockwell Automation (ROK) compounded fastest (Rockwell Automation (ROK) +6.5%/yr, Nlight (LASR) +6.3%/yr, Middleby (MIDD) -8.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Rockwell Automation (ROK) has been the steadiest (Rockwell Automation (ROK) 31.3%, Nlight (LASR) 87.4%, Middleby (MIDD) 42.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ROK, LASR and MIDD?

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