SYM vs ITW vs ROK Stock Comparison

Symbotic, Illinois Tool Works and Rockwell Automation Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SYM Symbotic Inc.
$38.98 -10.3% 1M -44.9% 1Y
Market cap
$4.95B
P/E
603.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.65B
Div. yield
0.00%
Industrial Machinery Industrials
2 wins
ITW Illinois Tool Works Inc
$275.93 +0.7% 1M +11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$78.63B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
4 wins
ROK Rockwell Automation, Inc
$439.20 +1.1% 1M +21.5% 1Y
Market cap
$49.39B
P/E
41.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.97B
Div. yield
–
Industrial Machinery Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Illinois Tool Works leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Illinois Tool Works 4, Rockwell Automation 3, Symbotic 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSYMITWROKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.95B $78.63B $49.39B ITW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 603.5x 24.0x 41.1x ITW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 205.2x 25.9x 35.1x ITW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.6% — +11.3% SYM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.3% — 13.4% ROK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 21.0% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 1.3x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -44.9% +11.3% +21.5% ROK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +31.4%/yr +4.0%/yr +6.6%/yr SYM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 78.7% 21.3% 31.3% ITW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 49/100 53/100 ROK

Percentile Scorecard

SYMITWROK

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

AxisSYMITWROK
Valuation 10 #182 of 203 24 #154 of 203 16 #170 of 203
Growth 99 #3 of 188 35 #123 of 188 50 #94 of 188
Profitability 39 #112 of 183 – 96 #9 of 183
Financial Health 42 #126 of 217 – 32 #147 of 217
Shareholder Returns 40 #92 of 153 87 #21 of 153 72 #44 of 153
Overall 46 49 53
  • SYM ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ITW ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • ROK ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSYMITWROKSPY
1 month -10.3%+0.7%+1.1% -0.2%
3 months -7.9%-6.5%-6.8% +3.9%
6 months -31.7%+2.8%+9.4% +8.2%
Year to date -34.5%+12.0%+12.9% +12.9%
1 year -44.9%+11.3%+21.5% +12.3%
3 years +10.3%+23.6%+67.6% +87.4%
3 years, per year +3.3%+7.3%+18.8% +23.3%
5 years +291.8%+21.8%+37.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +31.4%+4.0%+6.6% +10.9%
10 years —+143.5%+271.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+9.3%+14.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSYMITWROKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 78.7%21.3%31.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 80.6%20.7%31.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.910.471.40 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.570.530.69 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -72.5%-28.9%-45.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -55.3%-7.9%-11.3% -1.2%
52-week high $87.30$299.60$495.08 $779.14
52-week low $37.90$241.07$348.51 $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.

MultipleSYMITWROK
P/E now vs peer median 608.2xmedian 25.2x 24.0xmedian 25.2x 40.6xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 8.9xmedian 1.9x 4.6xmedian 1.9x 5.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 563.4xmedian 14.0x —median 14.0x 24.6xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.6xmedian 21.7x 26.0xmedian 21.7x 32.4xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 20.8xmedian 2.3x 25.0xmedian 2.3x 14.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 20.85median 1.32 —median 1.32 -9.25median 1.32

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 monthsSYMITWROK
Revenue $2.65B – $8.97B
Gross profit $563.25M – $4.41B
Operating income -$250.00K – $1.77B
Net income $34.64M $3.23B $1.20B
Free cash flow $795.43M – $1.50B
R&D $203.12M – $716.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.06 – $10.76
Cash & equivalents $1.75B $809.00M $479.00M
Total debt – – $13.81B
Shares (diluted) 133.25M 287.00M 111.60M
Enterprise value -$1.87B $78.63B $47.58B

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
MetricSYMITWROK
P/E 608.2x 24.0x 40.6x
P/FCF 29.6x 26.0x 32.4x
P/Operating cash flow 26.3x 24.1x 28.2x
P/S 8.9x 4.6x 5.4x
P/B 20.8x 25.0x 14.0x
P/Tangible book 22.4x 30.2x 17.5x
EV/EBITDA 563.4x – 24.6x
EV/EBIT -87,169x – 29.1x
EV/Revenue 8.2x – 5.7x
EV/FCF 27.4x – 34.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x 24.1x 29.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 20.85 – -9.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSYMITWROK
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.6% – 11.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 40.2% – 1.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 40.8% – 1.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 51.3% – 7.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 99.6% – -7.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 89.3% – 2.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 208.5% 6.7% 23.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 0.9% -5.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 210.9% – 25.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 29.2% – -4.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 400.5% -0.5% 13.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -0.5% 22.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 594.4% – 13.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 23.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSYMITWROK
Gross margin 21.3% – 49.1%
EBITDA margin 1.5% – 23.3%
Operating margin 0.0% – 19.7%
Pretax margin 2.4% – 14.7%
Net margin 0.3% – 13.4%
FCF margin 30.1% – 16.8%
Operating cash flow margin 33.8% – 19.3%
Return on equity 3.2% 106.9% 30.9%
Return on assets 1.0% – 9.8%
Return on invested capital – – 21.0%
Return on capital employed 0.0% – 23.6%
Asset turnover 0.8x – 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 25.8x 1.0x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 8.9% – 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSYMITWROK
Debt / assets – – 29.4%
Debt / equity – – 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 1.3x
Debt / FCF – – 2.2x
Liabilities / assets 67.8% – 68.5%
Equity / assets 32.2% – 31.5%
Interest coverage – – 12.8x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.3x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.2x – 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.8x – 0.1x
Altman Z-score 6.38 – 5.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSYMITWROK
Dividend yield – 2.4% 1.3%
Net buyback yield -1.8% – 1.4%
Shareholder yield -1.8% 2.4% 2.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 3.5% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 0.2% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -30.4% – –
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.

ConsensusSYMITWROK
Forward P/E 205.2xFY2026 25.9xFY2026 35.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.19FY2026 $10.67FY2026 $12.50FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -17.4%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026 +18.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +131.6% +19.3% +12.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.86BFY2026 $16.46BFY2026 $8.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +27.0%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 +1.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.7% +11.4% +19.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSYMITWROK
Held by institutions 90.0% 84.9% 89.2%
Institutions holding 412 1,969 1,540
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +0.8% +3.5%
Institutions buying 260 846 805
Institutions selling 85 750 437
Buyers to sellers 3.06 1.13 1.84

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.

SYMITWROK
SYM 1.00 0.17 0.37
ITW 0.17 1.00 0.37
ROK 0.37 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SYM, ITW and ROK?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Symbotic (SYM) $4.95B, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) $78.63B, Rockwell Automation (ROK) $49.39B.

Which stock is cheaper, SYM, ITW and ROK?

Illinois Tool Works (ITW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Symbotic (SYM) 603.5x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 24.0x, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 41.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) is cheapest (Symbotic (SYM) 205.2x, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 25.9x, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 35.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Symbotic (SYM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Symbotic (SYM) +20.6%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +11.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Rockwell Automation (ROK) has the highest net margin (Symbotic (SYM) 0.3%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 13.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Rockwell Automation (ROK) returned the most: Symbotic (SYM) -44.9%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +11.3%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +21.5%. Over five years, Symbotic (SYM) compounded fastest (Symbotic (SYM) +31.4%/yr, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) +4.0%/yr, Rockwell Automation (ROK) +6.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Symbotic (SYM) 0.00%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 0.00%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 0.00%. Illinois Tool Works (ITW) and Rockwell Automation (ROK) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has been the steadiest (Symbotic (SYM) 78.7%, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 21.3%, Rockwell Automation (ROK) 31.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SYM, ITW and ROK?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) 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.