Industrials

Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing

66 investable US stocks · data to Saturday, October 24, 2026

Acquirer's Multiple percentile today60th percentile

Dearer than in 96% of quarters since 1999Its usual range since 1999 is the 22nd to 54th percentile (the middle 80% of quarters), with a median of the 34th. Lower is cheaper: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the investable US market; the 50th is the middle.

Is it cheap because returns are depressed?

The industry is dear against its own past, and even though returns on assets are depressed (lower than in 95% of quarters). Free cash flow yield is low (lower than in 95% of quarters), so the cash doesn't support the premium. A low multiple can be warranted when returns on assets are low, and a high one when they are high, so the multiple reads best next to returns and free cash flow, each against the industry's own history.

Over- or under-earning?

Earning about normally

Return on assets ranks at the 62nd percentile of investable US stocks, against a median of the 66th and a low of the 45th since 1999. That is close to its usual level, so today's multiple is about right on a normalized basis. If earnings normalize, the multiple would likely fall: from the 60th percentile today (dearer than 60% of investable US stocks) to around the 34th (cheaper than 66% of investable US stocks), judging by where it sat in past quarters when returns were at their usual level. If returns fell to their low, it would be around the 53rd (about the middle of the market).

Percentile	Today	Returns normal	Returns at low
Return on assets (higher is better)	62nd	66th (median)	45th (low)
Acquirer's Multiple (lower is cheaper)	60th	34th	53rd

Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing's return on assets as a percentile, quarterly since 1999. The shaded band is its usual range; the dashed line its median.

Percentiles among investable US stocks. Return on assets is operating income over total assets, trailing 12 months. The last two columns show where it sat in past quarters when returns were within 7.5 points of their median (104 quarters) and of their low (2). The past, not a forecast.

Against its own history

Each chart is the industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks, quarterly since 1999. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better. The shaded band is its usual range (the middle 80% of quarters); the dashed line is its long-run median; the dot is today. Green shading marks the better end of each scale and red the worse, and today's dot takes the colour of where it sits.

Acquirer's MultipleNear its dearestPercentile of enterprise value ÷ operating income: lower is cheaper. Dearer than in 96% of quarters since 1999.

Free cash flow yieldNear its lowestPercentile of free cash flow yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 95% of quarters since 1999.

Shareholder yieldLower than usualDividends plus buybacks, as a percentile: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 89% of quarters since 1999.

Dividend yieldNear its lowestPercentile of dividend yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 93% of quarters since 1999.

Return on assets, 5-yrNear its weakestPercentile of five-year return on assets: higher is better. Lower than in 95% of quarters since 1999.

Debt to equityLess debt than usualPercentile of debt to equity: lower is less debt. Less indebted than in 81% of quarters since 1999.

Company sizeUsual rangePercentile of market cap: higher is larger. Larger than in 61% of quarters since 1999.

Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing stocks in the screens today

In today's screens, cheapest first. ● marks one of a screen's 30 tracked picks.

Stock	Screen	Acquirer's Multiple	FCF yield	Shareholder yield

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Other Industrials industries

Passenger Transportation dearer than 54%Electrical Equipment and Power Systems dearer than 66%Transportation Equipment Manufacturing dearer than 72%Facilities and Construction Services dearer than 75%Cargo Transportation and Infrastructure Services dearer than 81%Delivery and Logistics Services dearer than 93%Diversified Industrials Distribution dearer than 96%Machinery Manufacturing dearer than 99%

Quarterly since 1999 from point-in-time data. Each quarter, every investable US stock (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no OTC, ADRs or MLPs) is placed in a percentile (0-100) against all the others on each metric. An industry's value is the median percentile of its stocks. Industries follow FactSet's RBICS classification. Percentiles describe the past; they are not investment advice or a forecast.