ESAB vs IDEX
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The short version
- IDEX is the larger business, with $3.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.8B for ESAB.
- IDEX grew revenue faster (5.8%, against 3.7%).
- IDEX kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.2% operating margin, against 14.5%).
- IDEX turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.8% FCF margin, against 7.5%).
- ESAB earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.0%, against 10.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of IDEX’s earnings: a P/E of 33.0x against 24.1x for ESAB.
| Latest fiscal year | ESAB · FY25 | IEX · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.1B | $17.0B |
| Revenue | $2.8B | $3.5B |
| Free cash flow | $213M | $617M |
| Net income | $227M | $483M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.7% | 5.8% |
| 5-year growth | 7.8% | 8.0% |
| Share count change | 0.3% | −0.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 36.9% | 44.5% |
| Operating margin | 14.5% | 20.2% |
| Net margin | 8.0% | 14.0% |
| FCF margin | 7.5% | 17.8% |
| Return on capital | 11.0% | 10.2% |
| Return on equity | 11.5% | 12.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.0B | $1.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 1.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $21.9M | $460M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 24.1x | 33.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
ESAB —
IEX $2.1B
FY17
ESAB —
IEX $2.3B
FY18
ESAB —
IEX $2.5B
FY19
ESAB —
IEX $2.5B
FY20
ESAB $2.0B
IEX $2.4B
FY21
ESAB $2.4B
IEX $2.8B
FY22
ESAB $2.6B
IEX $3.2B
FY23
ESAB $2.8B
IEX $3.3B
FY24
ESAB $2.7B
IEX $3.3B
FY25
ESAB $2.8B
IEX $3.5B
ESAB
IEX
Operating margin
FY16
ESAB —
IEX 19.5%
FY17
ESAB —
IEX 22.0%
FY18
ESAB —
IEX 22.9%
FY19
ESAB —
IEX 23.2%
FY20
ESAB 10.4%
IEX 22.1%
FY21
ESAB 12.6%
IEX 23.0%
FY22
ESAB 12.7%
IEX 23.6%
FY23
ESAB 14.6%
IEX 22.4%
FY24
ESAB 16.3%
IEX 20.7%
FY25
ESAB 14.5%
IEX 20.2%
ESAB
IEX
Free cash flow
FY16
ESAB —
IEX $362M
FY17
ESAB —
IEX $389M
FY18
ESAB —
IEX $423M
FY19
ESAB —
IEX $477M
FY20
ESAB $269M
IEX $518M
FY21
ESAB $215M
IEX $493M
FY22
ESAB $174M
IEX $489M
FY23
ESAB $282M
IEX $627M
FY24
ESAB $304M
IEX $603M
FY25
ESAB $213M
IEX $617M
ESAB
IEX
Return on capital
FY16
ESAB —
IEX 14.1%
FY17
ESAB —
IEX 15.8%
FY18
ESAB —
IEX 18.6%
FY19
ESAB —
IEX 19.0%
FY20
ESAB —
IEX 16.6%
FY21
ESAB —
IEX 17.3%
FY22
ESAB 10.1%
IEX 16.3%
FY23
ESAB 11.1%
IEX 13.6%
FY24
ESAB 13.6%
IEX 11.3%
FY25
ESAB 11.0%
IEX 10.2%
ESAB
IEX
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.