Acuity Brands vs nVent Electric
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The short version
- Acuity Brands is the larger business, with $4.6B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $3.9B for nVent Electric.
- nVent Electric grew revenue faster (29.5%, against 6.8%).
- Acuity Brands turned more of its sales into free cash flow (16.1% FCF margin, against 9.6%).
- Acuity Brands earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (17.9%, against 9.3%).
| Latest fiscal year | AYI · FY26 | NVT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $9.9B | $20.6B |
| Revenue | $4.6B | $3.9B |
| Free cash flow | $748M | $372M |
| Net income | $531M | $710M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.8% | 29.5% |
| 5-year growth | 6.1% | 14.3% |
| Share count change | −1.6% | −2.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 50.6% | 37.7% |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | 15.8% |
| Net margin | 11.5% | 18.2% |
| FCF margin | 16.1% | 9.6% |
| Return on capital | 17.9% | 9.3% |
| Return on equity | 18.6% | 20.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $61.1M | $1.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.1x | 1.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $311M | $384M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 34.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
AYI $3.5B
NVT $2.1B
FY18
AYI $3.7B
NVT $2.2B
FY19
AYI $3.7B
NVT $2.2B
FY20
AYI $3.3B
NVT $2.0B
FY21
AYI $3.5B
NVT $2.5B
FY22
AYI $4.0B
NVT $2.3B
FY23
AYI $4.0B
NVT $2.7B
FY24
AYI $3.8B
NVT $3.0B
FY25
AYI $4.3B
NVT $3.9B
FY26
AYI $4.6B
NVT —
AYI
NVT
Operating margin
FY17
AYI 15.1%
NVT 15.1%
FY18
AYI 12.5%
NVT 14.0%
FY19
AYI 12.6%
NVT 15.1%
FY20
AYI 10.6%
NVT 1.9%
FY21
AYI 12.4%
NVT 14.4%
FY22
AYI 12.7%
NVT 13.5%
FY23
AYI 12.0%
NVT 17.3%
FY24
AYI 14.4%
NVT 17.5%
FY25
AYI 13.0%
NVT 15.8%
FY26
AYI 15.4%
NVT —
AYI
NVT
Free cash flow
FY17
AYI $269M
NVT $378M
FY18
AYI $308M
NVT $304M
FY19
AYI $442M
NVT $298M
FY20
AYI $450M
NVT $304M
FY21
AYI $365M
NVT $334M
FY22
AYI $260M
NVT $354M
FY23
AYI $511M
NVT $463M
FY24
AYI $555M
NVT $569M
FY25
AYI $533M
NVT $372M
FY26
AYI $748M
NVT —
AYI
NVT
Return on capital
FY17
AYI 20.8%
NVT —
FY18
AYI 20.7%
NVT 7.4%
FY19
AYI 19.2%
NVT 8.2%
FY20
AYI 14.3%
NVT 0.9%
FY21
AYI 16.5%
NVT 9.1%
FY22
AYI 18.7%
NVT 7.7%
FY23
AYI 17.0%
NVT 11.2%
FY24
AYI 20.6%
NVT 5.9%
FY25
AYI 17.1%
NVT 9.3%
FY26
AYI 17.9%
NVT —
AYI
NVT
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.