Acuity Brands vs Rockwell Automation
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The short version
- Rockwell Automation is the larger business, with $8.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.6B for Acuity Brands, about 1.8 times as much.
- Acuity Brands grew revenue faster (6.8%, against 0.9%).
- Rockwell Automation kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.4% operating margin, against 15.4%).
- Rockwell Automation earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (20.9%, against 17.9%).
| Latest fiscal year | AYI · FY26 | ROK · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $9.9B | $47.6B |
| Revenue | $4.6B | $8.3B |
| Free cash flow | $748M | $1.4B |
| Net income | $531M | $869M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.8% | 0.9% |
| 5-year growth | 6.1% | 5.7% |
| Share count change | −1.6% | −1.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 50.6% | 48.1% |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | 20.4% |
| Net margin | 11.5% | 10.4% |
| FCF margin | 16.1% | 16.3% |
| Return on capital | 17.9% | 20.9% |
| Return on equity | 18.6% | 24.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $61.1M | $2.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.1x | 1.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $311M | $1.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 39.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 8 |
Revenue
FY17
AYI $3.5B
ROK $6.3B
FY18
AYI $3.7B
ROK $6.7B
FY19
AYI $3.7B
ROK $6.7B
FY20
AYI $3.3B
ROK $6.3B
FY21
AYI $3.5B
ROK $7.0B
FY22
AYI $4.0B
ROK $7.8B
FY23
AYI $4.0B
ROK $9.1B
FY24
AYI $3.8B
ROK $8.3B
FY25
AYI $4.3B
ROK $8.3B
FY26
AYI $4.6B
ROK —
AYI
ROK
Operating margin
FY17
AYI 15.1%
ROK —
FY18
AYI 12.5%
ROK —
FY19
AYI 12.6%
ROK —
FY20
AYI 10.6%
ROK —
FY21
AYI 12.4%
ROK —
FY22
AYI 12.7%
ROK —
FY23
AYI 12.0%
ROK 21.3%
FY24
AYI 14.4%
ROK 19.3%
FY25
AYI 13.0%
ROK 20.4%
FY26
AYI 15.4%
ROK —
AYI
ROK
Free cash flow
FY17
AYI $269M
ROK $892M
FY18
AYI $308M
ROK $1.2B
FY19
AYI $442M
ROK $1.0B
FY20
AYI $450M
ROK $1.0B
FY21
AYI $365M
ROK $1.1B
FY22
AYI $260M
ROK $682M
FY23
AYI $511M
ROK $1.2B
FY24
AYI $555M
ROK $639M
FY25
AYI $533M
ROK $1.4B
FY26
AYI $748M
ROK —
AYI
ROK
Return on capital
FY17
AYI 20.8%
ROK 50.7%
FY18
AYI 20.7%
ROK 31.5%
FY19
AYI 19.2%
ROK 37.8%
FY20
AYI 14.3%
ROK 52.6%
FY21
AYI 16.5%
ROK 33.0%
FY22
AYI 18.7%
ROK 16.6%
FY23
AYI 17.0%
ROK 25.6%
FY24
AYI 20.6%
ROK 22.0%
FY25
AYI 17.1%
ROK 20.9%
FY26
AYI 17.9%
ROK —
AYI
ROK
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.