Nordson vs RBC Bearings
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The short version
- Nordson is the larger business, with $2.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.9B for RBC Bearings.
- RBC Bearings grew revenue faster (14.3%, against 3.8%).
- Nordson kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.5% operating margin, against 22.5%).
- Nordson turned more of its sales into free cash flow (23.7% FCF margin, against 18.3%).
- Nordson earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.6%, against 8.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of RBC Bearings’s earnings: a P/E of 46.6x against 32.3x for Nordson.
| Latest fiscal year | NDSN · FY25 | RBC · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $17.9B | $15.0B |
| Revenue | $2.8B | $1.9B |
| Free cash flow | $661M | $343M |
| Net income | $485M | $288M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.8% | 14.3% |
| 5-year growth | 5.7% | 25.2% |
| Share count change | −1.2% | 4.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 55.2% | 44.4% |
| Operating margin | 25.5% | 22.5% |
| Net margin | 17.4% | 15.4% |
| FCF margin | 23.7% | 18.3% |
| Return on capital | 11.6% | 8.0% |
| Return on equity | 16.2% | 9.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.9B | $864M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.4x | 1.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $486M | $0.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.3x | 46.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
NDSN $2.1B
RBC $615M
FY18
NDSN $2.3B
RBC $675M
FY19
NDSN $2.2B
RBC $703M
FY20
NDSN $2.1B
RBC $728M
FY21
NDSN $2.4B
RBC $609M
FY22
NDSN $2.6B
RBC $943M
FY23
NDSN $2.6B
RBC $1.5B
FY24
NDSN $2.7B
RBC $1.6B
FY25
NDSN $2.8B
RBC $1.6B
FY26
NDSN —
RBC $1.9B
NDSN
RBC
Operating margin
FY17
NDSN 22.6%
RBC 18.6%
FY18
NDSN 22.3%
RBC 19.1%
FY19
NDSN 22.0%
RBC 18.8%
FY20
NDSN 16.5%
RBC 20.5%
FY21
NDSN 26.0%
RBC 18.8%
FY22
NDSN 27.1%
RBC 12.8%
FY23
NDSN 25.6%
RBC 19.9%
FY24
NDSN 25.1%
RBC 21.9%
FY25
NDSN 25.5%
RBC 22.6%
FY26
NDSN —
RBC 22.5%
NDSN
RBC
Free cash flow
FY17
NDSN $285M
RBC $80.4M
FY18
NDSN $415M
RBC $102M
FY19
NDSN $319M
RBC $67.2M
FY20
NDSN $452M
RBC $118M
FY21
NDSN $508M
RBC $141M
FY22
NDSN $462M
RBC $151M
FY23
NDSN $607M
RBC $179M
FY24
NDSN $492M
RBC $242M
FY25
NDSN $661M
RBC $244M
FY26
NDSN —
RBC $343M
NDSN
RBC
Return on capital
FY17
NDSN 14.9%
RBC 8.2%
FY18
NDSN 15.9%
RBC 9.9%
FY19
NDSN 14.1%
RBC 11.4%
FY20
NDSN 10.8%
RBC 12.1%
FY21
NDSN 18.1%
RBC 8.9%
FY22
NDSN 19.9%
RBC —
FY23
NDSN 15.0%
RBC —
FY24
NDSN 11.6%
RBC 7.0%
FY25
NDSN 11.6%
RBC 7.4%
FY26
NDSN —
RBC 8.0%
NDSN
RBC
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.