GE Aerospace vs Northrop Grumman

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put GE Aerospace and Northrop Grumman side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

GE Aerospace is the larger business, with $45.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $42.0B for Northrop Grumman.
GE Aerospace grew revenue faster (18.5%, against 2.2%).
GE Aerospace turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.8% FCF margin, against 7.9%).
GE Aerospace earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (35.8%, against 13.5%).
Investors pay more for each dollar of GE Aerospace’s earnings: a P/E of 33.3x against 17.9x for Northrop Grumman.

Who comes out ahead

Of the 9 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

GE Aerospace

6/9

Revenue growthNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA

Northrop Grumman

NOC

2/9

5-year growthPiotroski F-score

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	GE FY25	NOC FY25
Size
Market cap	$300.3B	$80.5B
Revenue	$45.9B	$42.0B
Free cash flow	$7.3B	$3.3B
Net income	$8.7B	$4.2B
Growth
Revenue growth	18.5%	2.2%
5-year growth	−9.6%	2.7%
Share count change	−2.4%	−2.4%
Profitability
Gross margin	—	—
Operating margin	—	10.8%
Net margin	19.0%	10.0%
FCF margin	15.8%	7.9%
Return on capital	35.8%	13.5%
Return on equity	45.8%	26.2%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$8.1B	$11.3B
Net debt / EBITDA	0.7x	1.9x
Dividends and buybacks	$9.0B	$2.9B
Valuation & quality
P/E	33.3x	17.9x
Piotroski F-score	5	6

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

GE $119.5B

NOC $24.7B

FY17

GE $99.3B

NOC $26.0B

FY18

GE $97.0B

NOC $30.1B

FY19

GE $90.2B

NOC $33.8B

FY20

GE $75.8B

NOC $36.8B

FY21

GE $56.5B

NOC $35.7B

FY22

GE $29.1B

NOC $36.6B

FY23

GE $35.3B

NOC $39.3B

FY24

GE $38.7B

NOC $41.0B

FY25

GE $45.9B

NOC $42.0B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GE NOC

Operating margin

FY16

GE —

NOC 13.3%

FY17

GE —

NOC 12.4%

FY18

GE —

NOC 12.6%

FY19

GE —

NOC 11.7%

FY20

GE —

NOC 11.1%

FY21

GE —

NOC 15.8%

FY22

GE —

NOC 9.8%

FY23

GE —

NOC 6.5%

FY24

GE —

NOC 10.7%

FY25

GE —

NOC 10.8%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GE NOC

Free cash flow

FY16

GE −$6.0B

NOC $1.9B

FY17

GE −$88.0M

NOC $1.7B

FY18

GE −$1.6B

NOC $2.6B

FY19

GE $6.5B

NOC $3.0B

FY20

GE $2.0B

NOC $2.9B

FY21

GE $2.2B

NOC $2.2B

FY22

GE $4.5B

NOC $1.5B

FY23

GE $4.3B

NOC $2.1B

FY24

GE $3.7B

NOC $2.6B

FY25

GE $7.3B

NOC $3.3B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GE NOC

Return on capital

FY16

GE 6.7%

NOC 25.5%

FY17

GE −3.5%

NOC 20.7%

FY18

GE −9.1%

NOC 20.3%

FY19

GE 3.1%

NOC 16.9%

FY20

GE 11.2%

NOC 16.9%

FY21

GE —

NOC 20.7%

FY22

GE —

NOC 12.6%

FY23

GE 28.3%

NOC 8.7%

FY24

GE 25.2%

NOC 13.8%

FY25

GE 35.8%

NOC 13.5%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GE NOC

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.