ESAB vs Nordson
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The short version
- ESAB is the larger business, with $2.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.8B for Nordson.
- Nordson kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (25.5% operating margin, against 14.5%).
- Nordson turned more of its sales into free cash flow (23.7% FCF margin, against 7.5%).
- Nordson earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.6%, against 11.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Nordson’s earnings: a P/E of 32.3x against 24.1x for ESAB.
| Latest fiscal year | ESAB · FY25 | NDSN · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.1B | $17.9B |
| Revenue | $2.8B | $2.8B |
| Free cash flow | $213M | $661M |
| Net income | $227M | $485M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.7% | 3.8% |
| 5-year growth | 7.8% | 5.7% |
| Share count change | 0.3% | −1.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 36.9% | 55.2% |
| Operating margin | 14.5% | 25.5% |
| Net margin | 8.0% | 17.4% |
| FCF margin | 7.5% | 23.7% |
| Return on capital | 11.0% | 11.6% |
| Return on equity | 11.5% | 16.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.0B | $1.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 2.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $21.9M | $486M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 24.1x | 32.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
ESAB —
NDSN $1.8B
FY17
ESAB —
NDSN $2.1B
FY18
ESAB —
NDSN $2.3B
FY19
ESAB —
NDSN $2.2B
FY20
ESAB $2.0B
NDSN $2.1B
FY21
ESAB $2.4B
NDSN $2.4B
FY22
ESAB $2.6B
NDSN $2.6B
FY23
ESAB $2.8B
NDSN $2.6B
FY24
ESAB $2.7B
NDSN $2.7B
FY25
ESAB $2.8B
NDSN $2.8B
ESAB
NDSN
Operating margin
FY16
ESAB —
NDSN 21.5%
FY17
ESAB —
NDSN 22.6%
FY18
ESAB —
NDSN 22.3%
FY19
ESAB —
NDSN 22.0%
FY20
ESAB 10.4%
NDSN 16.5%
FY21
ESAB 12.6%
NDSN 26.0%
FY22
ESAB 12.7%
NDSN 27.1%
FY23
ESAB 14.6%
NDSN 25.6%
FY24
ESAB 16.3%
NDSN 25.1%
FY25
ESAB 14.5%
NDSN 25.5%
ESAB
NDSN
Free cash flow
FY16
ESAB —
NDSN $274M
FY17
ESAB —
NDSN $285M
FY18
ESAB —
NDSN $415M
FY19
ESAB —
NDSN $319M
FY20
ESAB $269M
NDSN $452M
FY21
ESAB $215M
NDSN $508M
FY22
ESAB $174M
NDSN $462M
FY23
ESAB $282M
NDSN $607M
FY24
ESAB $304M
NDSN $492M
FY25
ESAB $213M
NDSN $661M
ESAB
NDSN
Return on capital
FY16
ESAB —
NDSN 16.4%
FY17
ESAB —
NDSN 14.9%
FY18
ESAB —
NDSN 15.9%
FY19
ESAB —
NDSN 14.1%
FY20
ESAB —
NDSN 10.8%
FY21
ESAB —
NDSN 18.1%
FY22
ESAB 10.1%
NDSN 19.9%
FY23
ESAB 11.1%
NDSN 15.0%
FY24
ESAB 13.6%
NDSN 11.6%
FY25
ESAB 11.0%
NDSN 11.6%
ESAB
NDSN
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.