The short version

From the latest prices and each company's SEC filings. Who's ahead on each measure, not which to buy.

  • Smith AO is the larger company, worth $7.6B, about 1.2 times Gates Industrial Corporation.
  • Gates Industrial Corporation grew revenue faster over the last year (+6.5% vs -0.7%).
  • Smith AO keeps more of each dollar of revenue as operating profit (17.5% vs 13.3%).
  • On earnings, Smith AO is the cheaper stock (14.8x vs 25.9x).
  • Gates Industrial Corporation's price assumes faster free cash flow growth: about 2% a year, against 0% for Smith AO (reverse DCF).

Side by side

The stronger figure is shaded where higher (or, for valuation multiples, lower) reads as better. How the implied growth works.

MeasureAOSGTES
Market cap$7.6B$6.3B
Share price$56.38$26.67
Revenue (last fiscal year)$3.8B$3.4B
Free cash flow (last fiscal year)$546M$405M
Revenue growth, last year-0.7%+6.5%
Revenue growth per year, last 5 fiscal years+2.0%-0.2%
Operating margin17.5%13.3%
Net margin13.2%10.4%
Return on equity27.2%10.3%
P/E (trailing)14.8x25.9x
Price / free cash flow14.0x15.4x
EV / EBITDA11.1x12.3x
FCF growth the price implies0.31%1.6%
Dividend yield2.4%—
Debt / equity0.98x0.99x
Fundamental gradeCB
Superinvestors holding it45
Insider purchases, last 12 months02

Results from SEC filings

Revenue and free cash flow by fiscal year, from each company's 10-K filings.

Smith AO

YearRevenueFree cash flowOp. margin
2021$3.5B$566M19.3%
2022$3.8B$321M9.6%
2023$3.9B$598M19.3%
2024$3.8B$474M18.5%
2025$3.8B$546M19.0%

Gates Industrial Corporation

YearRevenueFree cash flowOp. margin
2021$3.5B$305M13.9%
2022$3.6B$188M10.8%
2023$3.6B$420M12.9%
2024$3.4B$296M13.9%
2025$3.4B$405M13.5%

Where the revenue comes from

Smith AO · by segments, 2025

North America$3.0B77%
Rest of World$866M23%

Gates Industrial Corporation · by segments, 2025

Power Transmission$2.1B62%
Fluid Power$1.3B38%
Compare them in fullFifteen years of statements, quarterly results, DCF and IRR models, and any number of peers side by side.
Open AOS in Investingly

Questions

Which is bigger, Smith AO or Gates Industrial Corporation?

Smith AO (AOS), at $7.6B against $6.3B.

Is AOS or GTES cheaper?

By trailing P/E, Smith AO (14.8x) is cheaper than Gates Industrial Corporation (25.9x). A lower multiple can also mean the market expects less growth.

Which grows faster, AOS or GTES?

Gates Industrial Corporation: revenue grew +6.5% over the last year, against -0.7%.

Prices and ratios as of the last daily update; statements from SEC filings. Information only, not investment advice.