The short version

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

  • Pentair is the larger company, worth $8.3B, close to Smith AO's $7.6B.
  • Pentair grew revenue faster over the last year (+2.6% vs -0.7%).
  • Pentair keeps more of each dollar of revenue as operating profit (20.6% vs 17.5%).
  • On earnings, Pentair is the cheaper stock (12.9x vs 14.8x).
  • Smith AO's price assumes faster free cash flow growth: about 0% a year, against -3% for Pentair (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.

MeasureAOSPNR
Market cap$7.6B$8.3B
Share price$56.38$52.47
Revenue (last fiscal year)$3.8B$4.2B
Free cash flow (last fiscal year)$546M$746M
Revenue growth, last year-0.7%+2.6%
Revenue growth per year, last 5 fiscal years+2.0%+2.6%
Operating margin17.5%20.6%
Net margin13.2%16.0%
Return on equity27.2%17.6%
P/E (trailing)14.8x12.9x
Price / free cash flow14.0x11.1x
EV / EBITDA11.1x12.6x
FCF growth the price implies0.31%-2.8%
Dividend yield2.4%2.0%
Debt / equity0.98x0.86x
Fundamental gradeCB
Superinvestors holding it42
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%

Pentair

YearRevenueFree cash flowOp. margin
2021$3.8B$553M16.9%
2022$4.1B$278M14.4%
2023$4.1B$543M18.0%
2024$4.1B$692M19.7%
2025$4.2B$746M20.5%

Where the revenue comes from

Smith AO · by segments, 2025

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

Pentair · by segments, 2025

Pool$1.6B37%
Flow$1.6B37%
Water Solutions$1.1B25%
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 Pentair?

Pentair (PNR), at $8.3B against $7.6B.

Is AOS or PNR cheaper?

By trailing P/E, Pentair (12.9x) is cheaper than Smith AO (14.8x). A lower multiple can also mean the market expects less growth.

Which grows faster, AOS or PNR?

Pentair: revenue grew +2.6% 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.