The short version

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

  • nVent Electric is the larger company, worth $24.8B, about 3.9 times Powell Industries.
  • nVent Electric grew revenue faster over the last year (+52.8% vs +8.9%).
  • Powell Industries keeps more of each dollar of revenue as operating profit (19.7% vs 17.1%).
  • On earnings, Powell Industries is the cheaper stock (36.8x vs 52.1x).
  • nVent Electric's price assumes faster free cash flow growth: about 21% a year, against 14% for Powell Industries (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.

MeasureNVTPOWL
Market cap$24.8B$6.3B
Share price$167.43$191.93
Revenue (last fiscal year)$3.9B$1.1B
Free cash flow (last fiscal year)$372M$155M
Revenue growth, last year+52.8%+8.9%
Revenue growth per year, last 5 fiscal years+12.1%+23.8%
Operating margin17.1%19.7%
Net margin12.4%16.5%
Return on equity15.0%25.2%
P/E (trailing)52.1x36.8x
Price / free cash flow66.6x40.7x
EV / EBITDA28.4x21.3x
FCF growth the price implies20.9%14.3%
Dividend yield0.52%0.22%
Debt / equity0.79x0.86x
Fundamental gradeCC
Superinvestors holding it60
Insider purchases, last 12 months40

Results from SEC filings

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

nVent Electric

YearRevenueFree cash flowOp. margin
2021$2.5B$334M14.4%
2022$2.3B$354M13.5%
2023$2.7B$462M17.3%
2024$3.0B$569M17.5%
2025$3.9B$372M15.8%

Powell Industries

YearRevenueFree cash flowOp. margin
2021$471M-$33M0.22%
2022$533M-$6M1.4%
2023$699M$175M8.9%
2024$1.0B$97M17.7%
2025$1.1B$155M19.7%

Where the revenue comes from

nVent Electric · by segments, 2025

Systems Protection$2.6B67%
Electrical Connections$1.3B33%

Powell Industries · by products, 2025

Oil and gas (excludes petrochemical)$407M37%
Electric utility$279M25%
Commercial and other industrial$178M16%
Petrochemical$151M14%
All others$48M4%
Light rail traction power$41M4%
Compare them in fullFifteen years of statements, quarterly results, DCF and IRR models, and any number of peers side by side.
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Questions

Which is bigger, nVent Electric or Powell Industries?

nVent Electric (NVT), at $24.8B against $6.3B.

Is NVT or POWL cheaper?

By trailing P/E, Powell Industries (36.8x) is cheaper than nVent Electric (52.1x). A lower multiple can also mean the market expects less growth.

Which grows faster, NVT or POWL?

nVent Electric: revenue grew +52.8% over the last year, against +8.9%.

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