Plug Power, Inc. (PLUG) vs Powell Industries, Inc. (POWL)

Plug Power, Inc. and Powell Industries, Inc. are both Electrical Equipment & Parts companies. Powell Industries, Inc. is the larger, with a market value of $6.2B against $2.1B — 3.0× the size. Plug Power, Inc. has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Powell Industries, Inc. trades at 31.5×. Plug Power, Inc. grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 10.6% against 7.04%. Powell Industries, Inc. has the higher net margin (16.5% vs −220.6%) and the higher return on invested capital (116.0% vs −74.2%). Across the 19 metrics below, Powell Industries, Inc. leads on 13 and Plug Power, Inc. on 6.

Valuation

Metric PLUG POWL Electrical Equipment & Parts median
P/E n/m 31.46 31.20
P/S 2.58 5.20 2.28
P/B 3.27 7.96 3.19
Price to free cash flow n/m 24.66 27.15
EV/EBITDA n/m 22.79 15.80
EV/Sales 3.25 4.65 2.38
Earnings yield (91.30%) 3.18% (5.87%)
Free cash flow yield (27.17%) 4.06% 0.00%

Profitability

Metric PLUG POWL Electrical Equipment & Parts median
Gross margin (18.55%) 30.08% 25.38%
Operating margin (172.77%) 19.67% 0.00%
Net margin (220.59%) 16.49% 0.00%
Free cash flow margin (70.20%) 21.08% 0.00%
Return on equity (139.62%) 28.25% 0.14%
Return on assets (59.19%) 15.59% (1.50%)
Return on invested capital (74.22%) 116.04% 0.00%

Growth

Metric PLUG POWL Electrical Equipment & Parts median
Revenue growth (TTM) 10.59% 7.04% 7.92%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 47.01% 20.91% 27.37%
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 16.32% 9.92%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 61.09% 0.00%

Health

Metric PLUG POWL Electrical Equipment & Parts median
Debt to equity 1.38 0.00 0.16
Current ratio 2.32 1.97 2.31
Net debt to EBITDA (0.11) (2.11) 0.26

Dividend

Metric PLUG POWL Electrical Equipment & Parts median
Dividend yield — 0.22% 0.48%
Payout ratio — 0.07 0.10

Size

Metric PLUG POWL Electrical Equipment & Parts median
Market cap 2.07b 6.22b 157.22m

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