Is the business good?
How good a business is ESE?
ESCO Technologies Inc. earns 8.4% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
8.4%
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 0.57 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 14%
Operating margin · Scientific & Technical Instruments median 17% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- 0.73×
Cash conversion · 1.18× a year ago · some of the reported profit has not turned into cash yet
- Share count, year on year
- +0.24%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 5.0% |
| FY2021 | 11% |
| FY2022 | 12% |
| FY2023 | 14% |
| FY2024 | 16% |
| FY2025 | 16% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 42%
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 14%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 25%
- Free cash flow margin
- 18%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $1.25B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $224M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $308M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 8.4%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion from the cash flow statement.
Scientific & Technical Instruments
Ranks #4 of 16 by Smart Score