Stocks · Technology · Hardware, Equipment & Parts
ESCO Technologies Inc. ESE
$274.95 +1.86% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $7.12B
Low risk
Next earnings report: Nov 19, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $12.14, up 173.4% year over year.
- The shares trade at 22.6× trailing earnings, lower than 95% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- Earnings beat analyst estimates in each of the last 4 quarters (average surprise over the last four: +9.4%).
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Technology sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth64Neutral
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 35%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 11%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 42%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 45%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 18%
Quality42Weak
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 34%
- Gross marginBottom 38%
- Operating marginTop 24%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 12%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 9%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 48%
- Interest coverTop 30%
Value69Positive
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 20%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 50%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 43%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 39%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 12%
Momentum48Neutral
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 34%
- 6-month returnBottom 22%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 37%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 40%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 40%
Revisions64Neutral
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 47%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 41%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 42%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 30%
Stability96Exceptional
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 7%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 1%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 10%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 48%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 23.3% | 20.1% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 160.7% | 173.4% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 41.1% | 42.0% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | 14.9% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 14.2% | 15.2% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 20.1% | 23.3% | ↓ | Top 35% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 173.4% | 160.7% | ↑ | Top 11% |
| Gross margin | 42.0% | 41.1% | ↑ | Bottom 38% |
| Operating margin | 14.9% | 15.4% | ↓ | Top 24% |
| Net margin | 24.4% | 10.7% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 15.2% | 14.2% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 7.9% | — | Top 34% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 8.5% | — | Top 45% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 0.77×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- 2.9%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -38.9 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.20×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 10.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.12%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.00%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.12%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.2%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +0.2%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 10, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 4
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 7 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +9.4%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.8%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $413.00
- Target vs current price
- +50.2%
- Analysts with a rating
- 15
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 60%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | +3.8% | +0.1% | -8.3% | -18.5% | — |
| May 7, 2026 | +0.5% | -0.8% | -10.5% | -13.0% | -5.2% |
| Feb 5, 2026 | +24.2% | +1.9% | +21.0% | +16.8% | +39.7% |
| Nov 20, 2025 | +8.9% | -3.2% | -1.9% | -8.7% | +24.4% |
| Aug 7, 2025 | -24.9% | -1.1% | +1.2% | +5.9% | +13.8% |
| May 7, 2025 | +8.0% | -0.3% | +13.0% | +9.9% | +16.7% |
| Feb 6, 2025 | +46.6% | -0.9% | +23.9% | +21.0% | +24.8% |
| Nov 14, 2024 | +1.4% | -2.3% | +2.6% | -0.6% | +15.5% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | $2.20 | $2.12 | +3.8% | $339.0M |
| May 7, 2026 | $1.91 | $1.90 | +0.5% | $309.3M |
| Feb 5, 2026 | $1.64 | $1.32 | +24.2% | $289.7M |
| Nov 20, 2025 | $2.32 | $2.13 | +8.9% | $352.7M |
| Aug 7, 2025 | $1.60 | $2.13 | -24.9% | $296.3M |
| May 7, 2025 | $1.35 | $1.25 | +8.0% | $265.5M |
| Feb 6, 2025 | $1.07 | $0.73 | +46.6% | $247.0M |
| Nov 14, 2024 | $1.46 | $1.44 | +1.4% | $298.5M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 22.6× | 29.2× | 5th | Top 20% |
| P/E (forward) | 32.9× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 25.7× | — | — | Top 43% |
| EV / Sales | 5.56× | — | — | Bottom 39% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.76% | — | — | Top 50% |
| Earnings yield | 4.42% | — | — | Top 20% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 17.8× – 113.3× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +29.0%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +173.4%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -43.3%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -8.5%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +2.1%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -3.8%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -2.7%
- RSI (14)
- 52.8
- Relative volume
- 0.70×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 32.5%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 73th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.73
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.37
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -22.5%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -27.0%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 19, 2021 | May 9, 2022 | -46.2% | 287 days | 404 days (Dec 15, 2023) |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Sep 16, 2026 | -27.0% | 57 days | Not yet recovered |
| Feb 20, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 | -17.6% | 33 days | 21 days (May 8, 2025) |
| Dec 27, 2023 | Apr 17, 2024 | -17.5% | 76 days | 61 days (Jul 16, 2024) |
| May 5, 2026 | Jun 1, 2026 | -15.2% | 18 days | 13 days (Jun 18, 2026) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $7.12B
- P/E (TTM)
- 22.6
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $12.14
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.29B
- Dividend yield
- 0.12%
- 52-week range
- $193.68 – $362.15
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $715.4M | $857.5M | $855.8M | $919.1M | $1.10B |
| Gross profit | $270.4M | $332.0M | $353.1M | $388.6M | $461.1M |
| Operating income | $82.0M | $111.0M | $120.7M | $147.6M | $173.1M |
| Net income | $63.5M | $82.3M | $92.5M | $101.9M | $299.2M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.42 | $3.16 | $3.58 | $3.94 | $11.55 |
| Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $298.5M | $214.6M | $265.5M | $296.3M | $352.7M | $289.7M | $309.3M | $339.0M |
| Net income | $34.3M | $23.5M | $31.0M | $26.1M | $218.7M | $28.7M | $34.7M | $32.7M |
| EPS (diluted) | $1.32 | $0.91 | $1.20 | $1.01 | $8.43 | $1.11 | $1.34 | $1.26 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $123.1M | $135.3M | $76.9M | $127.5M | $241.9M |
| Capital expenditure | -$35.5M | -$45.0M | -$29.9M | -$40.2M | -$52.2M |
| Free cash flow | $87.7M | $90.3M | $47.0M | $87.4M | $189.8M |
| Dividends paid | -$8.3M | -$8.3M | -$8.3M | -$8.2M | -$8.3M |
| Net share buybacks | $0 | -$19.9M | -$12.4M | -$8.0M | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $73.2M
- Total assets
- $2.42B
- Total liabilities
- $802.7M
- Total debt
- $129.1M
- Net debt
- $55.9M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.62B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 10, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | $0.08 | Oct 15, 2026 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | $0.08 | Jul 17, 2026 |
| Apr 2, 2026 | $0.08 | Apr 17, 2026 |
| Jan 2, 2026 | $0.08 | Jan 16, 2026 |
| Oct 2, 2025 | $0.08 | Oct 16, 2025 |
| Jul 2, 2025 | $0.08 | Jul 17, 2025 |
| Apr 2, 2025 | $0.08 | Apr 17, 2025 |
| Jan 2, 2025 | $0.08 | Jan 17, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 679,896
- Days to cover
- 3.31
- Change vs previous report
- +3.7%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Sep 26, 2005
- 2-for-1