Illinois Tool Works (ITW)
Forward P/E is 22.78x against a peer median of 20.57x, a ratio of 1.11x, with trailing P/E 24.5x and PEG 3.02. The ratio sits inside the fair band; growth is positive and only slightly below the cluster median, so the overvalued step does not trigger despite a PEG above 2. Latest-quarter revenue grew +6.1% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR). Delivered demand check: the Industrial machinery & components group's median growth was +7.3% year over year — demand steady.
What would change this label: Move to OVERVALUED if the forward P/E rises to about 23.7x or above (1.15x the peer median) at unchanged estimates, or if revenue growth falls below 3% year over year for two quarters. Move to UNDERVALUED if the forward P/E compresses to about 18.5x or below (0.90x the peer median) while revenue growth stays above 5% year over year.
Illinois Tool Works makes a wide range of industrial products, from fasteners and welding equipment to car parts. Its shares cost a little more than similar companies, with steady sales growth a touch below the group pace. The small premium looks broadly in line with what it has delivered, so the shares look fairly priced.
Both lines start at 100 on 2020-09-01. Over the full window Illinois Tool Works returned +37.26% and the S&P 500 +118.28% (price returns; dividends not reinvested). Worst peak-to-trough fall for Illinois Tool Works: -28.9% (2022-01-04 to 2022-07-14). Source: Nasdaq official daily history.
What the label rests on
Forward P/E is 22.78x against a peer median of 20.57x, a ratio of 1.11x, with trailing P/E 24.5x and PEG 3.02. The ratio sits inside the fair band; growth is positive and only slightly below the cluster median, so the overvalued step does not trigger despite a PEG above 2. Latest-quarter revenue grew +6.1% year over year (PRIMARY, EDGAR). Delivered demand check: the Industrial machinery & components group's median growth was +7.3% year over year — demand steady. The company’s forward P/E is 22.8× against a peer median of 20.6×. Its own history: UNVERIFIED — no sourced range available. Sector demand read: Delivered demand check: the Industrial machinery & components group's median latest-quarter revenue growth was 7.3% year over year (SEC filings) — demand steady. This company grew 6.1%, slightly below the group. Latest-quarter sales growth was +6.1% versus a year earlier (SEC filings).
| Company | Price (Oct 28, 2026) | Forward P/E | Trailing P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Tool Works (ITW) | $274.61 | 22.8× | 24.5× |
| GWW | — | 27.8× | 34.3× |
| PH | — | 25.6× | 31.9× |
| IR | — | 20.6× | 31.1× |
| OTIS | — | 16.9× | 18.1× |
| DOV | — | 18.0× | 24.3× |
| Peer median | 20.6× |
Multiples: stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026. Peer set chosen by sector; the median is the middle value of the set. The label and its numbers were recorded in the programme’s label registry on Oct 28, 2026 and will be scored at 6 and 12 months.
Sales, profit and cash
This company does not report a gross-profit line in its SEC facts (normal for banks, payment networks and some health insurers), so profit is shown as net income instead — gross margin is marked UNVERIFIED-absent rather than estimated.
Free cash flow = cash from operations minus spending on plant and equipment, both from the company’s SEC cash-flow statement. Gaps are quarters where that spending line is not separately tagged in the filings — shown as gaps, never estimated.
| Quarter | Sales | Gross margin | Net income | EPS (GAAP, diluted) | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q/E Jun 2026 2026-06-30 | $4.3B | — | $815M | 2.84 | $631M |
| Q/E Mar 2026 2026-03-31 | $4.0B | — | $768M | 2.66 | $528M |
| Q/E Dec 2025 2025-12-31 | $4.1B | — | $790M | — | $858M |
| Q/E Sep 2025 2025-09-30 | $4.1B | — | $821M | 2.81 | $904M |
| Q/E Jun 2025 2025-06-30 | $4.1B | — | $755M | 2.58 | $449M |
| Q/E Mar 2025 2025-03-31 | $3.8B | — | $700M | 2.38 | $496M |
| Q/E Dec 2024 2024-12-31 | $3.9B | — | $750M | — | $996M |
| Q/E Sep 2024 2024-09-30 | $4.0B | — | $1.2B | 3.91 | $783M |
| Q/E Jun 2024 2024-06-30 | $4.0B | — | $759M | 2.54 | $571M |
| Q/E Mar 2024 2024-03-31 | $4.0B | — | $819M | 2.73 | $494M |
| Q/E Dec 2023 2023-12-31 | $4.0B | — | $717M | — | $908M |
| Q/E Sep 2023 2023-09-30 | $4.0B | — | $772M | 2.55 | $856M |
The last twelve reported quarters. Full 22-quarter history sits in the data pack behind this page. A dash means the figure is not tagged as a standalone quarter in the company’s SEC facts (the usual case is the fourth quarter, which many companies only report inside the full-year filing) — it is missing, not zero.
Earnings: getting better or worse?
Each box is one quarter’s earnings per share (EPS). Green means EPS was higher than the same quarter a year earlier; red means lower; a dash means the figure is not tagged in the filings.
Basis: GAAP diluted EPS from SEC company facts, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
Key facts
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Company (legal name in filings) | ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC |
| Chief executive | Christopher A. O'Herlihy (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Tool_Works) |
| Sector | Industrials — Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components — makes industrial equipment, fasteners, welding products and car parts |
| Share price (Oct 28, 2026) | $274.61 |
| Market value (market cap) | $78.6B — share price times shares outstanding of 284,800,000 (SEC filings; SEC EDGAR dei EntityCommonStockSharesOutstanding (latest)) |
| Sales, last twelve months | $16.5B |
| Net income, last twelve months | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow, last twelve months | $2.9B |
| Latest reported quarter | Q/E Jun 2026 (of 22 quarters in the data pack) |
| Six-year price return vs S&P 500 | +37.26% vs +118.28% |
| Worst peak-to-trough fall | -28.9% (2022-01-04 to 2022-07-14) |
What we could not verify
- Gross profit / gross margin: not tagged as a standalone line in this company's EDGAR company facts (common for banks, payment networks and some healthcare payers) — shown as UNVERIFIED-absent; the page charts revenue and net income instead.
- TTM GAAP diluted EPS could not be summed from company facts because at least one of the last four quarters (typically Q4) has no standalone tagged EPS; trailing P/E is therefore taken from the labelled secondary source in valuation_label.md.
- Own-history P/E (5-year median): not computed in the Phase 1 batch — UNVERIFIED
- Guidance record (each quarter scored against the guidance the company gave the quarter before) is not yet compiled for this company — it is a Phase 2 layer. The earnings strip below therefore uses reported EPS versus a year earlier, which is fully sourced from filings.
The IT factor — the most exciting thing the market is overlooking — is not assessed on an X-Ray page. It belongs to the Deep Dive (Phase 2), where it gets the evidence standard it needs. Leadership-era scoring (the six years split by chief executive) is likewise a Phase 2 layer; this page names the current chief executive only, from a sourced profile.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR submissions — Filing index; company legal name.
https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000049826.json - SEC EDGAR company facts — Quarterly financial spine: revenue, gross profit, net income, GAAP diluted EPS, operating cash flow, PP&E capex, buybacks, dividends, diluted shares.
https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0000049826.json - Nasdaq official daily history — Daily closes for the company; SPY (assetclass=etf) saved as raw/nasdaq_spy_raw.json over identical dates.
https://api.nasdaq.com/api/quote/ITW/historical?assetclass=stocks - Valuation multiples and peer figures — stockanalysis.com (SECONDARY, S&P Global data), fetched Oct 28, 2026; see valuation_label.md in the data pack.
Conventions: earliest-filed value per period, as first reported; cash-flow years-to-date differenced quarter by quarter; EPS never differenced; free cash flow = operating cash flow minus plant-and-equipment spending. This page is a dated snapshot — updates are new versions, never silent edits.