AXON vs. NOC: Axon Enterprise vs. Northrop Grumman Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC) are both classified in the Aerospace & Defense sub-industry within the broader Aerospace & Defense industry, placing them in the closest GICS peer bucket.

Company profile comparison for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Profile Item	AXON	NOC
Name	Axon Enterprise, Inc.	Northrop Grumman Corporation
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Industrials	Industrials
GICS Industry Group	Capital Goods	Capital Goods
GICS Industry	Aerospace & Defense	Aerospace & Defense
GICS Sub-Industry	Aerospace & Defense	Aerospace & Defense
Market Capitalization	25.49 billion USD	74.59 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	Nasdaq	NYSE
Listing Date	June 19, 2001	December 31, 1981
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

AXON

NOC

GSPC

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
Total Return (1Y)	-48.97%	-3.34%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	12.54%	7.23%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	11.75%	9.98%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

AXON

NOC

GSPC

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Northrop Grumman (NOC) reports a negative beta of -0.12, suggesting inverse market sensitivity over the measurement window. That is uncommon for ordinary equities and can reflect commodity-linked or hedge-like exposure, but it can also come from statistical noise. Axon Enterprise (AXON) has a non-negative beta of 1.55.

Risk profile metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	64.30%	28.86%
Beta (5Y)	1.55	-0.12
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-64.70%	-37.80%
Avg. Volume (3M)	1.06M	902.47K

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

AXON and NOC are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-0.83	-0.26
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-1.14	-0.37

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 26.07% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 7.61% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for NOC.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

7.61%

Max: 40.55%
Q3: 19.29%
Median: 12.12%
AXON: 7.61%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

26.07%

Max: 40.55%
NOC: 26.07%
Q3: 19.29%
Median: 12.12%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their ROE against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Both Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 7.57% and Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 10.37% keep about the typical share of revenue as profit for their industries — neither bottom line stands out from peers.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

7.57%

Max: 27.47%
Q3: 12.10%
AXON: 7.57%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

10.37%

Max: 27.47%
Q3: 12.10%
NOC: 10.37%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their net margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 12.91% runs core operations around its industry’s norm, while Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 4.63% operates in the bottom quartile.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

4.63%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
Median: 11.12%
Q1: 5.14%
AXON: 4.63%
Min: -12.63%

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

12.91%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
NOC: 12.91%
Median: 11.12%
Q1: 5.14%
Min: -12.63%

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their operating margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
ROE (TTM)	7.61%	26.07%
ROA (TTM)	0.81%	7.11%
Net Margin (TTM)	7.57%	10.37%
Operating Margin (TTM)	4.63%	12.91%
Gross Margin (TTM)	58.64%	20.03%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 33.47% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 2.24% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for AXON.

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 2.61% is around its peer norm for EPS growth, while Axon Enterprise (AXON) at -68.54% drops into the bottom quartile, signaling weaker earnings momentum.

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
Revenue Growth (YoY)	33.47%	2.24%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	32.79%	4.65%
EPS Growth (YoY)	-68.54%	2.61%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	-9.39%	-2.60%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 3.00 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 1.23 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

3.00

Max: 5.22
AXON: 3.00
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
Min: 0.36

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

1.23

Max: 5.22
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
NOC: 1.23
Min: 0.36

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their current ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 0.79 and Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 0.93 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

0.79

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
AXON: 0.79
Median: 0.60
Q1: 0.29
Min: 0.00

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

0.93

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
NOC: 0.93
Median: 0.60
Q1: 0.29
Min: 0.00

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
Current Ratio (MRQ)	3.00	1.23
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.79	0.93
Net Debt / EBITDA	5.98	1.87

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Axon Enterprise (AXON) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Northrop Grumman (NOC) reports a yield of 1.82%, ranking against industry peers normally.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

Max: 2.66%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
AXON: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

1.82%

Max: 2.66%
NOC: 1.82%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Axon Enterprise (AXON) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Northrop Grumman (NOC) reports a payout of 30.18%, ranking against industry peers normally.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

Max: 67.39%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
AXON: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

30.18%

Max: 67.39%
NOC: 30.18%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.00%	1.82%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	0.00%	30.18%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 16.57 sits in the cheaper P/E ratio quartile, while Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 100.64 trades above its peer range — a wide earnings-valuation gap relative to industry peers.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

100.64

AXON: 100.64
Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

16.57

Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
Q1: 19.47
NOC: 16.57
Min: 3.03

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 1.71 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 7.46 sits in the pricier quartile — AXON costs more per dollar of sales.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

7.46

Max: 7.54
AXON: 7.46
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

1.71

Max: 7.54
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
NOC: 1.71
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Northrop Grumman (NOC) at 3.99 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Axon Enterprise (AXON) at 6.74 carries an above-peer premium to book — AXON is pricier on assets.

AXON

Capital Goods industry group

6.74

Max: 9.66
AXON: 6.74
Q3: 5.00
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

NOC

Capital Goods industry group

3.99

Max: 9.66
Q3: 5.00
NOC: 3.99
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

Axon Enterprise (AXON) vs. Northrop Grumman (NOC): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Axon Enterprise (AXON) and Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Metric	AXON	NOC
P/E Ratio (TTM)	100.64	16.57
P/S Ratio (TTM)	7.46	1.71
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	6.74	3.99
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	0.38%	4.21%