GD vs. ROK: General Dynamics vs. Rockwell Automation Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK) 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

General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK) both fall under the Capital Goods industry group, but GD is classified in Aerospace & Defense while ROK is classified in Electrical Equipment.

Company profile comparison for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Profile Item	GD	ROK
Name	General Dynamics Corp.	Rockwell Automation Inc.
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Industrials	Industrials
GICS Industry Group	Capital Goods	Capital Goods
GICS Industry	Aerospace & Defense	Electrical Equipment
GICS Sub-Industry	Aerospace & Defense	Electrical Components & Equipment
Market Capitalization	95.68 billion USD	41.82 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	NYSE
Listing Date	January 2, 1962	December 31, 1981
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

ROK

GSPC

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK), 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 General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
Total Return (1Y)	6.52%	6.19%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	16.95%	16.94%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	14.65%	4.86%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

ROK

GSPC

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK), 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 General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Rockwell Automation (ROK) has an aggressive beta of 1.54, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while General Dynamics (GD) is defensive at 0.30 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk profile metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	23.03%	34.28%
Beta (5Y)	0.30	1.54
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-22.55%	-45.09%
Avg. Volume (3M)	1.19M	799.28K

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

GD and ROK 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 General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	0.10	0.06
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	0.15	0.07

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 38.73% sits in the top ROE quartile, while General Dynamics (GD) at 18.01% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for ROK.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

18.01%

Max: 40.55%
Q3: 19.29%
GD: 18.01%
Median: 12.12%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

38.73%

Max: 40.55%
ROK: 38.73%
Q3: 19.29%
Median: 12.12%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their ROE against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 15.68% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of General Dynamics (GD) at 8.24%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

8.24%

Max: 27.47%
Q3: 12.10%
GD: 8.24%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

15.68%

Max: 27.47%
ROK: 15.68%
Q3: 12.10%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their net margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Both General Dynamics (GD) at 10.49% and Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 14.75% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

10.49%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
Median: 11.12%
GD: 10.49%
Q1: 5.14%
Min: -12.63%

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

14.75%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
ROK: 14.75%
Median: 11.12%
Q1: 5.14%
Min: -12.63%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their operating margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
ROE (TTM)	18.01%	38.73%
ROA (TTM)	6.23%	9.32%
Net Margin (TTM)	8.24%	15.68%
Operating Margin (TTM)	10.49%	14.75%
Gross Margin (TTM)	15.42%	48.95%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Only one side can be read here: General Dynamics (GD) reports revenue growth of 10.13%, ranked against its industry; Rockwell Automation (ROK) has no revenue growth figure this period.

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 63.49% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while General Dynamics (GD) at 13.35% is closer to the peer norm — faster per-share earnings growth for ROK.

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
Revenue Growth (YoY)	10.13%	--
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	10.07%	--
EPS Growth (YoY)	13.35%	63.49%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	8.22%	1.62%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 2.11 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while General Dynamics (GD) at 1.43 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — a thinner cushion against current liabilities for GD.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

1.43

Max: 5.22
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
GD: 1.43
Min: 0.36

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

2.11

Max: 5.22
Q3: 2.95
ROK: 2.11
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
Min: 0.36

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their current ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both General Dynamics (GD) at 0.33 and Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 1.00 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

0.33

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
Median: 0.60
GD: 0.33
Q1: 0.29
Min: 0.00

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

1.00

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
ROK: 1.00
Median: 0.60
Q1: 0.29
Min: 0.00

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.43	2.11
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.33	1.00
Net Debt / EBITDA	0.68	1.58

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Rockwell Automation (ROK) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile General Dynamics (GD) reports a yield of 1.76%, ranking against industry peers normally.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

1.76%

Max: 2.66%
GD: 1.76%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

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

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Both General Dynamics (GD) at 36.90% and Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 51.03% pay out an above-typical share of earnings for their industries, leaving thinner cover if profits dip.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

36.90%

Max: 67.39%
GD: 36.90%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

51.03%

Max: 67.39%
ROK: 51.03%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
Dividend Yield (TTM)	1.76%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	36.90%	51.03%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Both General Dynamics (GD) at 20.84 and Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 29.97 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

20.84

Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
GD: 20.84
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

29.97

Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
ROK: 29.97
Median: 25.41
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

General Dynamics (GD) at 1.69 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 4.65 sits in the pricier quartile — ROK costs more per dollar of sales.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

1.69

Max: 7.54
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
GD: 1.69
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

4.65

Max: 7.54
ROK: 4.65
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

General Dynamics (GD) at 3.50 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Rockwell Automation (ROK) at 11.76 prices above its benchmark range — ROK looks rich relative to book.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

3.50

Max: 9.66
Q3: 5.00
GD: 3.50
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

ROK

Capital Goods industry group

11.76

ROK: 11.76
Max: 9.66
Q3: 5.00
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rockwell Automation (ROK)
Metric	GD	ROK
P/E Ratio (TTM)	20.84	29.97
P/S Ratio (TTM)	1.69	4.65
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	3.50	11.76
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	4.76%	-1.13%