Sifting through countless of stocks in the Electrical Equipment industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc.

Powell Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services custom-engineered equipment and systems. The company’s products portfolio includes integrated power control room substations, custom-engineered modules, and electrical houses; and traditional and arc-resistant distribution switchgears and control gears, medium-voltage circuit breakers, monitoring and control communications systems, motor control centers, switches, and bus duct systems. It also provides field service inspection, installation, commissioning, modification, and repair services; spare parts; retrofit and retrofill components for existing systems; and replacement circuit breakers for switchgears. The company serves onshore and offshore production, liquefied natural gas facilities and terminals, pipelines and refineries, petrochemical, electric utility, light rail traction power, mining and metals, pulp and paper, data centers, commercial construction, and other industrial markets, as well as universities and government entities. It operates in the United States, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Mexico, the Asia/Pacific, and Central and South America. Powell Industries, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Rockwell Automation, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides industrial automation and digital transformation solutions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It operates in three segments: Intelligent Devices, Software & Control, and Lifecycle Services. The company offers drives, motion, advanced material handling, safety, sensing, industrial components, hardware, software, and configured-to-order products; and control and visualization software and hardware, digital twin, simulation and information software, network and security infrastructure, and custom-engineered systems. It also provides digital consulting, professional services, engineered-to-order solutions, recurring services, cybersecurity, safety, remote monitoring, customer technical support and repair, asset management and optimization consulting, and training, as well as spare parts. The company sells its products through independent distributors in relation to its direct sales force. It serves discrete end markets, including automotive, semiconductor, e-commerce, and warehouse automation; hybrid end markets, such as food and beverage, life sciences, and tire; and process end markets comprising energy, mining, and chemicals. The company was formerly known as Rockwell International Corporation and changed its name to Rockwell Automation, Inc. in February 2002. Rockwell Automation, Inc. was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Latest Electrical Equipment and Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation, Inc. Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Powell Industries, Inc. had a $7.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Electrical Equipment median of $832.7 million. Powell Industries, Inc.’s stock is up 96.4% in 2026, down 10.1% in the previous five trading days and up 170.78% in the past year.

Currently, Powell Industries, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 40.6. Powell Industries, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.1 billion with a 16.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 6.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.493 per share for the current fiscal year. Powell Industries, Inc. currently has a 0.2% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Rockwell Automation, Inc. had a $53.4 billion market cap, putting it in the 94th percentile of all stocks. Rockwell Automation, Inc.’s stock is up 23.4% in 2026, up 3.9% in the previous five trading days and up 36.7% in the past year.

Currently, Rockwell Automation, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 49.9. Rockwell Automation, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.8 billion with a 12.4% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 11.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $13.026 per share for the current fiscal year. Rockwell Automation, Inc. currently has a 1.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Powell Industries, Inc.	POWL	F
Rockwell Automation, Inc.	ROK	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Powell Industries, Inc. has a Value Score of 9, which is Ultra Expensive. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a Value Score of 10, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Powell Industries, Inc.	POWL	B
Rockwell Automation, Inc.	ROK	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Powell Industries, Inc. has a Quality Score of 80, which is Strong. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a Quality Score of 94, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Rockwell Automation, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Powell Industries, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Rockwell Automation, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Powell Industries, Inc.	POWL	D
Rockwell Automation, Inc.	ROK	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Powell Industries, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 37, which is Negative. Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 74, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Rockwell Automation, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Rockwell Automation, Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Powell Industries, Inc.. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Rockwell Automation, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Estimate Revisions and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Powell Industries, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 9, Estimate Revisions Score of 37 and Quality Score of 80.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 10, Estimate Revisions Score of 74 and Quality Score of 94.

Comparing Powell Industries, Inc., Rockwell Automation and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.