Illinois Tool Works
Illinois Tool Works' revenue rose 0.9% to $16.0 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 26.3%, down from 26.8% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $2.7 billion, down 4.8%. It paid out $3.3 billion in dividends and buybacks, 121% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 1.9%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 7.0% a year and net income 4.7% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 18%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Illinois Tool Works yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Illinois Tool Works' 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Illinois Tool Works' fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $2.7B, net cash of −$8.1B at December 31, 2025 and 292 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Illinois Tool Works: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 0.2% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 9% for a business of moderate risk (Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $276.22
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Illinois Tool Works' earnings per share of $11.03 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 26.7×, the middle of Illinois Tool Works' own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Industrials median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 10%, 9% and 8%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $276.22
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Illinois Tool Works' P/E at the last close
- 25.0×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| W. W. GraingerGWW | $1,357.60 | $39.21 | 34.6× |
| Parker HannifinPH | $904.43 | $28.48 | 31.8× |
| Illinois Tool WorksITW | $276.22 | $11.03 | 25.0× |
| Stanley Black & DeckerSWK | $99.37 | $4.10 | 24.2× |
| Otis WorldwideOTIS | $75.27 | $3.89 | 19.3× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 1,527 | 708 | 1,065 | 948 | 851 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 8,255 | 8,298 | 9,525 | 7,863 | 8,969 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 6,728 | 7,590 | 8,460 | 6,915 | 8,118 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.8x | 1.9x | 2.0x | 1.5x | 1.8x |
| Debt to equity | 2.3x | 2.7x | 3.2x | 2.4x | 2.8x |
| Interest coverage | 17.2x | 18.7x | 15.2x | 15.1x | 14.4x |
| Current ratio | 1.8x | 1.4x | 1.3x | 1.4x | 1.2x |
| Quick ratio | 1.4x | 0.9x | 1.0x | 1.0x | 0.9x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 2 insiders bought $1.9 million of Illinois Tool Works shares on the open market, and 5 insiders sold $67.3 million.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 2026 | Ernest Scott SantiDirector | Sold | 41,431 | $287.09 | $11.9 million | Form 4 |
| Aug 13, 2026 | Matteo C. PigozzoVP & Chief Accounting Officer | Sold | 277 | $289.22 | $80,114 | Form 4 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | Jennifer F. ScanlonDirector | Bought | 806 | $247.99 | $199,880 | Form 4 |
| Feb 6, 2026 | Mary Katherine LawlerSVP & Chief HR Officer | Sold | 17,279 | $291.90 | $5.0 million | Form 4 |
| Feb 5, 2026 | Axel BeckExecutive Vice President | Sold | 4,223 | $290.22 | $1.2 million | Form 4 |
| Feb 4, 2026 | Ernest Scott SantiDirector | Sold | 167,345 | $290.93 | $48.7 million | Form 4 |
| Dec 10, 2025 | David Byron Smith JrDirector | Bought | 6,709 | $250.13 | $1.7 million | Form 4 |
| Nov 5, 2025 | Pamela B StrobelDirector | Sold | 1,521 | $245.25 | $373,025 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| F-score | 7 of 9 | 7 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −3.8% | 1.4% | −0.4% |
Compare
Put Illinois Tool Works side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Tool Works | FY25 | 0.9% | 26.3% | 16.9% | 30.2% | 1.8x | 6 | |
| Stanley Black & Decker | FY25 | −1.5% | — | 4.5% | 6.2% | 4.3x | 6 | Compare |
| Otis Worldwide | FY25 | 1.2% | 14.8% | 10.0% | 116.6% | 3.0x | 5 | Compare |
| W. W. Grainger | FY25 | 4.5% | 13.9% | 7.4% | 32.3% | 0.7x | 6 | Compare |
| Parker Hannifin | FY26 | 8.3% | 23.6% | 18.2% | 17.6% | 1.3x | 9 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 13,599 | 14,314 | 14,768 | 14,109 | 12,574 | 14,455 | 15,932 | 16,107 | 15,898 | 16,044 |
| Revenue growth | 1.4% | 5.3% | 3.2% | −4.5% | −10.9% | 15.0% | 10.2% | 1.1% | −1.3% | 0.9% |
| Gross profit | 5,691 | 6,008 | 6,164 | 5,922 | 5,199 | 5,966 | 7,796 | 8,163 | 8,294 | 8,488 |
| Research and development | 223 | 225 | 233 | 221 | 214 | 239 | 269 | 284 | 292 | 302 |
| Operating income | 3,056 | 3,485 | 3,584 | 3,402 | 2,882 | 3,477 | 3,790 | 4,040 | 4,264 | 4,216 |
| Net income | 2,035 | 1,687 | 2,563 | 2,521 | 2,109 | 2,694 | 3,034 | 2,957 | 3,488 | 3,066 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 5.70 | 4.86 | 7.60 | 7.74 | 6.63 | 8.51 | 9.77 | 9.74 | 11.71 | 10.49 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 357 | 347 | 337 | 326 | 318 | 316 | 311 | 304 | 298 | 292 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 2,302 | 2,402 | 2,811 | 2,995 | 2,807 | 2,557 | 2,348 | 3,539 | 3,281 | 3,126 |
| Capital expenditure | 273 | 297 | 364 | 326 | 236 | 296 | 412 | 455 | 437 | 419 |
| Free cash flow | 2,029 | 2,105 | 2,447 | 2,669 | 2,571 | 2,261 | 1,936 | 3,084 | 2,844 | 2,707 |
| Dividends paid | 821 | 941 | 1,124 | 1,321 | 1,379 | 1,463 | 1,542 | 1,615 | 1,695 | 1,785 |
| Share buybacks | 2,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 1,500 | 706 | 1,000 | 1,750 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| Acquisitions | 453 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 731 | 2 | 0 | 115 | 119 |
| Stock-based compensation | 39 | 36 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 53 | 63 | 69 | 61 | 69 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 2,472 | 3,094 | 1,504 | 1,981 | 2,564 | 1,527 | 708 | 1,065 | 948 | 851 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 7,827 | 8,328 | 7,379 | 7,762 | 8,472 | 8,255 | 8,298 | 9,525 | 7,863 | 8,969 |
| Total assets | 15,201 | 16,780 | 14,870 | 15,068 | 15,612 | 16,077 | 15,422 | 15,518 | 15,067 | 16,148 |
| Total liabilities | 10,942 | 12,191 | 11,612 | 12,038 | 12,430 | 12,451 | 12,333 | 12,505 | 11,750 | 12,922 |
| Shareholders' equity | 4,259 | 4,589 | 3,258 | 3,030 | 3,182 | 3,626 | 3,089 | 3,013 | 3,317 | 3,226 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 41.9% | 42.0% | 41.7% | 42.0% | 41.4% | 41.3% | 48.9% | 50.7% | 52.2% | 52.9% |
| Operating margin | 22.5% | 24.4% | 24.3% | 24.1% | 22.9% | 24.1% | 23.8% | 25.1% | 26.8% | 26.3% |
| Net margin | 15.0% | 11.8% | 17.4% | 17.9% | 16.8% | 18.6% | 19.0% | 18.4% | 21.9% | 19.1% |
| Free cash flow margin | 14.9% | 14.7% | 16.6% | 18.9% | 20.4% | 15.6% | 12.2% | 19.1% | 17.9% | 16.9% |
| Return on capital | 22.3% | 18.5% | 28.6% | 29.1% | 25.1% | 29.0% | 28.5% | 28.2% | 31.0% | 30.2% |
| Return on equity | 42.9% | 38.1% | 65.3% | 80.2% | 67.9% | 79.1% | 90.4% | 96.9% | 110.2% | 93.7% |
| Return on assets | 13.2% | 10.6% | 16.2% | 16.8% | 13.8% | 17.0% | 19.3% | 19.1% | 22.8% | 19.6% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.6x | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.6x | 1.9x | 1.8x | 1.9x | 2.0x | 1.5x | 1.8x |