Novanta
Novanta's revenue rose 3.3% to $981 million in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 9.6%, down from 11.7% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $48 million, down 65.7%. It paid out $39 million in dividends and buybacks, 81% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 1.6%.
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 9.9% a year and net income 10.4% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 5% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Novanta 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 Novanta's 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 Novanta's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $48M, net cash of $127M at December 31, 2025 and 37 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Novanta: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 4.4% 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 10%: 9% for a business of moderate risk (Electronic Equipment & Instruments), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $5.9B; 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
- $144.02
- 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 Novanta's earnings per share of $1.57 (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: 33.3×, the middle of Novanta's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Information Technology median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 11%, 10% and 9%. 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
- $144.02
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Novanta's P/E at the last close
- 91.7×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| NovantaNOVT | $144.02 | $1.57 | 91.7× |
| CognexCGNX | $55.63 | $1.04 | 53.5× |
| Crane NXTCXT | $56.94 | $2.41 | 23.6× |
| Diebold NixdorfDBD | $68.82 | $3.03 | 22.7× |
| VontierVNT | $34.60 | $2.42 | 14.3× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 117 | 100 | 105 | 114 | 381 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 440 | 441 | 359 | 421 | 254 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 323 | 341 | 254 | 307 | −127 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 3.0x | 2.2x | 1.6x | 1.9x | −0.8x |
| Debt to equity | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.5x | 0.6x | 0.2x |
| Interest coverage | 10.3x | 7.2x | 4.4x | 3.4x | 4.2x |
| Current ratio | 2.0x | 2.6x | 3.0x | 2.6x | 3.7x |
| Quick ratio | 1.4x | 1.5x | 1.9x | 1.7x | 2.8x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought Novanta shares on the open market, and 3 insiders sold $11.6 million, all of it under trading plans set up in advance.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2026 | Thomas N SecorDirector | Sold plan | 663 | $147.60 | $97,859 | Form 4 |
| Jul 2, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 6,500 | $161.13 | $1.0 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 6,500 | $168.66 | $1.1 million | Form 4 |
| May 12, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 7,500 | $150.43 | $1.1 million | Form 4 |
| May 5, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 6,500 | $131.13 | $852,348 | Form 4 |
| Apr 17, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 6,500 | $130.05 | $845,325 | Form 4 |
| Mar 16, 2026 | Robert BuckleyChief Financial Officer | Sold plan | 9,957 | $116.77 | $1.2 million | Form 4 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 6,500 | $138.34 | $899,239 | Form 4 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Robert BuckleyChief Financial Officer | Sold plan | 1,423 | $140.88 | $200,467 | Form 4 |
| Feb 10, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 7,500 | $145.04 | $1.1 million | Form 4 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 6,500 | $135.15 | $878,459 | Form 4 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Matthijs GlastraChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 7,500 | $140.00 | $1.1 million | 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 | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | 7 of 9 | 4 of 9 | 5 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −3.8% | −7.2% | −0.6% |
Compare
Put Novanta 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novanta | FY25 | 3.3% | 9.6% | 4.9% | 6.5% | −0.8x | 5 | |
| Cognex | FY25 | 8.7% | 16.4% | 23.8% | 8.4% | −1.7x | 7 | Compare |
| Crane NXT | FY25 | 11.4% | 14.9% | 12.0% | 10.4% | 2.6x | 4 | Compare |
| Vontier | FY25 | 3.2% | 18.3% | 14.3% | 15.8% | 2.6x | 6 | Compare |
| Diebold Nixdorf | FY25 | 1.5% | 6.4% | 7.2% | 12.0% | 1.5x | — | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 385 | 521 | 614 | 626 | 591 | 707 | 861 | 882 | 949 | 981 |
| Revenue growth | 3.0% | 35.5% | 17.9% | 1.9% | −5.7% | 19.7% | 21.8% | 2.4% | 7.7% | 3.3% |
| Gross profit | 162 | 220 | 262 | 262 | 244 | 300 | 378 | 400 | 422 | 435 |
| Research and development | 32 | 42 | 51 | 56 | 61 | 72 | 86 | 92 | 96 | 96 |
| Operating income | 33 | 58 | 71 | 55 | 56 | 64 | 103 | 110 | 111 | 94 |
| Net income | 22 | 60 | 49 | 41 | 44 | 50 | 74 | 73 | 64 | 54 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 0.63 | 1.13 | 1.43 | 1.15 | 1.25 | 1.41 | 2.06 | 2.02 | 1.77 | 1.47 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 35 | 35 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 36 | 37 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 48 | 63 | 90 | 63 | 140 | 95 | 91 | 120 | 158 | 64 |
| Capital expenditure | 8 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 16 |
| Free cash flow | 39 | 54 | 75 | 52 | 130 | 75 | 71 | 100 | 141 | 48 |
| Dividends paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share buybacks | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 39 |
| Acquisitions | 9 | 168 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 26 | 23 | 26 | 23 | 30 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 68 | 100 | 82 | 79 | 125 | 117 | 100 | 105 | 114 | 381 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 78 | 235 | 207 | 236 | 216 | 440 | 441 | 359 | 421 | 254 |
| Total assets | 426 | 727 | 720 | 870 | 865 | 1,228 | 1,241 | 1,226 | 1,388 | 1,807 |
| Total liabilities | 167 | 368 | 351 | 453 | 388 | 707 | 664 | 553 | 643 | 493 |
| Shareholders' equity | 259 | 312 | 368 | 417 | 477 | 521 | 578 | 674 | 746 | 1,314 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 42.2% | 42.3% | 42.6% | 41.9% | 41.4% | 42.5% | 44.0% | 45.4% | 44.4% | 44.4% |
| Operating margin | 8.6% | 11.0% | 11.6% | 8.8% | 9.5% | 9.1% | 12.0% | 12.5% | 11.7% | 9.6% |
| Net margin | 5.7% | 11.5% | 8.0% | 6.5% | 7.5% | 7.1% | 8.6% | 8.3% | 6.8% | 5.5% |
| Free cash flow margin | 10.2% | 10.4% | 12.2% | 8.4% | 22.0% | 10.6% | 8.3% | 11.4% | 14.9% | 4.9% |
| Return on capital | 8.1% | 13.2% | 12.6% | 9.2% | 9.0% | 8.1% | 9.9% | 10.4% | 9.1% | 6.5% |
| Return on equity | 8.7% | 21.1% | 14.4% | 10.4% | 10.0% | 10.1% | 13.5% | 11.7% | 9.0% | 5.2% |
| Return on assets | 5.2% | 10.4% | 6.8% | 5.1% | 5.1% | 4.8% | 6.0% | 5.9% | 4.9% | 3.4% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.2x | 1.5x | 1.2x | 1.7x | 1.0x | 3.0x | 2.2x | 1.6x | 1.9x | −0.8x |