Daktronics vs Novanta
Novanta reported revenue of $981 million in fiscal 2025, 1.2 times Daktronics' $839 million in fiscal 2026. Daktronics' revenue grew 10.9% in its latest year, and Novanta's grew 3.3%. Daktronics had an operating margin of 7.2%, against 9.6% at Novanta. Free cash flow was $34 million at Daktronics and $48 million at Novanta. Their fiscal years end in different months (May 2 and December 31), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Daktronics | Novanta | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2026, May 2, 2026 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $839M | $981M |
| Revenue growth | 10.9% | 3.3% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 11.7% | 10.7% |
| Gross margin | 27.3% | 44.4% |
| Operating margin | 7.2% | 9.6% |
| Net margin | 5.4% | 5.5% |
| Free cash flow | $34M | $48M |
| Free cash flow margin | 4.1% | 4.9% |
| Return on capital | 28.1% | 6.5% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −1.5x | −0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $26M | $39M |
| Change in diluted share count | 3.8% | 1.6% |
| Last close | $19.41 | $135.15 |
| P/E at the last close | 19.8× | 86.1× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | bought $1,565, sold $149,636 | sold $11.6 million |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 of 9 | 5 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
DaktronicsNovanta
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
DaktronicsNovanta
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
DaktronicsNovanta
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Daktronics and Novanta pages.