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ETN vs ROK
Which Stock Would AI Choose? Eaton Corporation (ETN) vs. Rockwell Automation (ROK) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- Eaton Corporation (ETN) delivered record full-year 2025 sales of $27.4 billion and record adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $12.07, driven by surging demand in its Electrical Americas and Aerospace segments.
- Rockwell Automation (ROK) posted a strong fiscal Q4 2025 with 13% organic sales growth and a 32% jump in adjusted EPS, though full-year sales grew only 1% amid lingering macroeconomic uncertainty.
- Eaton benefits from powerful secular tailwinds — including data center expansion, electrification, and reindustrialization — while Rockwell is tied more directly to industrial capital expenditure (CapEx) cycles that remain cautious.
- Eaton is executing a strategic spinoff of its Mobility business to sharpen focus on higher-margin electrical and aerospace operations; Rockwell is streamlining through the dissolution of its Sensia joint venture.
- Both companies have expanded segment margins, but Eaton's margin profile (24.5% for 2025) meaningfully exceeds Rockwell's (20.4%), reflecting structural differences in end-market exposure.
- Rockwell's stock has rallied sharply over the past year as automation cycle optimism builds, while Eaton's share price has been more tempered recently despite stronger underlying revenue momentum.
Introduction
Two titans of the industrial economy — ETN (Eaton Corporation) and ROK (Rockwell Automation) — sit at the intersection of some of the most consequential trends reshaping global markets: electrification, digitalization, factory automation, and the artificial intelligence (AI) data center buildout. While both companies supply critical infrastructure that keeps the modern economy running, their business models, growth drivers, and recent stock behavior tell very different stories. This comparison examines how these two industrial leaders stack up in the current market environment and which one an AI-driven analytical framework might favor based on observable trends, momentum, and relative positioning.
ETN Overview and Recent Performance
Eaton Corporation is a global intelligent power management company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with operations spanning electrical components, power distribution, aerospace systems, and vehicle technologies. The company has emerged as a direct beneficiary of several megatrends, particularly the rapid expansion of AI data centers, which require massive amounts of electrical infrastructure.
Eaton's recent financial performance has been exceptional. Full-year 2025 sales reached a record $27.4 billion, representing 10% growth over 2024, while adjusted EPS climbed 12% to a record $12.07. The fourth quarter of 2025 was particularly strong, with sales of $7.1 billion — up 13% year-over-year — and record segment margins of 24.9%. The Electrical Americas segment was the standout performer, posting 21% sales growth, driven heavily by data center momentum that pushed the twelve-month rolling average of orders up 16% organically. Aerospace also delivered robust results with 14% sales growth and record operating margins of 24.1%.
In recent weeks, Eaton's stock has traded around the $400 level, with a 52-week range of approximately $312 to $437. The company has taken significant strategic actions, including the $1.55 billion acquisition of Ultra PCS Limited to strengthen its aerospace portfolio, and the announced spinoff of its Mobility business — comprising Vehicle and eMobility segments — into an independent publicly traded company expected by early 2027. For 2026, management guided to 7%–9% organic growth and adjusted EPS of $13.00 to $13.50, signaling continued confidence in its growth trajectory.
ROK Overview and Recent Performance
Rockwell Automation, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the world's largest pure-play industrial automation and digital transformation company. It commands an estimated 40%–50% of the U.S. factory automation market, providing intelligent devices, software and control systems, and lifecycle services to manufacturers across discrete, process, and hybrid industries.
Rockwell's fiscal 2025 (ended September 2025) was a year of recovery. Full-year sales of $8.34 billion grew just 1% on both a reported and organic basis, reflecting the lingering effects of cautious customer CapEx spending. However, the fourth quarter delivered a sharp inflection: organic sales surged 13% year-over-year, and adjusted EPS of $3.34 jumped 32%. Segment operating margins for the full year expanded 110 basis points to 20.4%, powered by over $325 million in structural productivity savings — well above the original $250 million target. Free cash flow was a standout, reaching a record $1.36 billion with a conversion rate of 114%.
In recent market activity, ROK shares have been strong performers, rallying significantly from their 2025 lows. The stock has benefited from growing optimism around an automation cycle recovery and improved pricing discipline under a relatively new CFO. The company is also navigating a strategic reset: the dissolution of its Sensia joint venture with SLB, which will reduce annualized revenue by an estimated $250 million but improve operating margins by approximately 50 basis points. For fiscal 2026, Rockwell guided to reported sales growth of 3%–7% and adjusted EPS of $11.20 to $12.20, with segment margins expected to expand by more than 100 basis points.
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Head-to-Head Comparison
While both ETN and ROK operate in the broad industrial sector, their business models diverge in important ways. Eaton is fundamentally a power management company — its products move, protect, and manage electrical energy. This positions it squarely in the path of secular demand from data centers, grid modernization, and building electrification, which are less sensitive to short-term industrial cycles. Rockwell, by contrast, is an automation pure play whose fortunes are more tightly linked to factory CapEx decisions. When manufacturers are confident and spending, Rockwell thrives; when uncertainty rises, projects get delayed.
This difference is visible in recent revenue trajectories: Eaton grew full-year sales by 10% in 2025, while Rockwell managed only 1%. Eaton's backlog growth of 29% in Electrical and 16% in Aerospace provides visibility that Rockwell's more short-cycle order book does not. However, Rockwell's Q4 acceleration — 13% organic growth — suggests the automation cycle may be turning, and the company's software and recurring revenue streams (ARR, or annual recurring revenue, grew 8%) add a higher-margin, stickier layer to its business.
On margins, Eaton holds a clear advantage with segment margins of 24.5% versus Rockwell's 20.4%, though both are expanding. Risk factors differ as well: Rockwell carries legacy asbestos liabilities that periodically distort reported earnings, while Eaton faces exposure to the cyclical Vehicle and eMobility segments — though the planned spinoff should mitigate this. From a valuation standpoint, Eaton's market capitalization of roughly $155 billion dwarfs Rockwell's, reflecting both its larger revenue base and the premium the market assigns to its megatrend exposure.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Based on observable trend consistency, backlog visibility, margin profile, and the durability of demand catalysts, Tickeron's AI-driven analytical framework would likely tilt in favor of Eaton Corporation (ETN) in the current environment. Eaton's combination of double-digit organic growth, record margins, a swelling backlog with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 across its key segments, and exposure to structural megatrends — including AI data center infrastructure, electrification, and aerospace expansion — presents a more consistent and less cycle-dependent growth narrative. That said, Rockwell Automation (ROK) offers a compelling recovery play should industrial CapEx accelerate meaningfully, and its recent price momentum reflects market anticipation of that scenario. The probability-weighted assessment favors Eaton for its steadier growth profile and stronger fundamental momentum, though the relative gap could narrow if the automation cycle fully materializes in the quarters ahead.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer.
To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is ETN is a Buy and ROK is a Hold.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
ETN’s FA Score shows that 1 FA rating(s) are green whileROK’s FA Score has 2 green FA rating(s).
- ETN’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
- ROK’s FA Score: 2 green, 3 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
ETN’s TA Score shows that 4 TA indicator(s) are bullish while ROK’s TA Score has 3 bullish TA indicator(s).
- ETN’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 4 bearish.
- ROK’s TA Score: 3 bullish, 5 bearish.
Price Growth
ETN (@Industrial Machinery) experienced а -0.36% price change this week, while ROK (@Industrial Machinery) price change was -0.38% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Industrial Machinery industry was -2.94%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was -10.71%, and the average quarterly price growth was -6.20%.
Reported Earning Dates
ETN is expected to report earnings on Jul 31, 2026.
ROK is expected to report earnings on Aug 04, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Industrial Machinery (-2.94% weekly)The industry makes and maintains machines for consumers, the industry, and most other companies. While it has traditionally been categorized as heavy industry, some smaller companies are also branching into the light category. The industry is pivotal in providing the equipment for production in businesses like agriculture, mining, industry and construction, gas, electricity and water utilities. It also supplies supporting equipment for almost all sectors of the economy, such as equipment for heating, and air conditioning of buildings. Illinois Tool Works Inc., Parker-Hannifin Corporation and Rockwell Automation Inc are some of the major U.S. companies operating in this industry.
| ETN | ROK | ETN / ROK | |
| Capitalization | 156B | 51.7B | 302% |
| EBITDA | 6.22B | 1.66B | 375% |
| Gain YTD | 26.770 | 18.673 | 143% |
| P/E Ratio | 39.43 | 48.27 | 82% |
| Revenue | 28.5B | 8.8B | 324% |
| Total Cash | 751M | 423M | 178% |
| Total Debt | 21.8B | 4.05B | 538% |
ETN | ROK | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 26 | 63 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 65 Fair valued | 60 Fair valued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 21 | 37 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 44 | 32 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 51 | 28 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 44 | 38 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 31 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
ROK's Valuation (60) in the Industrial Machinery industry is in the same range as ETN (65) in the Electrical Products industry. This means that ROK’s stock grew similarly to ETN’s over the last 12 months.
ETN's Profit vs Risk Rating (21) in the Electrical Products industry is in the same range as ROK (37) in the Industrial Machinery industry. This means that ETN’s stock grew similarly to ROK’s over the last 12 months.
ROK's SMR Rating (32) in the Industrial Machinery industry is in the same range as ETN (44) in the Electrical Products industry. This means that ROK’s stock grew similarly to ETN’s over the last 12 months.
ROK's Price Growth Rating (28) in the Industrial Machinery industry is in the same range as ETN (51) in the Electrical Products industry. This means that ROK’s stock grew similarly to ETN’s over the last 12 months.
ROK's P/E Growth Rating (38) in the Industrial Machinery industry is in the same range as ETN (44) in the Electrical Products industry. This means that ROK’s stock grew similarly to ETN’s over the last 12 months.
| ETN | ROK | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | N/A | N/A |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 72% | 2 days ago 63% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 66% | 2 days ago 53% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 58% | 2 days ago 59% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 61% | 2 days ago 57% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 67% | 2 days ago 57% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 65% | 12 days ago 63% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 6 days ago 55% | 2 days ago 52% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | N/A | 2 days ago 61% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 2 days ago 70% | 2 days ago 59% |
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ETN and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, ETN has been closely correlated with CMI. These tickers have moved in lockstep 67% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if ETN jumps, then CMI could also see price increases.
ROK and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, ROK has been closely correlated with EMR. These tickers have moved in lockstep 75% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if ROK jumps, then EMR could also see price increases.