Woodward
WWD on Nasdaq. Woodward sells control systems for aircraft and industrial engines to manufacturers. Market value $19.7bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to September 2025.
The company doesn't report operating profit, so we work it out from pre-tax profit and interest.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
See cheaper Industrials stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $1.92 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 27.8 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 10 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 89 of 100. Price score: 30 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$332.56 a share, 36% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $244.69 to $450.92.
Dividend: 0.3% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $2.2bn | $2.4bn | $2.9bn | $3.3bn | $3.6bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 12.5% | 9.8% | 11.1% | 15.1% | 15.9% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.33 | 0.41 | 0.35 | 0.40 | 0.27 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.06bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)8 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.27× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 7.4% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $1.1 billion last quarter, up 21% on a year ago.
- Profit: $147 million, up 35% on a year ago.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $377 million, up from $277 million.
- 1% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $869 million more than cash, up from $463 million a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $854m |
| December 2024 | $773m |
| March 2025 | $884m |
| June 2025 | $915m |
| September 2025 | $995m |
| December 2025 | $996m |
| March 2026 | $1.1bn |
| June 2026 | $1.1bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $83m |
| December 2024 | $87m |
| March 2025 | $109m |
| June 2025 | $108m |
| September 2025 | $138m |
| December 2025 | $134m |
| March 2026 | $134m |
| June 2026 | $147m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 25 November 2025
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 29 October 2026
Who owns it
7 long-term investors we follow own it, down from 8 last quarter. 757 funds in all.
- GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli
- Value
- $29m
- Share of fund
- 0.3%
- Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce
- Value
- $29m
- Share of fund
- 0.2%
- Mairs & PowerAndy Adams
- Value
- $6m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Findlay Park PartnersFindlay Park team | $232m | 3.1% | Added |
| Cooke & BielerCooke & Bieler partners | $135m | 1.6% | Cut |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $29m | 0.3% | |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $29m | 0.2% | |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $22m | <0.1% | Added |
| Eagle Capital ManagementBoykin Curry | $15m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Mairs & PowerAndy Adams | $6m | <0.1% |
Sold out this quarter
- GMOJeremy GranthamSold out
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$3.0bnAdded
- FMR$1.2bnAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$1.1bn
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$1.1bnAdded
- State Street$997m
- Newport Trust Company$810mCut
- Invesco$615mAdded
- Artisan Partners Limited Partnership$582mCut
- Geode Capital Management$538mCut
- T. Rowe Price Investment Management$520mNew
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
1 investor owns more than 5%.
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor5.2%Since 31 March 2026
- Eagle Capital ManagementPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 31 March 2026
- Capital Research Global InvestorsPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 31 December 2024
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 5.2% | 31 March 2026 | |
Eagle Capital Management Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Capital Research Global Investors Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 31 December 2024 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 8 sold $32m, $21m of it under preset trading plans.
- McLevige Shawn MEVP and President, AerospaceSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 31 July 2026
- Shares
- 2,150
- Price
- $356.82
- Value
- $767,163
- Korte Daniel G.DirectorSold
- Date
- 4 June 2026
- Shares
- 14,700
- Price
- $356.05
- Value
- $5m
- Bem Karrie M.EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp SecSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 20 May 2026
- Shares
- 185
- Price
- $355.00
- Value
- $65,675
- Bem Karrie M.EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp SecSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 18 May 2026
- Shares
- 185
- Price
- $352.48
- Value
- $65,209
- Bem Karrie M.EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp SecSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 15 May 2026
- Shares
- 279
- Price
- $361.44
- Value
- $100,842
- Bem Karrie M.EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp SecSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 14 May 2026
- Shares
- 280
- Price
- $372.66
- Value
- $104,345
- Blankenship Charles PChairman of the Board and CEO, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 10 March 2026
- Shares
- 2,625
- Price
- $384.80
- Value
- $1m
- Blankenship Charles PChairman of the Board and CEO, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 9 March 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $367.40
- Value
- $2m
- Blankenship Charles PChairman of the Board and CEO, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 6 March 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $374.84
- Value
- $2m
- Blankenship Charles PChairman of the Board and CEO, DirectorSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 5 March 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $384.75
- Value
- $2m
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 July 2026 | McLevige Shawn M EVP and President, Aerospace | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,150 | $356.82 | $767,163 |
| 4 June 2026 | Korte Daniel G. Director | Sold | 14,700 | $356.05 | $5m |
| 20 May 2026 | Bem Karrie M. EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp Sec | Sold under a preset trading plan | 185 | $355.00 | $65,675 |
| 18 May 2026 | Bem Karrie M. EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp Sec | Sold under a preset trading plan | 185 | $352.48 | $65,209 |
| 15 May 2026 | Bem Karrie M. EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp Sec | Sold under a preset trading plan | 279 | $361.44 | $100,842 |
| 14 May 2026 | Bem Karrie M. EVP, Gen Counsel & Corp Sec | Sold under a preset trading plan | 280 | $372.66 | $104,345 |
| 10 March 2026 | Blankenship Charles P Chairman of the Board and CEO, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,625 | $384.80 | $1m |
| 9 March 2026 | Blankenship Charles P Chairman of the Board and CEO, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $367.40 | $2m |
| 6 March 2026 | Blankenship Charles P Chairman of the Board and CEO, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $374.84 | $2m |
| 5 March 2026 | Blankenship Charles P Chairman of the Board and CEO, Director | Sold under a preset trading plan | 5,000 | $384.75 | $2m |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 27.8× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.