Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. GRMN scored 65.0, ESE scored 72.9 — ESE leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. ESE's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but GRMN's are as of March 2026 — a 3-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestGRMN27.7x
Fastest growthESE+27.0%
Strongest balance sheetGRMN0.03
Highest qualityGRMN85 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
GRMN
stronger →← stronger
ESE
85
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
68
83
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
85
39
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
67
ESE is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
GRMN
ESE
$1.5bC+
FCF
$207mC
+15.7%B+
Rev
+27.0%A-
0.03A-
D/E
0.09B+
27.7xB
P/E
47.8xC+
2.85C
PEG
1.67C+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
GRMN
ESE
75% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
95% above
~22%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~25%/yr
-48%
1-yr DCF upside
-53%
-43%
5-yr DCF upside
-49%
-34%
10-yr DCF upside
-42%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Scientific & Technical Instruments · market cap $51.8b. 15% off the 52-week high of $314.28. Revenue growing +16%, comfortably above the S&P median. 6 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $302.00 (implying +13% upside).
Moat
Net margin 23% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 19% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. $51.8b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
Scientific & Technical Instruments · market cap $6.7b. Down 29% from 52-week high of $362.15 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +27% — in hypergrowth territory. 4 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $390.75 (implying +52% upside).
Moat
Net margin 24% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 19% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
Risk
Trailing P/E 48x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where GRMN and ESE diverge
On the headline score the gap is 7.9 points in favor of ESE. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
ValueGRMN 39.1 · ESE 67.1ESE +28.0
QualityGRMN 85.0 · ESE 67.5GRMN +17.5
GrowthGRMN 82.6 · ESE 85.4level
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is ESE or GRMN the better stock?
ESE scores higher: ESE 72.9, GRMN 65.0 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do ESE and GRMN differ most?
The widest gap is value, where ESE leads by 28 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are ESE and GRMN scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.