Curtiss-Wright Corporation CW

Competitive advantage analysis · industrials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
77/100
Strong

About Curtiss-Wright Corporation

Curtiss-Wright Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered products, solutions, and services mainly to aerospace and defense, commercial nuclear power, process, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Industrial, Defense Electronics, and Naval & Power. The Aerospace & Industrial segment offers industrial and specialty vehicle products, such as power management electronics, traction inverters, transmission shifters, and … Full CW analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.90), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 86.3th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.

Key risks

  • Liquidity Concerns Liquidity is concerning (score 0.26), raising questions about short-term obligations.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Pricing Power

Strong
84

Where CW ranks in Aerospace & Defense

Curtiss-Wright Corporation ranks #5 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense by moat score — the top 6%. The widest moat in the group is Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM) at 80/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near CW in Aerospace & Defense
# Company Moat score Rating
1 Howmet Aerospace Inc. HWM 80/100 Strong
2 Heico Corporation HEI 78/100 Strong
3 Heico Corporation HEI-A 78/100 Strong
4 Transdigm Group Incorporated TDG 78/100 Strong
5 Curtiss-Wright Corporation CW 77/100 Strong
6 Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. OPXS 74/100 Moderate
7 Innovative Solutions and Suppor ISSC 73/100 Moderate
8 Coda Octopus Group, Inc. CODA 72/100 Moderate
9 Loar Holdings Inc. LOAR 72/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How CW scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 84 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 73 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 86 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 87 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 64 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 69 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding CW's moat

What is Curtiss-Wright Corporation's moat score?

Curtiss-Wright Corporation (CW) scores 77 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #5 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense, the top 6%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 79 companies in Aerospace & Defense. Its strongest defense is Capital Efficiency (87/100) and its weakest is Resilience (64/100).

How does Curtiss-Wright Corporation compare with other Aerospace & Defense companies?

Curtiss-Wright Corporation ranks #5 of 80 scored companies in Aerospace & Defense by moat score. The widest moat in Aerospace & Defense is Howmet Aerospace Inc. (HWM) at 80/100. The companies ranked closest are Transdigm Group Incorporated (TDG) at 78 just above it and Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. (OPXS) at 74 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 79 companies in Aerospace & Defense. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Curtiss-Wright Corporation scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Curtiss-Wright Corporation?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and CW scores: Pricing Power (84), Cost Advantage (73), Customer Stickiness (86), Capital Efficiency (87), Resilience (64), Scale & Market Position (69). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000