Illinois Tool Works Inc. provides industrial products and equipment in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and South America. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Consistently Above PeersGross margin at 44.1% (top 22%) and operating margin at 26.3% (top 3%) indicate strong pricing power.
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.87), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
Key risks
Liquidity ConcernsLiquidity is concerning (score 0.23), 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.
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Illinois Tool Works Inc. ranks #3 of 82
scored companies in Specialty Industrial Machinery by moat score — the top 4%.
The widest moat in the group is Graco Inc. (GGG)
at 86/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near ITW in Specialty Industrial Machinery
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 87
· 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 88
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 81
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 53
· 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 78
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) scores 79 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #3 of 82 scored companies in Specialty Industrial Machinery, the top 4%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 81 companies in Specialty Industrial Machinery. Its strongest defense is Customer Stickiness (88/100) and its weakest is Resilience (53/100).
How does Illinois Tool Works Inc. compare with other Specialty Industrial Machinery companies?
Illinois Tool Works Inc. ranks #3 of 82 scored companies in Specialty Industrial Machinery by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Industrial Machinery is Graco Inc. (GGG) at 86/100. The companies ranked closest are Barnes Group, Inc. (B) at 79 just above it and AMETEK, Inc. (AME) at 79 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 81 companies in Specialty Industrial Machinery. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is Illinois Tool Works Inc. 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 Illinois Tool Works Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and ITW scores: Pricing Power (88), Cost Advantage (87), Customer Stickiness (88), Capital Efficiency (81), Resilience (53), Scale & Market Position (78). 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.
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