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All stocks · Industrials · Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components

Illinois Tool Works ITW

Illinois Tool Works scores average on business quality (5.9 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$264.13Oct 10, 2026
Business qualityAverage
Next earningsOct 27, 2026, before the open
Insiders, 90 daysSelling

Why it matters

  1. What Illinois Tool Works does

    Illinois Tool Works manufactures engineered fasteners, components, and equipment across seven industrial segments, selling directly to manufacturers and OEMs.

  2. What it does best

    ITW dominates specialized engineered components through a decentralized business model that yields a 26.5 percent operating margin, easily outperforming peers like Xylem at 15.5 percent.

  3. The main risk

    Stagnant revenue growth of 0.9 percent highlights a complete lack of top-line expansion, leaving earnings entirely dependent on endless cost cuts rather than new demand.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityStrong

Operating margin hits 26.5 percent and FCF margin sits in the top quartile at 81st percentile, proving the business scales efficiently through disciplined cost control.

MoatStrong

ITW commands an elite operating margin in the top decile of its sector at 93rd percentile, locked in by deep customer integration that rivals cannot easily copy.

GrowthSlow

Revenue grew just 0.9 percent over the latest period, showing a clear deceleration compared to historical multi-year flat lines.

Financial healthFair

Debt-to-equity sits high at 2.8, backed by interest coverage of 14x, while free cash flow reached $2.9B; the balance sheet is holding steady.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

2 sold $12.0M outside pre-planned sales.

Our sealed record on ITW

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is ITW a good business?

Illinois Tool Works scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.9 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat strong, growth slow and financial health fair.

Are insiders buying ITW?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 2 sold $12.0M outside pre-planned sales.

When does ITW report earnings?

Oct 27, 2026, before the open.

For members

See ITW today

  • Today's verdict on ITW, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Illinois Tool Works (ITW)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/itw/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.