For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. Not only can it impact your investment portfolio, but it can also help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Woodward (WWD) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to WWD for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Woodward's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Woodward's main business drivers.
Headquartered in Fort Collins, CO, Woodward, Inc is an independent designer, manufacturer and service provider of energy control and optimization solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets.
Apart from serving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), it also engages in aftermarket repairs, replacements and other service support operations for installed products.
Woodward serves the aerospace and energy markets through two reportable segments: Aerospace and Industrial.
The Aerospace segment’s products include metering units, actuators, air valves, fuel pumps, fuel nozzles, specialty valves, , and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft.
These segment’s products are utilized for commercial and private aircraft and rotorcraft. These are also widely deployed on military fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft, guided weapons, and other defense systems. This segment generated revenues of $494 million in first-quarter fiscal 2025, representing 63.9% of total revenues.
The company faces tough competition from companies like Honeywell, Moog, Eaton, Parker Hannifin, and RTX Corporation in this space.
The Industrial segment’s products portfolio includes solenoids, actuators, valves, pumps, fuel injection systems, ignition systems, control systems, electronics and software, and sensors.
The products are widely used in steam turbines, industrial gas turbines (like heavy frame, aeroderivative and small industrial gas turbines), compressors, and reciprocating engines (like low speed, medium speed, and high-speed engines, that operate on variety of fuels). Segmental revenues of $279 million in first-quarter fiscal 2025, represented 36.1% of total revenues.
Woodward’s primary competitors in this space include Heinzmann GmbH & Co., Emerson, EControls, Hoerbiger, Meggitt, Robert Bosch AG, and Triconix.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Woodward a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in July 2016 would be worth $6,916.27, or a 591.63% gain, as of July 13, 2026, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
In comparison, the S&P 500's gained 255.67% and the price of gold went up 193.80% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for WWD.
Woodward continues to benefit from sustained demand across Aerospace and Core Industrial, prompting higher fiscal 2026 sales and adjusted EPS guidance. Commercial services activity has remained elevated, with LEAP and GTF volume rising alongside a legacy aftermarket base that has not shown a near-term drop off. Industrial is being aided by transportation, oil and gas and power generation, where data center-related demand is extending customer forecasts and driving new capacity studies. Portfolio actions and capital returns add support. Offsetting factors include the China on-highway wind down, a product performance reserve, supply chain and execution constraints, higher inventory and capex that kept free cash flow guidance unchanged, and macro and geopolitical uncertainty that could weigh on fiscal 2027 overall.
The stock is up 5.05% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 2 higher, for fiscal 2026. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Woodward, Inc. (WWD): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).