Howmet currently trades at $214.74 and has been a dream stock for shareholders. It’s returned 674% since January 2021, blowing past the S&P 500’s 81.4% gain. The company has also beaten the index over the past six months as its stock price is up 19.1% thanks to its solid quarterly results.
Is it too late to buy HWM? Find out in our full research report, it’s free for active Edge members.
Why Is HWM a Good Business?
Inventing the first forged aluminum truck wheel, Howmet (NYSE: HWM) specializes in lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing multi-material components used in vehicles.
1. Skyrocketing Revenue Shows Strong Momentum
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within industrials, a stretched historical view may miss cycles, industry trends, or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. Howmet’s annualized revenue growth of 11.4% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting its demand recently accelerated. 
2. Outstanding Long-Term EPS Growth
Analyzing the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) shows whether a company's incremental sales were profitable – for example, revenue could be inflated through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Howmet’s EPS grew at an astounding 21.6% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 6.8% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became more profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
3. Increasing Free Cash Flow Margin Juices Financials
If you’ve followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.
As you can see below, Howmet’s margin expanded by 13.8 percentage points over the last five years. This is encouraging, and we can see it became a less capital-intensive business because its free cash flow profitability rose more than its operating profitability. Howmet’s free cash flow margin for the trailing 12 months was 16%.
Final Judgment
These are just a few reasons why Howmet is a cream-of-the-crop industrials company, and with its shares beating the market recently, the stock trades at 50.8× forward P/E (or $214.74 per share). Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free for active Edge members.
Stocks We Like Even More Than Howmet
Your portfolio can’t afford to be based on yesterday’s story. The risk in a handful of heavily crowded stocks is rising daily.
The names generating the next wave of massive growth are right here in our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
