ROK vs RRX: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: RRX is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ROK and RRX share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ROK and RRX exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Rockwell Automation (ROK) is one of the largest pure-play industrial automation and digital transformation companies in the world. It provides the hardware, software, and services that factories and industrial facilities use to run, monitor, and optimize their operations: programmable logic controllers, drives, motor control, sensors, industrial networking, and the Allen-Bradley and FactoryTalk product families that are standards in many North American plants. Rockwell organizes its business around Intelligent Devices, Software and Control, and Lifecycle Services, and increasingly pairs its installed base of automation hardware with software, analytics, and recurring services. A long partnership with software firms and its acquisitions in areas like manufacturing-execution software, cybersecurity, and information solutions position it to sell connected, data-driven factory systems, not just discrete controllers. Founded in 1903 and headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell is an S&P 500 industrial that benefits from secular trends in reshoring, factory modernization, and the digitization of manufacturing, while remaining tied to the capital-spending cycles of its industrial customers.

Full ROK guide

Regal Rexnord sells the hardware that creates, transmits and controls mechanical motion, and it does so through three segments that behave very differently. Industrial Powertrain Solutions is the largest at $1,317.7 million of first-half 2026 sales, about 43% of the company, and it makes bearings, couplings, gearing, clutches and brakes for energy, metals and mining, food and beverage and general industrial customers. Automation & Motion Control produced $934.8 million in the same period, roughly 31%, selling controllers, drives, precision motors, linear actuators and conveying systems into discrete automation, data centers, aerospace and defense and medical applications. Power Efficiency Solutions contributed $785.0 million, about 26%, and covers electric motors and air moving subsystems for residential and commercial HVAC, pool equipment and general purpose applications. The current shape reflects two deliberate portfolio moves: the acquisition of Altra Industrial Motion in March 2023, which brought the coupling, gearing and Kollmorgen precision motion businesses, and the 2024 sale of the industrial motors and generators businesses for roughly $375 million of proceeds. North America accounted for $2,102.2 million of first-half sales, Europe $527.6 million and Asia $246.0 million.

Full RRX guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ROK drivers: Installed base and switching costs; Software, recurring revenue, and analytics.
• RRX drivers: Automation & Motion Control is where the growth sits; Debt paydown is converting interest expense into equity value.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Rockwell's results are tied to industrial and manufacturing capital-spending cycles, so demand can soften in downturns or when customers delay projects, and orders can be lumpy. For RRX, the most immediate risk is the quality of the 2026 guidance.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ROK if you believe its drivers more; RRX if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ROK and RRX guides.

ROK. Rockwell typically trades at a premium multiple relative to the broader industrials group, reflecting its pure-play automation focus, strong installed-base moat, and growing software mix. The valuation embeds expectations for factory modernization and reshoring; multiple compression risk rises if the industrial capital-spending cycle weakens or order growth disappoints. Figures are approximate and move with results and price; verify current revenue, margins, and yield.

RRX. Two multiples describe this share price and they are almost seven times apart, because roughly $346 million of annual intangible amortization from the Altra purchase sits inside GAAP earnings and outside the adjusted figure. Enterprise value to sales of ~2.54x is the cleaner comparison to diversified motion peers, and it prices Regal Rexnord below where Rockwell Automation or Parker Hannifin have typically traded. The discount tracks the leverage: net debt is about 38% of enterprise value, so a given move in operating profit moves the equity considerably more than it would at an unlevered competitor.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): ROK shows revenue (ttm) ~$8 billion (verify), operating margin ~ high teens to ~20% segment margins (verify), profitability Consistently profitable, p/e (ttm) ~25x to ~30x, varies (verify); RRX shows revenue (ttm) ~$6.06 billion for the twelve months to June 30, 2026, up ~3.5%, versus ~$5.94 billion in fiscal 2025, ~$6.03 billion in fiscal 2024 and ~$6.25 billion in fiscal 2023. Second-quarter sales were $1,558.4 million, up 4.2% reported and 3.3% organic, after $1,479.1 million in the first quarter. Enterprise daily orders grew 8.8% in the quarter, ahead of shipments., earnings and eps GAAP net income of ~$324 million and diluted EPS of $4.86 for the trailing twelve months, against $279.5 million and $4.20 in fiscal 2025, $196.2 million and $2.94 in fiscal 2024 and a $57.4 million loss in fiscal 2023. Second-quarter GAAP EPS was $1.74 and adjusted diluted EPS was $2.99, of which $0.39 came from IEEPA tariff refunds. Full-year 2026 guidance is $5.42 to $5.92 GAAP and $10.35 to $10.85 adjusted, midpoint $10.60 including $0.57 of refunds., segment mix and margins First-half 2026 sales split $1,317.7 million Industrial Powertrain Solutions, $934.8 million Automation & Motion Control and $785.0 million Power Efficiency Solutions. Second-quarter adjusted EBITDA margins excluding tariff refunds were 25.9% for IPS, 19.9% for AMC and 16.2% for PES. AMC grew 15.6% organically while PES fell 6.6% on residential HVAC and pool weakness, a mix shift that lowers the blended margin even as the top line accelerates., cash flow and capital intensity Free cash flow of $154.1 million in the second quarter of 2026 after negative $2.5 million in the seasonally weak first quarter, on first-half operating cash flow of $191.6 million and capital spending of $39.9 million. Fiscal 2025 operating cash flow was $990.8 million against $97.7 million of capex, though that figure was helped by the receivables securitization facility opened on June 30, 2025. Amortization of $173.0 million and depreciation of $75.8 million in the first half explain most of the distance between net income and cash generation. R&D was $198.7 million in fiscal 2025..

ROK and RRX are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ROK and RRX exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.