Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Powell Industries a Decade Ago

How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.

Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Powell Industries (POWL) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to POWL for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Powell Industries' Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Powell Industries' main business drivers.

Headquartered in Houston, TX, Powell engages in manufacturing and supplying custom-engineered equipment and systems that are used for distributing, controlling and monitoring the flow of electrical energy. Founded in 1947, the company has 3,143 employees (as of Sept. 30, 2025).The company primarily sells products like integrated power control room substations, electrical houses, medium-voltage circuit breakers, monitoring and control communications systems, switches, motor control centers, bus duct systems, arc-resistant distribution switchgears and control gears. Some of these are used to offer protection to transformers, motors and other electrically powered equipment.

Powell’s products are marketed to customers across several countries via robust network of distributors, independent representatives and its own sales force. The company operates across the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Mexico and South America.

The company serves several markets including the oil and gas, petrochemical, electric utility, and commercial and other industrial markets. Apart from these markets, it sells products and services to light rail traction power market and other markets that include universities and government entities.

In the oil and gas markets, Powell serves the upstream, midstream and downstream end markets, liquefied natural gas facilities as well as terminals, pipelines and refineries. Also, the company has expanded into hydrogen production, carbon capture, and alternative fuels markets, including biofuels and sustainable aviation fuel, to cater to the increasing demand for clean energy.

Within the petrochemical market, it serves customers that are engaged in the production of petrochemical, or oil- or gas-to-chemical products. In the electric utility sector, it serves both the power generation and distribution end markets. In the commercial and other industrial markets, Powell’s customers primarily operate in data centers, commercial construction, pulp and paper, metals and mining and other industrial applications.

In fiscal 2025, the oil and gas market contributed 37% of Powell’s total revenues. While the petrochemical market contributed 14% of total revenues, the same from the electric utility market amounted to 25%. The commercial and other industrial, light rail traction and all other markets contributed 16%, 4% and 4% respectively to total revenues.

Bottom Line

Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Powell Industries, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.

A $1000 investment made in April 2016 would be worth $18,150.96, or a gain of 1,715.10%, as of April 1, 2026, according to our calculations. This return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

In comparison, the S&P 500's gained 216.96% and the price of gold went up 262.32% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for POWL.

Powell's business momentum can be largely attributed to its strong foothold and strength in two key markets, which are electric utility and commercial & other industrial. A strong pipeline of projects within the LNG market and its growing presence across the data center and electric utility sectors, along with a solid backlog, are key catalysts behind the company's growth. Powell's diversification efforts beyond its core oil, gas and petrochemical markets have boosted its market share across other markets as well. However, rising expenses, supply-chain issues and other factors are keeping the bottom line under pressure. The material costs represented 45% of the company's revenues in fiscal 2025 and 47% in fiscal 2024. Stiff competition from major players could hamper the company's ability to maintain its market share.

The stock is up 5.86% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 3 higher, for fiscal 2026. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

Want 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

Powell Industries, Inc. (POWL): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research