Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. AWI scored 68.9, WMS scored 70.6 — WMS leads.
Compare another set
AWI
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
Building Products & Equipment · Quality-Growth
68.9
$161.87 · $6.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
1.7
WMS leads
WMS
Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.
Building Products & Equipment · Quality-Growth
70.6
$125.79 · $9.5B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestWMS21.4x
Fastest growthWMS+10.4%
Strongest balance sheetAWI0.66
Highest qualityAWI87 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
AWI
stronger →← stronger
WMS
87
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
81
73
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
70
51
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
62
AWI is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
AWI
WMS
$247mC
FCF
$550mC+
+8.6%B
Rev
+10.4%B
0.66B
D/E
0.97C+
22.1xB+
P/E
21.4xB+
2.02C
PEG
1.19B+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
AWI
WMS
77% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
24% above
~23%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~13%/yr
-49%
1-yr DCF upside
-26%
-44%
5-yr DCF upside
-19%
-35%
10-yr DCF upside
-9%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
AWI
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
WMS
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
AWIArmstrong World Industries, Inc.
Building Products & Equipment · $161.87 · beta 1.16
Why now
Building Products & Equipment · market cap $6.8b. Down 21% from 52-week high of $206.08 — deep drawdown territory. 11 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $210.18 (implying +30% upside).
Moat
Net margin 19% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 36% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
WMSAdvanced Drainage Systems, Inc.
Building Products & Equipment · $125.79 · beta 1.29
Why now
Building Products & Equipment · market cap $9.5b. Down 30% from 52-week high of $179.31 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +10%, comfortably above the S&P median. 11 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $182.45 (implying +45% upside).
Moat
Net margin 14% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 25% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 122% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Mature compounder — the risk is paying up for quality at a moment when growth is decelerating. Watch for sequential revenue + margin trends; the inflection from "compounder" to "ex-compounder" is hard to spot until the multiple already started compressing.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where AWI and WMS diverge
On the headline score the gap is 1.7 points in favor of WMS. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
ValueAWI 51.2 · WMS 62.2WMS +11.0
QualityAWI 86.9 · WMS 80.9AWI +6.0
GrowthAWI 73.4 · WMS 69.9AWI +3.5
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is WMS or AWI the better stock?
WMS scores higher: WMS 70.6, AWI 68.9 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do WMS and AWI differ most?
The widest gap is value, where WMS leads by 11 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are WMS and AWI scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.