Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. GD scored 62.5, HEI-A scored 72.9 — HEI-A leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. HEI-A's fundamentals are as of July 2026, but GD's are as of April 2026 — a 4-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
GD
General Dynamics Corporation
Aerospace & Defense · Quality-Growth
62.5
$331.27 · $89.6B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
10.4
HEI-A leads
HEI-A
HEICO Corporation
Aerospace & Defense · Quality-Growth
72.9
$223.05 · $31.2B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestGD20.2x
Fastest growthHEI-A+16.3%
Strongest balance sheetGD0.35
Highest qualityHEI-A83 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueGD-6%
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)
GD
stronger →← stronger
HEI-A
72
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
83
69
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
85
49
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
55
HEI-A is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
GD
HEI-A
$5.7bB+
FCF
$1.0bC+
+9.3%B
Rev
+16.3%B+
0.35B+
D/E
0.45B+
20.2xB+
P/E
37.2xC
2.04C
PEG
1.52C+
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
GD
HEI-A
6% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
60% above
~5%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~24%/yr
0%
1-yr DCF upside
-48%
+7%
5-yr DCF upside
-37%
+18%
10-yr DCF upside
-19%
These two disagree on this pair: the Value pillar ranks cheapness against sector peers, while price-vs-fair-value is an absolute read. A name can be the better value in its sector and still the dearer one on cash flows.
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
GD
Why this score
Raising its dividend
HEI-A
Why this score
Durable high returns
The companies
GDGeneral Dynamics Corporation
Aerospace & Defense · $331.27 · beta 0.33
Why now
Aerospace & Defense · market cap $89.6b. 17% off the 52-week high of $400.00. 21 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $413.11 (implying +25% upside).
Moat
ROE 17% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 132% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash. $89.6b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
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.
HEI-AHEICO Corporation
Aerospace & Defense · $223.05 · beta 1.09
Why now
Aerospace & Defense · market cap $31.2b. Down 20% from 52-week high of $279.66 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +16%, comfortably above the S&P median.
Moat
Net margin 16% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 18% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 122% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 37x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
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 GD and HEI-A diverge
On the headline score the gap is 10.4 points in favor of HEI-A. The widest single difference is Growth, where HEI-A leads by 16.1 points.
GrowthGD 69.2 · HEI-A 85.3HEI-A +16.1
QualityGD 72.3 · HEI-A 82.7HEI-A +10.4
ValueGD 48.8 · HEI-A 54.8HEI-A +6.0
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 HEI-A or GD the better stock?
HEI-A scores higher: HEI-A 72.9, GD 62.5 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 HEI-A and GD differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where HEI-A leads by 16 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. HEI-A leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are HEI-A and GD 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.