Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. HEI-A scored 72.9, SPCX scored 27.7 — HEI-A leads.
Compare another set
HEI-A
HEICO Corporation
Aerospace & Defense · Quality-Growth
72.9
$223.05 · $31.2B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
45.2
HEI-A leads
SPCX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Aerospace & Defense · Quality-Growth
27.7
$162.57 · $2.1T
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
Fastest growthSPCX+33.2%
Strongest balance sheetSPCX0.31
Highest qualityHEI-A83 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
HEI-A
stronger →← stronger
SPCX
83
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
32
85
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
93
55
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
7
HEI-A is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
HEI-A
SPCX
$1.0bC+
FCF
-$33.4bF
+16.3%B+
Rev
+33.2%A
0.45B+
D/E
0.31A-
37.2xC
P/E
—
1.52C+
PEG
—
—
P/S
93.0xD
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
HEI-A
SPCX
60% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
—
~24%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
—
-48%
1-yr DCF upside
—
-37%
5-yr DCF upside
—
-19%
10-yr DCF upside
—
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
HEI-A
Why this score
Durable high returns
SPCX
Why this score
Short track record
The companies
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.
SPCXSpace Exploration Technologies Corp.
Aerospace & Defense · $162.57
Why now
Aerospace & Defense · market cap $2.1T. Down 28% from 52-week high of $225.64 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +33% — in hypergrowth territory. 27 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $224.78 (implying +38% upside).
Moat
$2.1T market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
Free cash flow is negative (-$33.4b) — capital raises or debt issuance likely required; dilution / leverage risk. Currently unprofitable (margin -35.7%) — path to GAAP profitability is the core thesis risk. P/S 93.0x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard.
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 HEI-A and SPCX diverge
On the headline score the gap is 45.2 points in favor of HEI-A. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
QualityHEI-A 82.7 · SPCX 32.2HEI-A +50.5
ValueHEI-A 54.8 · SPCX 7.1HEI-A +47.7
GrowthHEI-A 85.3 · SPCX 92.7SPCX +7.4
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 SPCX the better stock?
HEI-A scores higher: HEI-A 72.9, SPCX 27.7 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 SPCX differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where HEI-A leads by 51 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 HEI-A and SPCX 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.