Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. HII scored 61.3, HEI-A scored 72.9 — HEI-A leads.
Compare another set
HII
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense · Quality-Growth
61.3
$264.80 · $10.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
11.6
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
Fastest growthHEI-A+16.3%
Strongest balance sheetHEI-A0.45
Highest qualityHEI-A83 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
HII
stronger →← stronger
HEI-A
55
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
83
80
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
85
52
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
55
HEI-A is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
HII
HEI-A
-$85mF
FCF
$1.0bC+
+14.0%B+
Rev
+16.3%B+
0.55B
D/E
0.45B+
0.8xA-
P/S
—
0.81B+
PEG
1.52C+
—
P/E
37.2xC
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
HII
HEI-A
—
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
60% above
—
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~24%/yr
—
1-yr DCF upside
-48%
—
5-yr DCF upside
-37%
—
10-yr DCF upside
-19%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
HII
No notable signals flagged.
HEI-A
Why this score
Durable high returns
The companies
HIIHuntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.
Aerospace & Defense · $264.80 · beta 0.21
Why now
Aerospace & Defense · market cap $10.4b. Down 42% from 52-week high of $460.00 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +14%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.81 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 12 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $363.00 (implying +37% upside).
Moat
ROE 12% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere.
Risk
Free cash flow is negative (-$85m) — capital raises or debt issuance likely required; dilution / leverage risk. Down 42% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up.
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 HII and HEI-A diverge
On the headline score the gap is 11.6 points in favor of HEI-A. The widest single difference is Quality, where HEI-A leads by 27.6 points.
QualityHII 55.1 · HEI-A 82.7HEI-A +27.6
GrowthHII 79.8 · HEI-A 85.3HEI-A +5.5
ValueHII 52.4 · HEI-A 54.8level
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 HII the better stock?
HEI-A scores higher: HEI-A 72.9, HII 61.3 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 HII differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where HEI-A leads by 28 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. HEI-A also leads growth, while value is effectively level between them.
How are HEI-A and HII 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.