Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. IESC scored 65.2, EXPO scored 77.1 — EXPO leads.
Compare another set
IESC
IES Holdings, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · Quality-Growth
65.2
$297.52 · $12.6B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
11.9
EXPO leads
EXPO
Exponent, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · Quality-Growth
77.1
$69.81 · $3.3B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestIESC26.4x
Fastest growthIESC+16.9%
Strongest balance sheetIESC0.06
Highest qualityEXPO92 / 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)
IESC
stronger →← stronger
EXPO
81
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
92
86
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
80
39
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
62
EXPO is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
IESC
EXPO
$228mC
FCF
$109mC
+16.9%B+
Rev
+12.8%B+
0.06A
D/E
0.28A-
26.4xB
P/E
31.3xC+
—
PEG
2.03C
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
IESC
EXPO
326% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
29% above
~55%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~15%/yr
-81%
1-yr DCF upside
-31%
-77%
5-yr DCF upside
-22%
-70%
10-yr DCF upside
-7%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
IESC
Why this score
Durable high returns
EXPO
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
The companies
IESCIES Holdings, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · $297.52 · beta 1.77
Why now
Engineering & Construction · market cap $12.6b. Down 27% from 52-week high of $408.25 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +17%, comfortably above the S&P median.
Moat
ROE 45% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Beta 1.77 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return.
EXPOExponent, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · $69.81 · beta 0.70
Why now
Engineering & Construction · market cap $3.3b. 15% off the 52-week high of $81.95. Revenue growing +13%, comfortably above the S&P median. 3 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $84.00 (implying +20% upside).
Moat
Net margin 18% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 39% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 97% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 31x 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 IESC and EXPO diverge
On the headline score the gap is 11.9 points in favor of EXPO. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
ValueIESC 39.5 · EXPO 62.2EXPO +22.7
QualityIESC 81.3 · EXPO 92.2EXPO +10.9
GrowthIESC 86.1 · EXPO 80.0IESC +6.1
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 EXPO or IESC the better stock?
EXPO scores higher: EXPO 77.1, IESC 65.2 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 EXPO and IESC differ most?
The widest gap is value, where EXPO leads by 23 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 EXPO and IESC 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.