Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. MIDD scored 40.4, MLI scored 77.1 — MLI leads.
Compare another set
MIDD
The Middleby Corporation
Specialty Industrial Machinery · Quality-Growth
40.4
$105.95 · $4.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
36.7
MLI leads
MLI
Mueller Industries, Inc.
Metal Fabrication · Quality-Growth
77.1
$60.71 · $13.4B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
Fastest growthMLI+14.8%
Strongest balance sheetMLI0.01
Highest qualityMLI83 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueMIDD-11%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
MIDD
stronger →← stronger
MLI
65
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
83
23
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
84
44
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
66
MLI is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
MIDD
MLI
$482mC
FCF
$666mC+
+1.6%C
Rev
+14.8%B+
0.91C+
D/E
0.01A
1.4xB+
P/S
—
1.51C+
PEG
3.41D
—
P/E
15.8xA-
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
MIDD
MLI
11% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
22% above
~0%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~13%/yr
+15%
1-yr DCF upside
-26%
+12%
5-yr DCF upside
-18%
+8%
10-yr DCF upside
-5%
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.
Specialty Industrial Machinery · market cap $4.8b. Down 29% from 52-week high of $148.55 — deep drawdown territory. 9 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $155.67 (implying +47% upside).
Moat
ROE 11% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 151% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Currently unprofitable (margin -13.9%) — path to GAAP profitability is the core thesis risk.
MLIMueller Industries, Inc.
Metal Fabrication · $60.71 · beta 1.09
Why now
Metal Fabrication · market cap $13.4b. 15% off the 52-week high of $71.12. Revenue growing +15%, comfortably above the S&P median.
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 24% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
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 MIDD and MLI diverge
On the headline score the gap is 36.7 points in favor of MLI. The widest single difference is Growth, where MLI leads by 61.0 points.
GrowthMIDD 23.1 · MLI 84.1MLI +61.0
ValueMIDD 44.0 · MLI 65.8MLI +21.8
QualityMIDD 64.8 · MLI 82.8MLI +18.0
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 MLI or MIDD the better stock?
MLI scores higher: MLI 77.1, MIDD 40.4 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 MLI and MIDD differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where MLI leads by 61 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. MLI leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are MLI and MIDD 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.