Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. MLI scored 77.1, NDSN scored 52.3 — MLI leads.
Compare another set
MLI
Mueller Industries, Inc.
Metal Fabrication · Quality-Growth
77.1
$60.71 · $13.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
24.8
MLI leads
NDSN
Nordson Corporation
Specialty Industrial Machinery · Quality-Growth
52.3
$328.17 · $18.3B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestMLI15.8x
Fastest growthMLI+14.8%
Strongest balance sheetMLI0.01
Highest qualityMLI83 / 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)
MLI
stronger →← stronger
NDSN
83
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
78
84
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
67
66
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
27
MLI is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
MLI
NDSN
$666mC+
FCF
$724mC+
+14.8%B+
Rev
+7.0%B
0.01A
D/E
0.56B
15.8xA-
P/E
33.2xC+
3.41D
PEG
1.86C+
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
MLI
NDSN
22% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
57% above
~13%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~17%/yr
-26%
1-yr DCF upside
-39%
-18%
5-yr DCF upside
-36%
-5%
10-yr DCF upside
-33%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
MLI
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
Diluting shareholders
NDSN
Why this score
Raising its dividend
The companies
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.
Specialty Industrial Machinery · market cap $18.3b. 3% off the 52-week high of $339.12. 7 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $349.71 (implying +7% upside).
Moat
Net margin 19% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 17% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 130% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 33x 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 MLI and NDSN diverge
On the headline score the gap is 24.8 points in favor of MLI. The widest single difference is Value, where MLI leads by 38.5 points.
ValueMLI 65.8 · NDSN 27.3MLI +38.5
GrowthMLI 84.1 · NDSN 66.8MLI +17.3
QualityMLI 82.8 · NDSN 78.1MLI +4.7
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 NDSN the better stock?
MLI scores higher: MLI 77.1, NDSN 52.3 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 MLI and NDSN differ most?
The widest gap is value, where MLI leads by 39 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 NDSN 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.