Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. POOL scored 54.1, WCC scored 58.7 — WCC leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. WCC's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but POOL's are as of March 2026 — a 3-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
POOL
Pool Corporation
Industrial Distribution · Quality-Growth
54.1
$159.54 · $5.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
4.6
WCC leads
WCC
WESCO International, Inc.
Industrial Distribution · Quality-Growth
58.7
$365.69 · $17.8B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestPOOL14.7x
Fastest growthWCC+12.5%
Strongest balance sheetWCC1.29
Highest qualityPOOL79 / 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)
POOL
stronger →← stronger
WCC
79
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
54
38
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
86
53
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
44
POOL is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
POOL
WCC
$313mC
FCF
$154mC
+1.8%C
Rev
+12.5%B+
1.35C
D/E
1.29C
14.7xA-
P/E
25.3xB
1.60C+
PEG
1.52C+
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
POOL
WCC
23% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
804% above
~10%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
>60%/yr
-21%
1-yr DCF upside
-90%
-19%
5-yr DCF upside
-89%
-15%
10-yr DCF upside
-87%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
POOL
Why this score
Buying back stock
Durable high returns
WCC
Why this score
Raising its dividend
The companies
POOLPool Corporation
Industrial Distribution · $159.54 · beta 1.04
Why now
Industrial Distribution · market cap $5.8b. Down 48% from 52-week high of $305.63 — deep drawdown territory. 12 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $215.50 (implying +35% upside).
Moat
ROE 36% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Down 48% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up.
WCCWESCO International, Inc.
Industrial Distribution · $365.69 · beta 1.55
Why now
Industrial Distribution · market cap $17.8b. 6% off the 52-week high of $388.64. Revenue growing +13%, comfortably above the S&P median. 11 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $399.18 (implying +9% upside).
Moat
ROE 14% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere.
Risk
Beta 1.55 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. Net margin 2.8% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first.
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 POOL and WCC diverge
On the headline score the gap is 4.6 points in favor of WCC. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
GrowthPOOL 38.1 · WCC 85.7WCC +47.6
QualityPOOL 78.6 · WCC 53.5POOL +25.1
ValuePOOL 53.0 · WCC 44.1POOL +8.9
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 WCC or POOL the better stock?
WCC scores higher: WCC 58.7, POOL 54.1 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 WCC and POOL differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where WCC leads by 48 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 WCC and POOL 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.