Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. STRL scored 75.4, EME scored 72.5 — STRL leads.
Compare another set
STRL
Sterling Infrastructure, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · Quality-Growth
75.4
$513.00 · $15.7B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
2.9
STRL leads
EME
EMCOR Group, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · Quality-Growth
72.5
$789.45 · $34.8B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestEME24.6x
Fastest growthSTRL+60.8%
Strongest balance sheetEME0.13
Highest qualitySTRL84 / 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)
STRL
stronger →← stronger
EME
84
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
84
96
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
88
53
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
52
STRL is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
STRL
EME
$482mC
FCF
$1.2bC+
+60.8%A
Rev
+16.6%B+
0.24A-
D/E
0.13A-
37.0xC
P/E
24.6xB
0.64A-
PEG
0.32A
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
STRL
EME
129% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
75% above
~39%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~24%/yr
-66%
1-yr DCF upside
-50%
-56%
5-yr DCF upside
-43%
-39%
10-yr DCF upside
-31%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
STRL
Why this score
Durable high returns
EME
Why this score
Durable high returns
The companies
STRLSterling Infrastructure, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · $513.00 · beta 1.86
Why now
Engineering & Construction · market cap $15.7b. Down 49% from 52-week high of $1005.68 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +61% — in hypergrowth territory. PEG 0.64 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 7 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $836.57 (implying +63% upside).
Moat
Net margin 13% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 32% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. FCF converts 112% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Down 49% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Beta 1.86 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. Trailing P/E 37x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
EMEEMCOR Group, Inc.
Engineering & Construction · $789.45 · beta 1.12
Why now
Engineering & Construction · market cap $34.8b. 17% off the 52-week high of $951.96. Revenue growing +17%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.32 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 7 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $1,033 (implying +31% upside).
Moat
ROE 40% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Despite identical overall scores of 75.6, the model favors EME's stronger Value pillar (59 vs 53) and better PEG grade (A vs A-), suggesting a more favorable entry point. Conversely, a contrarian might prefer STRL for its significantly higher revenue growth (+60.8% grade A) and Growth pillar (96), betting its superior expansion can justify the higher implied growth of 38%. A key caveat for both is their significant premium to DCF fair value.
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 STRL and EME diverge
On the headline score the gap is 2.9 points in favor of STRL. The widest single difference is Growth, where STRL leads by 7.9 points.
GrowthSTRL 96.0 · EME 88.1STRL +7.9
ValueSTRL 52.8 · EME 51.5level
QualitySTRL 84.4 · EME 83.8level
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 STRL or EME the better stock?
STRL scores higher: STRL 75.4, EME 72.5 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 STRL and EME differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where STRL leads by 8 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. The other two pillars are close enough to call level, so this is the one place they genuinely separate.
How are STRL and EME 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.