Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. WCC scored 58.7, AIT scored 65.9 — AIT leads.
Compare another set
WCC
WESCO International, Inc.
Industrial Distribution · Quality-Growth
58.7
$365.69 · $17.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
7.2
AIT leads
AIT
Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc.
Industrial Distribution · Quality-Growth
65.9
$335.38 · $12.3B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestWCC25.3x
Fastest growthWCC+12.5%
Strongest balance sheetAIT0.26
Highest qualityAIT85 / 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)
WCC
stronger →← stronger
AIT
54
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
85
86
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
70
44
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
48
AIT is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
WCC
AIT
$154mC
FCF
$461mC
+12.5%B+
Rev
+8.8%B
1.29C
D/E
0.26A-
25.3xB
P/E
30.6xC+
1.52C+
PEG
2.77C
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
WCC
AIT
804% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
42% above
>60%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~15%/yr
-90%
1-yr DCF upside
-34%
-89%
5-yr DCF upside
-30%
-87%
10-yr DCF upside
-22%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
WCC
Why this score
Raising its dividend
AIT
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
The companies
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.
AITApplied Industrial Technologies, Inc.
Industrial Distribution · $335.38 · beta 0.85
Why now
Industrial Distribution · market cap $12.3b. 11% off the 52-week high of $374.80. 6 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $400.00 (implying +19% upside).
Moat
ROE 22% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately. FCF converts 111% 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 WCC and AIT diverge
On the headline score the gap is 7.2 points in favor of AIT. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
QualityWCC 53.5 · AIT 84.8AIT +31.3
GrowthWCC 85.7 · AIT 70.2WCC +15.5
ValueWCC 44.1 · AIT 48.0AIT +3.9
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 AIT or WCC the better stock?
AIT scores higher: AIT 65.9, WCC 58.7 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 AIT and WCC differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where AIT leads by 31 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 AIT and WCC 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.