Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. WCC scored 58.7, FAST scored 55.4 — WCC leads.
Compare another set
WCC
WESCO International, Inc.
Industrial Distribution · Quality-Growth
58.7
$365.69 · $17.8B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
3.3
WCC leads
FAST
Fastenal Company
Industrial Distribution · Quality-Growth
55.4
$50.75 · $58.2B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestWCC25.3x
Fastest growthFAST+12.5%
Strongest balance sheetFAST0.11
Highest qualityFAST89 / 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
FAST
54
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
89
86
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
79
44
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
24
WCC is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
WCC
FAST
$154mC
FCF
$1.2bC+
+12.5%B+
Rev
+12.5%B+
1.29C
D/E
0.11A
25.3xB
P/E
43.4xC
1.52C+
PEG
3.36D
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
FAST
804% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
120% above
>60%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~27%/yr
-90%
1-yr DCF upside
-59%
-89%
5-yr DCF upside
-55%
-87%
10-yr DCF upside
-48%
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.
Model signals
WCC
Why this score
Raising its dividend
FAST
Why this score
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.
FASTFastenal Company
Industrial Distribution · $50.75 · beta 0.69
Why now
Industrial Distribution · market cap $58.2b. 4% off the 52-week high of $52.92. Revenue growing +13%, comfortably above the S&P median. 13 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $48.84 (implying -4% upside).
Moat
Net margin 15% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 33% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $58.2b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Trailing P/E 43x 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 FAST diverge
On the headline score the gap is 3.3 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.
QualityWCC 53.5 · FAST 89.0FAST +35.5
ValueWCC 44.1 · FAST 24.3WCC +19.8
GrowthWCC 85.7 · FAST 78.5WCC +7.2
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 FAST the better stock?
WCC scores higher: WCC 58.7, FAST 55.4 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 WCC and FAST differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where FAST leads by 36 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 FAST 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.