APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. vs WESCO International, Inc., two Distribution stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Applied Industrial and WESCO are both industrial distributors, but Applied runs the tighter operation: an 8.34% net margin against WESCO's 2.79%, a 21.71% return on equity against 13.24%, and far lighter debt, 0.2 turns against WESCO's 1.13. Applied trades richer, 31.8 times earnings against WESCO's 24.7, and at nearly double the book multiple, the market rewarding its cleaner economics. WESCO is the larger and converts less free cash, 1.25% against 3.46%, its acquisition-built electrical-distribution scale carrying more leverage. The pair prices a high-return specialty distributor against a leveraged broadline one: Applied earns more on less debt, WESCO offers size and a cheaper multiple but thinner margins and a heavier balance sheet.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | AIT | WCC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $336.94 | $347.28 |
| Market cap | $12.7B | $17.2B |
| Sector | Distribution | Distribution |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +20.3% |
| P/E | 31.8 | 24.7 |
| P/B | 6.83 | 3.37 |
| P/S | 2.62 | 0.71 |
| EV/EBITDA | 23.4 | 15.4 |
| Revenue growth | +7.6% | +11.2% |
| Gross margin | 30.4% | — |
| Operating margin | 11.0% | 4.8% |
| Net margin | 8.3% | 2.8% |
| Return on equity | 21.7% | 13.2% |
| Return on assets | 13.5% | 4.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 17.4% | 9.3% |
| FCF yield | 3.5% | 1.3% |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.20 | 1.13 |
| Current ratio | 2.95 | 2.12 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 9.46 | 3.19 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.