A. O. Smith Corporation vs ACUITY INC., two Appliances stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where AOS and AYI diverge most: on revenue growth, AOS reads +0.5% and AYI reads +11.0%; on dividend yield, AOS reads 2.3% and AYI reads 0.2%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's AOS price has a different growth bar priced in than AYI (+2.2% implied for AOS vs +13.3% for AYI); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What AOS's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). What AYI's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | AOS | AYI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $60.15 | $328.10 |
| Market cap | $8.3B | $10.2B |
| Sector | Appliances | Appliances |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +2.2% | +13.3% |
| P/E | 16.8 | 21.8 |
| P/B | 4.50 | 3.56 |
| P/S | 2.18 | 2.20 |
| EV/EBITDA | 11.5 | 13.3 |
| Revenue growth | +0.5% | +11.0% |
| Gross margin | 38.6% | 50.6% |
| Operating margin | 16.5% | 16.1% |
| Net margin | 13.2% | 10.3% |
| Return on equity | 27.2% | 16.6% |
| Return on assets | 13.7% | 10.2% |
| Return on invested capital | 21.2% | 14.3% |
| FCF yield | 7.7% | 6.3% |
| Dividend yield | 2.3% | 0.2% |
| Debt / equity | 0.35 | 0.24 |
| Current ratio | 1.59 | 2.05 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 5.70 | 6.16 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 8 / 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.