ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES, INC. vs ADVANCED DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, INC., two Plastics stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Armstrong World makes ceiling systems; Advanced Drainage makes plastic drainage pipe, and both earn strong returns on building-and-infrastructure demand. Armstrong earns the higher return, 34.32% on equity against 22.66%, and a fatter margin, 18.59% against 13.98%, its ceiling-tile niche highly profitable. Both trade at similar multiples near 23 to 28 times earnings and carry moderate debt. Armstrong converts a bit less free cash, 3.4% against 4.69%. The pair prices two building-products makers: Armstrong the higher-margin ceiling specialist, Advanced Drainage the stormwater-pipe maker riding infrastructure spend, both quality operators leveraged to construction cycles.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | AWI | WMS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $155.68 | $150.90 |
| Market cap | $6.7B | $11.8B |
| Sector | Plastics | Plastics |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +10.9% | — |
| P/E | 22.1 | 27.7 |
| P/B | 7.53 | 6.29 |
| P/S | 4.08 | 3.88 |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.6 | 15.9 |
| Revenue growth | +9.8% | +5.2% |
| Gross margin | 37.9% | 35.1% |
| Operating margin | 23.0% | 7.9% |
| Net margin | 18.6% | 14.0% |
| Return on equity | 34.3% | 22.7% |
| Return on assets | 15.4% | 9.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 23.5% | 13.9% |
| FCF yield | 3.5% | 4.8% |
| Dividend yield | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| Debt / equity | 0.54 | 0.87 |
| Current ratio | 1.54 | 2.42 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 8.39 | 4.27 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 5 / 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.