COMFORT SYSTEMS USA, INC. vs IES Holdings, Inc., two Engineering & Construction stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where FIX and IESC diverge most: on debt / equity, FIX reads 0.02 and IESC reads 0.00; on implied growth (priced in), FIX reads +41.1% and IESC reads +12.4%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's FIX price has a different growth bar priced in than IESC (+41.1% implied for FIX vs +12.4% for IESC); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What FIX's price implies is a somewhat stretched bet versus history (whole-company basis). What IESC'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 | FIX | IESC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1688.80 | $345.47 |
| Market cap | $59.5B | $7.0B |
| Sector | Engineering & Construction | Engineering & Construction |
| Stage | Growth | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +41.1% | +12.4% |
| P/E | 41.6 | 15.3 |
| P/B | 18.51 | 5.68 |
| P/S | 5.30 | 1.75 |
| EV/EBITDA | 30.1 | 12.5 |
| Revenue growth | +45.9% | +22.1% |
| Gross margin | 25.9% | 27.4% |
| Operating margin | 17.1% | 14.4% |
| Net margin | 12.8% | 11.3% |
| Return on equity | 44.6% | 36.8% |
| Return on assets | 16.9% | 19.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 44.1% | 31.7% |
| FCF yield | 3.6% | 3.3% |
| Dividend yield | 0.1% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.02 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.21 | 1.63 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 8.23 | 7.05 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
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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.