RELIANCE, INC. vs WESCO International, Inc., two Distribution stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Reliance and WESCO are both mid-cap distributors, but Reliance earns the cleaner economics: a 5.42% net margin against WESCO's 2.79%, a 11.28% return on equity against 13.24% but on far lighter debt, 0.24 turns against 1.13. Reliance trades a touch dearer, 25.1 times earnings against 24.7, and converts more free cash, 3.05% against 1.25%. The pair contrasts a metals service-center operator with a leveraged electrical distributor: WESCO squeezes a slightly higher return from heavy borrowing, Reliance earns nearly as much on a much cleaner balance sheet with fatter margins, and Reliance is the safer of the two on almost every measure but the headline return on equity.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | RS | WCC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $380.17 | $334.98 |
| Market cap | $19.8B | $16.6B |
| Sector | Distribution | Distribution |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +10.5% | +20.3% |
| P/E | 24.8 | 23.8 |
| P/B | 2.77 | 3.25 |
| P/S | 1.33 | 0.68 |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.3 | 15.0 |
| Revenue growth | +8.7% | +11.2% |
| Operating margin | 9.1% | 4.8% |
| Net margin | 5.4% | 2.8% |
| Return on equity | 11.3% | 13.2% |
| Return on assets | 7.4% | 4.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.5% | 9.3% |
| FCF yield | 3.1% | 1.3% |
| Dividend yield | 1.3% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.24 | 1.13 |
| Current ratio | 4.39 | 2.12 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.04 | 3.16 |
| 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 →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
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.