WERNER ENTERPRISES, INC. vs ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc., two Trucking stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
ZTO Express and Werner Enterprises sit at opposite ends of profitability. ZTO, a Chinese parcel network, earns an 18.49% net margin and a 13.53% return on equity; Werner, a North American truckload carrier, is running losses through the downturn at negative 0.28% and negative 0.63%. ZTO generates a 5.37% free cash yield where Werner's is negative 1.71%, and trades at 13.71 times earnings while Werner has no multiple this cycle. Their book multiples nearly match, 1.87 for ZTO and 1.89 for Werner. Werner carries heavier leverage, 0.66 against ZTO's 0.16 debt-to-equity, and pays a 1.31% dividend. As an ADR, ZTO adds currency and governance risk. At $18.0B, ZTO is nearly seven times Werner's $2.6B.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | WERN | ZTO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $43.80 | $23.82 |
| Market cap | $2.6B | $19.6B |
| Sector | Trucking | Trucking |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | -3.1% | — |
| P/E | — | 14.9 |
| P/B | 1.94 | 2.04 |
| P/S | 0.85 | 2.78 |
| EV/EBITDA | 160.6 | 9.9 |
| Revenue growth | +3.4% | +200.0% |
| Gross margin | — | 25.0% |
| Operating margin | 0.5% | 21.3% |
| Net margin | -0.3% | 18.5% |
| Return on equity | -0.6% | 13.5% |
| Return on assets | -0.3% | 10.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 0.8% | 10.6% |
| FCF yield | -1.7% | 4.9% |
| Dividend yield | 1.3% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.66 | 0.16 |
| Current ratio | 1.46 | 1.49 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.68 | 5.16 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 6 / 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.