AIT vs FERG vs IDXX Stock Comparison

Applied Industrial Technologies, Ferguson Enterprises and Idexx Laboratories Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Ferguson Enterprises leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Ferguson Enterprises 4, Idexx Laboratories 4, Applied Industrial Technologies 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAITFERGIDXXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.04B $46.68B $45.43B FERG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.2x 23.1x 39.9x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.6x 22.5x 36.9x FERG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +5.2% +12.8% IDXX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.4% 6.5% 25.0% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 20.0% 21.7% 45.6% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.3x 1.0x 0.5x AIT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.66% 1.48% — FERG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.0% -3.5% -8.2% AIT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +25.4%/yr +9.7%/yr -2.9%/yr AIT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.7% 30.1% 32.1% AIT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 66/100 77/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

AITFERGIDXX

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAITFERGIDXX
Valuation 27 #34 of 46 44 #26 of 46 75 #155 of 624
Growth 58 #17 of 39 79 #9 of 39 76 #148 of 601
Profitability 95 #3 of 39 87 #6 of 39 97 #17 of 541
Financial Health 91 #5 of 47 50 #24 of 47 46 #350 of 647
Shareholder Returns 77 #8 of 31 70 #10 of 31 93 #26 of 359
Overall 69 66 77
  • AIT ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • IDXX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAITFERGIDXXSPY
1 month -10.0%+7.4%+8.0% +0.7%
3 months -11.0%+6.2%+3.1% +3.7%
6 months -1.1%-10.2%+2.7% +7.1%
Year to date +17.8%+8.0%-14.9% +12.8%
1 year +19.0%-3.5%-8.2% +11.9%
3 years +99.7%+56.4%+45.3% +85.2%
3 years, per year +25.9%+16.1%+13.3% +22.8%
5 years +210.3%+59.0%-13.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +25.4%+9.7%-2.9% +10.9%
10 years +501.9%+353.7%+448.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +19.7%+16.3%+18.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAITFERGIDXXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.7%30.1%32.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 31.1%30.9%31.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.791.120.79 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.69-0.11-0.26 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.5%-43.6%-51.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.5%-10.2%-24.9% -1.2%
52-week high $362.17$267.71$766.68 $779.14
52-week low $240.63$214.24$504.70 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAITFERGIDXX
P/E now vs peer median 26.2xmedian 26.2x 23.1xmedian 26.2x 39.9xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.1x 1.5xmedian 1.1x 10.0xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.8xmedian 13.5x 15.6xmedian 13.5x 28.6xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 26.2xmedian 23.0x 20.6xmedian 23.0x 36.2xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 5.9xmedian 2.6x 7.9xmedian 2.6x 28.2xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median 3.62median 2.55 —median 2.55 2.64median 0.35

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAITFERGIDXX
Revenue $5.06B $31.35B $4.55B
Gross profit $1.54B $9.73B $2.84B
Operating income $564.03M $2.82B $1.46B
Net income $424.12M $2.03B $1.14B
Free cash flow $421.86M $2.26B $1.25B
R&D – – $261.47M
EPS (diluted) $11.41 $10.42 $14.37
Cash & equivalents – $820.00M $196.93M
Total debt $282.30M $4.13B $968.86M
Shares (diluted) 37.18M 194.80M 79.31M
Enterprise value $10.93B $43.90B $44.64B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAITFERGIDXX
P/E 26.2x 23.1x 39.9x
P/FCF 26.2x 20.6x 36.2x
P/Operating cash flow 24.5x 17.8x 33.1x
P/S 2.2x 1.5x 10.0x
P/B 5.9x 7.9x 28.2x
P/Tangible book 7.0x 8.9x 30.0x
EV/EBITDA 17.8x 15.6x 28.6x
EV/EBIT 19.9x 17.8x 31.7x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 1.6x 10.1x
EV/FCF 26.6x 22.1x 36.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.9x 19.1x 33.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.62 – 2.64

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAITFERGIDXX
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 5.2% 12.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.4% – 9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.3% 7.5% 14.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.6% – 10.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 9.7% 17.6% 16.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.0% – 11.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 5.6% 31.6% 15.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.3% – 12.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.7% 34.4% 18.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 7.2% – 15.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.8% 35.9% 51.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – 22.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -7.3% 42.8% 59.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% – 28.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAITFERGIDXX
Gross margin 30.4% 31.0% 62.4%
EBITDA margin 12.4% 10.2% 35.4%
Operating margin 11.2% 9.0% 32.0%
Pretax margin 11.0% 8.3% 31.3%
Net margin 8.4% 6.5% 25.0%
FCF margin 8.3% 7.2% 27.5%
Operating cash flow margin 8.9% 8.3% 30.1%
Return on equity 22.6% 34.0% 71.9%
Return on assets 14.2% 11.4% 33.4%
Return on invested capital 20.0% 21.7% 45.6%
Return on capital employed 22.9% 23.4% 68.6%
Asset turnover 1.7x 1.8x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 1.3x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 0.3% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAITFERGIDXX
Debt / assets 9.5% 23.2% 28.1%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.7x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.3x 1.0x 0.5x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 1.8x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 36.8% 67.0% 53.2%
Equity / assets 63.2% 33.0% 46.8%
Interest coverage – – 38.6x
Current ratio 2.9x 1.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.8x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 10.12 5.52 20.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAITFERGIDXX
Dividend yield 0.7% 1.5% –
Net buyback yield 3.1% 1.8% 2.3%
Shareholder yield 3.8% 3.3% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.4% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 17.5% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 10.6% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 11.1% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAITFERGIDXX
Forward P/E 23.6xFY2027 22.5xFY2026 36.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.83FY2027 $10.68FY2026 $15.63FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +17.2%FY2027 +7.4%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% +20.5% +12.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.91BFY2027 $34.30BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2027 +11.5%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% -0.7% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAITFERGIDXX
Held by institutions 94.4% 96.3% 93.6%
Institutions holding 618 938 1,290
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +2.1% +4.1%
Institutions buying 327 477 588
Institutions selling 207 344 496
Buyers to sellers 1.58 1.39 1.19

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AITFERGIDXX
AIT 1.00 0.54 0.19
FERG 0.54 1.00 0.34
IDXX 0.19 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AIT, FERG and IDXX?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) $11.04B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $46.68B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $45.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, AIT, FERG and IDXX?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 26.2x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 23.1x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 39.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) is cheapest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 23.6x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.5x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 36.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +8.5%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 8.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.0%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 20.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) returned the most: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +19.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -3.5%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -8.2%. Over five years, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) compounded fastest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) +25.4%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +9.7%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -2.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has the highest dividend yield: Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 0.66%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 1.48%. Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) has been the steadiest (Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) 27.7%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 30.1%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 32.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AIT, FERG and IDXX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.