HLP vs WS Stock Comparison

Hongli and Worthington Steel Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HLP Hongli Group Inc.
$3.50 +58.4% 1M +151.8% 1Y
Market cap
$270.99M
P/E
132.3x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
1 win
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.25 +16.7% 1M +34.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.13B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
0.02%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

3 decided of 12

Worthington Steel leads on 2 of the 12 questions below (Worthington Steel 2, Hongli 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHLPWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $270.99M $2.13B WS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 132.3x -55.6x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 11.1x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +69.1% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -0.7% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.2% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 19.9x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +151.8% +34.3% HLP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 118.8% 47.3% WS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 33/100 –

Percentile Scorecard

HLPWS

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

AxisHLPWS
Valuation 10 #183 of 203 59 #83 of 203
Growth – 32 #127 of 187
Profitability – 29 #131 of 185
Financial Health 55 #100 of 219 10 #197 of 219
Shareholder Returns – 34 #102 of 153
Overall – 33
  • HLP ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodHLPWSSPY
1 month +58.4%+16.7% -0.8%
3 months +207.0%+15.1% +3.5%
6 months +309.5%+12.0% +7.0%
Year to date +236.5%+22.0% +12.2%
1 year +151.8%+34.3% +13.0%
3 years +57.7%— +86.3%
3 years, per year +16.4%— +23.1%

Risk

MeasureHLPWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 118.8%47.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 130.9%49.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.061.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.280.72 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -91.9%-51.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.3%-13.2% -1.8%
52-week high $3.51$48.69 $779.14
52-week low $0.43$28.10 $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.

MultipleHLPWS
P/E now vs peer median 132.3xmedian 26.0x -55.2xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 13.1xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 42.0xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -585.6xmedian 21.4x 46.3xmedian 21.4x
P/B now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 2.2x 1.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.26 1.70median 1.26

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 monthsHLPWS
Revenue – $5.30B
Gross profit – $549.30M
Operating income – $6.30M
Net income – -$56.50M
Free cash flow – $46.70M
EPS (diluted) – $-0.77
Cash & equivalents $1.81M $248.20M
Total debt $47.35M $2.20B
Shares (diluted) 73.44M 50.00M
Enterprise value $266.41M $1.62B

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
MetricHLPWS
P/E 132.3x -55.2x
P/FCF -585.6x 46.3x
P/Operating cash flow – 10.7x
P/S 13.1x 0.4x
P/B 4.4x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 4.8x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA – 42.0x
EV/EBIT – 652.7x
EV/Revenue – 0.8x
EV/FCF – 88.1x
EV/Operating cash flow – 20.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.70

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHLPWS
Revenue growth (1Y) – 69.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 15.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 36.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 13.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -95.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -65.2%
Net income growth (1Y) – -144.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -34.5%
EPS growth (1Y) – -132.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -32.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -10.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 50.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -41.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHLPWS
Gross margin – 10.4%
EBITDA margin – 1.8%
Operating margin – 0.1%
Pretax margin – -0.2%
Net margin – -0.7%
FCF margin – 0.9%
Operating cash flow margin – 3.8%
Return on equity – -4.0%
Return on assets – -1.4%
Return on invested capital – 0.2%
Return on capital employed – 0.3%
Asset turnover – 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -3.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHLPWS
Debt / assets 16.0% 36.5%
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 19.9x
Debt / FCF – 47.0x
Liabilities / assets 19.9% 72.8%
Equity / assets 80.1% 27.2%
Interest coverage – 0.5x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 1.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHLPWS
Dividend yield – 1.5%
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield – 1.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -57.9%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 70.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 2.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

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.

ConsensusHLPWS
Forward P/E – 11.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $3.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +71.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +30.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $10.90BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +217.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +2.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHLPWS
Held by institutions – 56.3%
Institutions holding – 238
Change in shares held, QoQ – +1.2%
Institutions buying – 112
Institutions selling – 68
Buyers to sellers – 1.65

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.

HLPWS
HLP 1.00 0.07
WS 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HLP and WS?

Worthington Steel (WS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hongli (HLP) $270.99M, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.13B.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hongli (HLP) returned the most: Hongli (HLP) +151.8%, Worthington Steel (WS) +34.3%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Hongli (HLP) 0.00%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.02%. Hongli (HLP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Worthington Steel (WS) has been the steadiest (Hongli (HLP) 118.8%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do HLP and WS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.07, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, HLP and WS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Worthington Steel (WS) leads on 2. 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.