IIIN vs MLI vs OPTX Stock Comparison

Insteel Industries, Mueller Industries and Syntec Optics Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IIIN Insteel Industries Inc
$28.36 -3.8% 1M -7.4% 1Y
Market cap
$547.57M
P/E
18.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$739.51M
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
1 win
MLI Mueller Industries Inc
$54.90 -9.3% 1M -47.1% 1Y
Market cap
$11.86B
P/E
13.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.00B
Div. yield
0.01%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Mueller Industries leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Mueller Industries 7, Syntec Optics Holdings 2, Insteel Industries 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIIINMLIOPTXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $547.57M $11.86B $278.65M MLI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.5x 13.7x -115.4x MLI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.8x 13.6x — MLI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.2% +20.8% +1.5% MLI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 17.3% -8.3% MLI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 22.7% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -1.3x -11.7x OPTX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -7.4% -47.1% +177.9% OPTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.9%/yr +15.8%/yr — MLI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.4% 131.8% 136.5% IIIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 86/100 31/100 MLI

Percentile Scorecard

IIINMLIOPTX

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

AxisIIINMLIOPTX
Valuation 84 #34 of 203 83 #35 of 203 5 #192 of 203
Growth 32 #129 of 188 66 #65 of 188 6 #176 of 188
Profitability 63 #68 of 183 97 #7 of 183 18 #151 of 183
Financial Health – 97 #7 of 217 94 #13 of 217
Shareholder Returns 95 #9 of 153 85 #24 of 153 –
Overall 68 86 31
  • IIIN ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • MLI ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • OPTX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIIINMLIOPTXSPY
1 month -3.8%-9.3%-5.0% -0.2%
3 months -13.0%-17.4%+10.2% +3.9%
6 months +12.1%-59.5%-14.3% +8.2%
Year to date -10.5%-52.2%+145.8% +12.9%
1 year -7.4%-47.1%+177.9% +12.3%
3 years +5.1%+45.2%-33.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +1.7%+13.2%-12.5% +23.3%
5 years -29.9%+108.3%— +67.9%
5 years, per year -6.9%+15.8%— +10.9%
10 years +8.6%+269.0%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +0.8%+13.9%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureIIINMLIOPTXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.4%131.8%136.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.3%165.1%114.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.980.703.58 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.18-0.361.30 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.9%-61.6%-93.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -25.6%-61.0%-50.2% -1.2%
52-week high $38.11$140.83$14.11 $779.14
52-week low $24.48$54.11$1.25 $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.

MultipleIIINMLIOPTX
P/E now vs peer median 18.7xmedian 25.2x 13.8xmedian 25.2x -114.1xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.9x 2.4xmedian 1.9x 9.7xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 9.3xmedian 14.0x 281.3xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -58.5xmedian 21.7x 17.4xmedian 21.7x -694.0xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 2.3x 3.4xmedian 2.3x 9.3xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -6.39median 1.32 1.08median 1.32 2.26median 1.32

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 monthsIIINMLIOPTX
Revenue $739.51M $5.00B $29.24M
Gross profit $75.68M $1.36B $5.73M
Operating income – $1.08B -$1.35M
Net income $29.55M $871.57M -$2.41M
Free cash flow – $689.59M -$407.99K
EPS (diluted) $1.52 $3.92 $-0.06
Cash & equivalents $37.48M $1.45B $14.05M
Total debt – $5.24M $29.94M
Shares (diluted) 19.49M 220.12M 39.19M
Enterprise value $547.57M $6.17B $263.05M

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
MetricIIINMLIOPTX
P/E 18.7x 13.8x -114.1x
P/FCF -58.5x 17.4x -694.0x
P/Operating cash flow 15.1x 15.5x 403.4x
P/S 0.7x 2.4x 9.7x
P/B 1.4x 3.4x 9.3x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 3.7x 9.3x
EV/EBITDA – 9.3x 281.3x
EV/EBIT – 9.8x -200.7x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 2.1x 9.3x
EV/FCF – 15.2x -666.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.1x 13.6x 387.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -6.39 1.08 2.26

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIIINMLIOPTX
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.2% 20.8% 1.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 11.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -19.0% 11.7% -14.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 9.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 12.4% -43.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 9.9% -56.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -28.0% 14.9% -53.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.0% 11.4% -52.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -27.7% 16.2% -44.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -2.9% 12.8% -50.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 33.5% 2.1% -40.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -36.6% 3.0% -37.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 1.9% -0.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 1.6% -30.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIIINMLIOPTX
Gross margin – 27.3% 19.6%
EBITDA margin – 22.5% 3.3%
Operating margin – 21.5% -4.6%
Pretax margin – 22.8% -6.8%
Net margin – 17.3% -8.3%
FCF margin – 13.8% -1.4%
Operating cash flow margin 4.9% 15.4% 2.4%
Return on equity 7.9% 24.5% -12.3%
Return on assets 6.2% 20.4% -7.7%
Return on invested capital – 22.7% –
Return on capital employed – 29.7% -5.2%
Asset turnover 1.5x 1.2x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 0.9x -0.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIIINMLIOPTX
Debt / assets – 0.1% 7.1%
Debt / equity – 0.0x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – -1.3x -11.7x
Debt / FCF – 0.0x -6.8x
Liabilities / assets – 17.6% 21.5%
Equity / assets 79.0% 82.4% 78.5%
Interest coverage – 3,260x –
Current ratio 3.7x 4.4x 6.0x
Quick ratio – 3.4x 4.3x
Cash ratio – 2.3x 2.8x
Altman Z-score – 13.54 21.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIIINMLIOPTX
Dividend yield 3.9% 1.2% –
Net buyback yield – 2.3% –
Shareholder yield 3.9% 3.5% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 16.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 20.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 35.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 30.2% –

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.

ConsensusIIINMLIOPTX
Forward P/E 13.8xFY2027 13.6xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $2.05FY2027 $4.03FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +35.8%FY2027 +17.5%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% +10.2% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $759.46MFY2027 $5.04BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY +2.7%FY2027 +20.5%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +4.4% +10.9% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIIINMLIOPTX
Held by institutions 82.1% 95.3% 12.3%
Institutions holding 187 738 62
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.9% +6.5% +244.7%
Institutions buying 122 419 51
Institutions selling 48 226 8
Buyers to sellers 2.54 1.85 6.38

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.

IIINMLIOPTX
IIIN 1.00 0.07 0.21
MLI 0.07 1.00 0.11
OPTX 0.21 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IIIN, MLI and OPTX?

Mueller Industries (MLI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Insteel Industries (IIIN) $547.57M, Mueller Industries (MLI) $11.86B, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) $278.65M.

Which stock is cheaper, IIIN, MLI and OPTX?

Mueller Industries (MLI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Insteel Industries (IIIN) 18.5x, Mueller Industries (MLI) 13.7x, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) -115.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Mueller Industries (MLI) is cheapest (Insteel Industries (IIIN) 13.8x, Mueller Industries (MLI) 13.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mueller Industries (MLI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Insteel Industries (IIIN) +14.2%, Mueller Industries (MLI) +20.8%, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) +1.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mueller Industries (MLI) has the highest net margin (Mueller Industries (MLI) 17.3%, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) -8.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) returned the most: Insteel Industries (IIIN) -7.4%, Mueller Industries (MLI) -47.1%, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) +177.9%. Over five years, Mueller Industries (MLI) compounded fastest (Insteel Industries (IIIN) -6.9%/yr, Mueller Industries (MLI) +15.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Insteel Industries (IIIN) 0.00%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 0.01%, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) 0.00%. Insteel Industries (IIIN) and Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Insteel Industries (IIIN) has been the steadiest (Insteel Industries (IIIN) 41.4%, Mueller Industries (MLI) 131.8%, Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) 136.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IIIN, MLI and OPTX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mueller Industries (MLI) leads on 7. 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.