IIIN vs WS Stock Comparison

Insteel Industries and Worthington Steel Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IIIN Insteel Industries Inc
$28.36 -3.8% 1M -7.4% 1Y
Market cap
$549.23M
P/E
18.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$739.51M
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
2 wins
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.74 +18.0% 1M +36.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.10B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
0.02%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

6 decided of 12

Worthington Steel leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Worthington Steel 4, Insteel Industries 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIIINWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $549.23M $2.10B WS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.6x -54.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.8x 11.2x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.2% +69.1% WS
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 -7.4% +36.0% WS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.9%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.4% 47.2% IIIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 33/100 IIIN

Percentile Scorecard

IIINWS

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

AxisIIINWS
Valuation 84 #34 of 203 59 #83 of 203
Growth 32 #129 of 188 32 #128 of 188
Profitability 63 #68 of 183 29 #130 of 183
Financial Health – 10 #196 of 217
Shareholder Returns 95 #9 of 153 34 #101 of 153
Overall 68 33
  • IIIN 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

PeriodIIINWSSPY
1 month -3.8%+18.0% -0.2%
3 months -13.0%+12.1% +3.9%
6 months +12.1%+13.5% +8.2%
Year to date -10.5%+23.5% +12.9%
1 year -7.4%+36.0% +12.3%
3 years +5.1%— +87.4%
3 years, per year +1.7%— +23.3%
5 years -29.9%— +67.9%
5 years, per year -6.9%— +10.9%
10 years +8.6%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +0.8%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureIIINWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.4%47.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.3%49.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.981.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.180.76 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.9%-51.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -25.6%-12.2% -1.2%
52-week high $38.11$48.69 $779.14
52-week low $24.48$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.

MultipleIIINWS
P/E now vs peer median 18.7xmedian 25.2x -55.8xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 42.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -58.5xmedian 21.7x 46.9xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 2.3x 1.3xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -6.39median 1.32 1.72median 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 monthsIIINWS
Revenue $739.51M $5.30B
Gross profit $75.68M $549.30M
Operating income – $6.30M
Net income $29.55M -$56.50M
Free cash flow – $46.70M
EPS (diluted) $1.52 $-0.77
Cash & equivalents $37.48M $248.20M
Total debt – $2.20B
Shares (diluted) 19.49M 50.00M
Enterprise value $549.23M $1.59B

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
MetricIIINWS
P/E 18.7x -55.8x
P/FCF -58.5x 46.9x
P/Operating cash flow 15.1x 10.9x
P/S 0.7x 0.4x
P/B 1.4x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA – 42.2x
EV/EBIT – 656.7x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 0.8x
EV/FCF – 88.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.1x 20.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -6.39 1.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIIINWS
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.2% 69.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 15.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -19.0% 36.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 13.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -95.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -65.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -28.0% -144.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.0% -34.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -27.7% -132.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -2.9% -32.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 33.5% 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -36.6% -10.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 50.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -41.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIIINWS
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 4.9% 3.8%
Return on equity 7.9% -4.0%
Return on assets 6.2% -1.4%
Return on invested capital – 0.2%
Return on capital employed – 0.3%
Asset turnover 1.5x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x -3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIIINWS
Debt / assets – 36.5%
Debt / equity – 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 19.9x
Debt / FCF – 47.0x
Liabilities / assets – 72.8%
Equity / assets 79.0% 27.2%
Interest coverage – 0.5x
Current ratio 3.7x 1.8x
Quick ratio – 0.8x
Cash ratio – 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 1.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIIINWS
Dividend yield 3.9% 1.5%
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield 3.9% 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.

ConsensusIIINWS
Forward P/E 13.8xFY2027 11.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.05FY2027 $3.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.8%FY2027 +71.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.8% +30.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $759.46MFY2027 $10.90BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.7%FY2027 +217.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.4% +2.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIIINWS
Held by institutions 82.1% 56.3%
Institutions holding 187 238
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.9% +1.2%
Institutions buying 122 112
Institutions selling 48 68
Buyers to sellers 2.54 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.

IIINWS
IIIN 1.00 0.33
WS 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IIIN and WS?

Worthington Steel (WS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Insteel Industries (IIIN) $549.23M, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.10B.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Insteel Industries (IIIN) +14.2%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Worthington Steel (WS) returned the most: Insteel Industries (IIIN) -7.4%, Worthington Steel (WS) +36.0%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Insteel Industries (IIIN) 0.00%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.02%. Insteel Industries (IIIN) 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%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do IIIN and WS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.33, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, IIIN 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 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.