OPTX vs AZZ vs WS Stock Comparison

Syntec Optics Holdings, Azz and Worthington Steel Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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AZZ Azz Inc
$137.17 +0.1% 1M +38.9% 1Y
Market cap
$4.10B
P/E
24.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.75B
Div. yield
0.64%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
5 wins
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.74 +18.0% 1M +36.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.19B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
1.50%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Azz leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Azz 5, Worthington Steel 3, Syntec Optics Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionOPTXAZZWSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $283.17M $4.10B $2.19B AZZ
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -114.1x 24.6x -55.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 18.6x 11.2x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.5% +9.5% +69.1% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -8.3% 9.6% -0.7% AZZ
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 11.4% 0.2% AZZ
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -11.7x 1.2x 19.9x OPTX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.64% 1.50% WS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +177.9% +38.9% +36.0% OPTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +20.9%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 136.5% 32.1% 47.2% AZZ
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 31/100 57/100 33/100 AZZ

Percentile Scorecard

OPTXAZZWS

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

AxisOPTXAZZWS
Valuation 5 #192 of 203 73 #55 of 203 59 #83 of 203
Growth 6 #176 of 188 62 #72 of 188 32 #128 of 188
Profitability 18 #151 of 183 72 #52 of 183 29 #130 of 183
Financial Health 94 #13 of 217 56 #97 of 217 10 #196 of 217
Shareholder Returns – 24 #117 of 153 34 #101 of 153
Overall 31 57 33
  • OPTX ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • AZZ 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

PeriodOPTXAZZWSSPY
1 month -5.0%+0.1%+18.0% -0.2%
3 months +10.2%-6.3%+12.1% +3.9%
6 months -14.3%-3.1%+13.5% +8.2%
Year to date +145.8%+28.0%+23.5% +12.9%
1 year +177.9%+38.9%+36.0% +12.3%
3 years -33.0%+195.2%— +87.4%
3 years, per year -12.5%+43.5%— +23.3%
5 years —+158.7%— +67.9%
5 years, per year —+20.9%— +10.9%
10 years —+158.1%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+9.9%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureOPTXAZZWSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 136.5%32.1%47.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 114.0%30.2%49.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.581.181.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.301.210.76 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -93.0%-46.8%-51.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -50.2%-14.4%-12.2% -1.2%
52-week high $14.11$160.17$48.69 $779.14
52-week low $1.25$97.64$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.

MultipleOPTXAZZWS
P/E now vs peer median -114.1xmedian 25.2x 24.6xmedian 25.2x -55.8xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 9.7xmedian 1.9x 2.4xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 281.3xmedian 14.0x 12.0xmedian 14.0x 42.2xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -694.0xmedian 21.7x 19.1xmedian 21.7x 46.9xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 9.3xmedian 2.3x 2.9xmedian 2.3x 1.3xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.26median 1.32 0.28median 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 monthsOPTXAZZWS
Revenue $29.24M $1.75B $5.30B
Gross profit $5.73M $423.83M $549.30M
Operating income -$1.35M $287.42M $6.30M
Net income -$2.41M $167.46M -$56.50M
Free cash flow -$407.99K $214.45M $46.70M
EPS (diluted) $-0.06 $5.56 $-0.77
Cash & equivalents $14.05M $1.95M $248.20M
Total debt $29.94M $468.47M $2.20B
Shares (diluted) 39.19M 30.12M 50.00M
Enterprise value $267.57M $4.10B $2.28B

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
MetricOPTXAZZWS
P/E -114.1x 24.6x -55.8x
P/FCF -694.0x 19.1x 46.9x
P/Operating cash flow 403.4x 14.0x 10.9x
P/S 9.7x 2.4x 0.4x
P/B 9.3x 2.9x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 9.3x 4.1x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 281.3x 12.0x 42.2x
EV/EBIT -200.7x 15.9x 656.7x
EV/Revenue 9.3x 2.6x 0.8x
EV/FCF -666.4x 21.3x 88.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 387.3x 15.6x 20.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.26 0.28 1.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricOPTXAZZWS
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.5% 9.5% 69.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 5.2% 15.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -14.9% 11.0% 36.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 8.9% 13.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -43.2% 21.3% -95.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -56.0% 11.4% -65.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -53.5% -46.7% -144.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -52.3% 99.0% -34.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -44.6% -46.5% -132.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -50.5% 87.1% -32.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -40.6% -42.0% 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -37.2% 20.3% -10.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -0.1% -47.3% 50.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -30.1% 35.3% -41.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricOPTXAZZWS
Gross margin 19.6% 24.3% 10.4%
EBITDA margin 3.3% 21.8% 1.8%
Operating margin -4.6% 16.5% 0.1%
Pretax margin -6.8% 12.9% -0.2%
Net margin -8.3% 9.6% -0.7%
FCF margin -1.4% 12.3% 0.9%
Operating cash flow margin 2.4% 16.7% 3.8%
Return on equity -12.3% 12.0% -4.0%
Return on assets -7.7% 7.3% -1.4%
Return on invested capital – 11.4% 0.2%
Return on capital employed -5.2% 14.1% 0.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.8x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.3x 1.7x -3.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricOPTXAZZWS
Debt / assets 7.1% 20.0% 36.5%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.3x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -11.7x 1.2x 19.9x
Debt / FCF -6.8x 2.2x 47.0x
Liabilities / assets 21.5% 39.5% 72.8%
Equity / assets 78.5% 60.5% 27.2%
Interest coverage – 6.3x 0.5x
Current ratio 6.0x 1.8x 1.8x
Quick ratio 4.3x 0.8x 0.8x
Cash ratio 2.8x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 21.94 4.51 1.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricOPTXAZZWS
Dividend yield – 0.6% 1.5%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield – 0.6% 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.

ConsensusOPTXAZZWS
Forward P/E – 18.6xFY2026 11.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $7.37FY2026 $3.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +19.1%FY2026 +71.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +12.1% +30.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $1.97BFY2026 $10.90BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +19.4%FY2026 +217.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -8.1% +2.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersOPTXAZZWS
Held by institutions 12.3% 94.6% 56.3%
Institutions holding 62 364 238
Change in shares held, QoQ +244.7% +1.1% +1.2%
Institutions buying 51 196 112
Institutions selling 8 119 68
Buyers to sellers 6.38 1.65 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.

OPTXAZZWS
OPTX 1.00 0.28 0.18
AZZ 0.28 1.00 0.46
WS 0.18 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, OPTX, AZZ and WS?

Azz (AZZ) is the largest by market capitalisation: Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) $283.17M, Azz (AZZ) $4.10B, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.19B.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) +1.5%, Azz (AZZ) +9.5%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Azz (AZZ) has the highest net margin (Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) -8.3%, Azz (AZZ) 9.6%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%). On return on invested capital, Azz (AZZ) leads (Azz (AZZ) 11.4%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) returned the most: Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) +177.9%, Azz (AZZ) +38.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) +36.0%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Worthington Steel (WS) has the highest dividend yield: Azz (AZZ) 0.64%, Worthington Steel (WS) 1.50%. Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Azz (AZZ) has been the steadiest (Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) 136.5%, Azz (AZZ) 32.1%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, OPTX, AZZ 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, Azz (AZZ) leads on 5. 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.