OPTX vs WS vs IIIN Stock Comparison

Syntec Optics Holdings, Worthington Steel and Insteel Industries Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$35.90 -6.2% 1M +13.3% 1Y
Market cap
$1.84B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
1.78%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins
IIIN Insteel Industries Inc
$27.00 -10.5% 1M -15.7% 1Y
Market cap
$522.67M
P/E
17.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$739.51M
Div. yield
4.15%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Insteel Industries leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Insteel Industries 4, 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.

QuestionOPTXWSIIINLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $151.86M $1.84B $522.67M WS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -61.2x -46.9x 17.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 9.9x 13.2x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.5% +69.1% +14.2% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -8.3% -0.7% 4.0% IIIN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.2% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -11.7x 19.9x — OPTX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.78% 4.15% IIIN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +59.1% +13.3% -15.7% OPTX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — — -8.8%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 138.9% 48.9% 42.1% IIIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 30/100 35/100 56/100 IIIN

Percentile Scorecard

OPTXWSIIIN

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

AxisOPTXWSIIIN
Valuation 5 #193 of 204 63 #76 of 204 90 #21 of 204
Growth 5 #181 of 191 35 #125 of 191 31 #132 of 191
Profitability 16 #159 of 189 27 #138 of 189 45 #105 of 189
Financial Health 95 #12 of 221 10 #199 of 221 89 #25 of 221
Shareholder Returns – 41 #95 of 159 26 #118 of 159
Overall 30 35 56
  • OPTX ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 223 companies in Machinery
  • IIIN ranked among 223 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodOPTXWSIIINSPY
1 month -61.6%-6.2%-10.5% -5.9%
3 months -49.1%-3.1%-16.5% -4.6%
6 months -46.5%-11.2%-0.4% +0.2%
Year to date +31.8%+3.7%-14.7% +7.5%
1 year +59.1%+13.3%-15.7% +8.2%
3 years -52.5%—-10.4% +68.3%
3 years, per year -22.0%—-3.6% +19.0%
5 years ——-37.0% +56.5%
5 years, per year ——-8.8% +9.4%
10 years ——+1.8% +251.5%
10 years, per year ——+0.2% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureOPTXWSIIINSPY
Volatility, 1Y 138.9%48.9%42.1% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 120.4%52.9%52.0% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.591.711.05 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.430.27-0.37 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -93.0%-51.5%-49.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -73.3%-26.3%-29.2% -5.9%
52-week high $14.11$48.69$38.11 $779.14
52-week low $1.25$28.10$24.48 $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.

MultipleOPTXWSIIIN
P/E now vs peer median -61.2xmedian 23.4x -46.9xmedian 23.4x 17.8xmedian 23.4x
P/S now vs peer median 5.2xmedian 1.7x 0.3xmedian 1.7x 0.7xmedian 1.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 145.4xmedian 13.4x 38.6xmedian 13.4x 8.8xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -372.2xmedian 21.9x 39.4xmedian 21.9x 21.0xmedian 21.9x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 2.1x 1.1xmedian 2.1x 1.4xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 1.21median 1.02 1.44median 1.02 -5.99median 1.02

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 monthsOPTXWSIIIN
Revenue $29.24M $5.30B $739.51M
Gross profit $5.73M $549.30M $75.68M
Operating income -$1.35M $6.30M $37.57M
Net income -$2.41M -$56.50M $29.55M
Free cash flow -$407.99K $46.70M $24.84M
EPS (diluted) $-0.06 $-0.77 $1.51
Cash & equivalents $14.05M $248.20M $37.48M
Total debt $2.76M $2.20B –
Shares (diluted) 39.19M 50.00M 19.52M
Enterprise value $136.25M $1.93B $431.56M

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
MetricOPTXWSIIIN
P/E -61.2x -46.9x 17.8x
P/FCF -372.2x 39.4x 21.0x
P/Operating cash flow 216.3x 9.1x 14.3x
P/S 5.2x 0.3x 0.7x
P/B 5.0x 1.1x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 5.0x 1.2x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 145.4x 38.6x 8.8x
EV/EBIT -103.8x 601.1x 12.9x
EV/Revenue 4.8x 0.7x 0.7x
EV/FCF -344.5x 81.1x 19.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 200.2x 18.8x 13.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.21 1.44 -5.99

Growth

14 metrics
MetricOPTXWSIIIN
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.5% 69.1% 14.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 15.5% 4.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -14.9% 36.2% -19.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 13.4% 5.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -43.2% -95.9% -27.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -56.0% -65.2% 2.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -53.5% -144.9% -28.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -52.3% -34.5% -3.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -44.6% -132.7% -27.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -50.5% -32.5% -3.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -40.6% 18.9% 34.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -37.2% -10.4% -36.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -0.1% 50.2% 31.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -30.1% -41.1% -39.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricOPTXWSIIIN
Gross margin 19.6% 10.4% 10.2%
EBITDA margin 3.3% 1.8% 7.5%
Operating margin -4.6% 0.1% 5.1%
Pretax margin -6.8% -0.2% 5.2%
Net margin -8.3% -0.7% 4.0%
FCF margin -1.4% 0.9% 3.4%
Operating cash flow margin 2.4% 3.8% 5.0%
Return on equity -12.3% -4.0% 7.9%
Return on assets -7.7% -1.4% 6.2%
Return on invested capital – 0.2% –
Return on capital employed -5.2% 0.3% 9.4%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.3x 1.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.3x -3.6x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricOPTXWSIIIN
Debt / assets 7.1% 36.5% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA -11.7x 19.9x –
Debt / FCF -6.8x 47.0x –
Liabilities / assets 21.5% 72.8% 21.0%
Equity / assets 78.5% 27.2% 79.0%
Interest coverage – 0.5x 596.3x
Current ratio 6.0x 1.8x 3.7x
Quick ratio 4.3x 0.8x 1.6x
Cash ratio 2.8x 0.1x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 12.52 1.51 6.21

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricOPTXWSIIIN
Dividend yield – 1.8% 4.1%
Net buyback yield – – 0.6%
Shareholder yield – 1.8% 4.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -57.9% 73.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 70.0% 87.5%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 2.2% -0.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – -19.2%

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.

ConsensusOPTXWSIIIN
Forward P/E – 9.9xFY2026 13.2xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year – $3.61FY2026 $2.05FY2027
EPS growth, next FY – +61.9%FY2026 +35.8%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after – +34.9% +7.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $10.87BFY2026 $759.46MFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY – +216.1%FY2026 +2.7%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after – +5.7% +4.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersOPTXWSIIIN
Held by institutions 12.3% 56.3% 82.1%
Institutions holding 62 239 187
Change in shares held, QoQ +244.7% +1.2% +0.9%
Institutions buying 51 113 122
Institutions selling 8 68 48
Buyers to sellers 6.38 1.66 2.54

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.

OPTXWSIIIN
OPTX 1.00 0.20 0.22
WS 0.20 1.00 0.36
IIIN 0.22 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, OPTX, WS and IIIN?

Worthington Steel (WS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) $151.86M, Worthington Steel (WS) $1.84B, Insteel Industries (IIIN) $522.67M.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) +1.5%, Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) +14.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Insteel Industries (IIIN) has the highest net margin (Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) -8.3%, Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 4.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) returned the most: Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) +59.1%, Worthington Steel (WS) +13.3%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) -15.7%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Insteel Industries (IIIN) has the highest dividend yield: Worthington Steel (WS) 1.78%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 4.15%. Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Insteel Industries (IIIN) has been the steadiest (Syntec Optics Holdings (OPTX) 138.9%, Worthington Steel (WS) 48.9%, Insteel Industries (IIIN) 42.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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