Applied Industrial Technologies vs MSC Industrial Direct
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The short version
- Applied Industrial Technologies is the larger business, with $5.0B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $4.0B for MSC Industrial Direct.
- Applied Industrial Technologies grew revenue faster (8.8%, against 6.4%).
- Applied Industrial Technologies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (11.1% operating margin, against 8.0%).
- Applied Industrial Technologies turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.3% FCF margin, against 5.6%).
- Applied Industrial Technologies earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (20.8%, against 13.2%).
| Latest fiscal year | AIT · FY26 | MSM · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $12.0B | $6.4B |
| Revenue | $5.0B | $4.0B |
| Free cash flow | $461M | $225M |
| Net income | $415M | $223M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.8% | 6.4% |
| 5-year growth | 9.0% | 4.3% |
| Share count change | −2.5% | 0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 30.3% | 40.9% |
| Operating margin | 11.1% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 8.4% | 5.6% |
| FCF margin | 9.3% | 5.6% |
| Return on capital | 20.8% | 13.2% |
| Return on equity | 22.4% | 15.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $135M | $412M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.2x | 1.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $390M | $208M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 8 |
FY17
AIT $2.6B
MSM $2.9B
FY18
AIT $3.1B
MSM $3.2B
FY19
AIT $3.5B
MSM $3.4B
FY20
AIT $3.2B
MSM $3.2B
FY21
AIT $3.2B
MSM $3.2B
FY22
AIT $3.8B
MSM $3.7B
FY23
AIT $4.4B
MSM $4.0B
FY24
AIT $4.5B
MSM $3.8B
FY25
AIT $4.6B
MSM $3.8B
FY26
AIT $5.0B
MSM $4.0B
AIT
MSM
FY17
AIT 6.8%
MSM 13.1%
FY18
AIT 7.4%
MSM 13.1%
FY19
AIT 6.7%
MSM 11.9%
FY20
AIT 2.7%
MSM 11.0%
FY21
AIT 6.4%
MSM 9.3%
FY22
AIT 9.4%
MSM 12.7%
FY23
AIT 10.7%
MSM 12.1%
FY24
AIT 11.1%
MSM 10.2%
FY25
AIT 10.9%
MSM 8.0%
FY26
AIT 11.1%
MSM 8.0%
AIT
MSM
FY17
AIT $148M
MSM $200M
FY18
AIT $124M
MSM $295M
FY19
AIT $162M
MSM $277M
FY20
AIT $277M
MSM $350M
FY21
AIT $226M
MSM $171M
FY22
AIT $169M
MSM $185M
FY23
AIT $317M
MSM $607M
FY24
AIT $347M
MSM $311M
FY25
AIT $465M
MSM $241M
FY26
AIT $461M
MSM $225M
AIT
MSM
FY17
AIT 15.1%
MSM 14.0%
FY18
AIT 11.8%
MSM 18.8%
FY19
AIT 10.0%
MSM 16.0%
FY20
AIT 2.7%
MSM 14.3%
FY21
AIT 11.2%
MSM 12.3%
FY22
AIT 17.7%
MSM 17.6%
FY23
AIT 21.5%
MSM 18.2%
FY24
AIT 21.6%
MSM 15.4%
FY25
AIT 20.3%
MSM 12.2%
FY26
AIT 20.8%
MSM 13.2%
AIT
MSM
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.