IES vs Sterling Infrastructure
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The short version
- IES is the larger business, with $3.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.5B for Sterling Infrastructure.
- Sterling Infrastructure grew revenue faster (17.7%, against 16.9%).
- Sterling Infrastructure kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.3% operating margin, against 11.4%).
- Sterling Infrastructure turned more of its sales into free cash flow (14.6% FCF margin, against 6.5%).
- IES earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (50.5%, against 40.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Sterling Infrastructure’s earnings: a P/E of 25.6x against 9.5x for IES.
| Latest fiscal year | IESC · FY25 | STRL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.3B | $11.0B |
| Revenue | $3.4B | $2.5B |
| Free cash flow | $219M | $363M |
| Net income | $306M | $290M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 16.9% | 17.7% |
| 5-year growth | 23.1% | 15.2% |
| Share count change | −1.1% | −0.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 25.5% | 23.0% |
| Operating margin | 11.4% | 16.3% |
| Net margin | 9.1% | 11.7% |
| FCF margin | 6.5% | 14.6% |
| Return on capital | 50.5% | 40.8% |
| Return on equity | 40.9% | 30.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$224M | −$99.3M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.5x | −0.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $41.6M | $74.2M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 9.5x | 25.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
FY16
IESC $696M
STRL $690M
FY17
IESC $811M
STRL $958M
FY18
IESC $877M
STRL $1.0B
FY19
IESC $1.1B
STRL $1.1B
FY20
IESC $1.2B
STRL $1.2B
FY21
IESC $1.5B
STRL $1.4B
FY22
IESC $2.2B
STRL $1.8B
FY23
IESC $2.4B
STRL $2.0B
FY24
IESC $2.9B
STRL $2.1B
FY25
IESC $3.4B
STRL $2.5B
IESC
STRL
FY16
IESC 3.6%
STRL −0.7%
FY17
IESC 2.5%
STRL 2.7%
FY18
IESC 3.0%
STRL 4.1%
FY19
IESC 3.9%
STRL 3.4%
FY20
IESC 4.2%
STRL 7.6%
FY21
IESC 5.6%
STRL 7.6%
FY22
IESC 2.6%
STRL 9.0%
FY23
IESC 6.7%
STRL 10.4%
FY24
IESC 10.4%
STRL 12.5%
FY25
IESC 11.4%
STRL 16.3%
IESC
STRL
FY16
IESC $21.6M
STRL $33.4M
FY17
IESC $17.8M
STRL $15.4M
FY18
IESC $7.7M
STRL $26.3M
FY19
IESC $32.4M
STRL $26.7M
FY20
IESC $72.0M
STRL $90.0M
FY21
IESC $30.5M
STRL $112M
FY22
IESC −$13.0M
STRL $158M
FY23
IESC $136M
STRL $414M
FY24
IESC $189M
STRL $416M
FY25
IESC $219M
STRL $363M
IESC
STRL
FY16
IESC 17.6%
STRL −4.1%
FY17
IESC 6.4%
STRL 23.3%
FY18
IESC 5.6%
STRL 25.8%
FY19
IESC 15.5%
STRL 9.8%
FY20
IESC 18.0%
STRL 10.6%
FY21
IESC 23.2%
STRL 11.4%
FY22
IESC 10.7%
STRL 15.5%
FY23
IESC 29.6%
STRL 25.0%
FY24
IESC 52.7%
STRL 40.6%
FY25
IESC 50.5%
STRL 40.8%
IESC
STRL
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.