Reliance (NYSE:RS – Get Free Report) and QXO (NYSE:QXO – Get Free Report) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Reliance and QXO, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Reliance | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2.11 |
| QXO | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 2.88 |
Reliance presently has a consensus target price of $378.67, suggesting a potential downside of 6.96%. QXO has a consensus target price of $29.71, suggesting a potential upside of 122.76%. Given QXO’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe QXO is more favorable than Reliance.
Volatility & Risk
Insider & Institutional Ownership
79.3% of Reliance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.7% of QXO shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Reliance shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 41.0% of QXO shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Reliance and QXO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Reliance | 5.65% | 12.51% | 8.47% |
| QXO | -6.02% | 1.91% | 1.02% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Reliance and QXO”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Reliance | $15.81 billion | 1.31 | $739.40 million | $17.20 | 23.66 |
| QXO | $6.84 billion | 2.02 | -$279.40 million | ($0.91) | -14.66 |
Reliance has higher revenue and earnings than QXO. QXO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Reliance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Reliance beats QXO on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Reliance
Reliance, Inc. operates as a diversified metal solutions provider and the metals service center company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company distributes a line of approximately 100,000 metal products, including alloy, aluminum, brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and specialty steel products; and provides metals processing services to general manufacturing, non-residential construction, transportation, aerospace, energy, electronics and semiconductor fabrication, and heavy industries. It sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers, which primarily include small machine shops and fabricators. The company was formerly known as Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. and changed its name to Reliance, Inc. in February 2024. Reliance, Inc. was founded in 1939 and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
About QXO
QXO, Inc. operates as a business application, technology, and consulting company in North America. The company provides solutions for accounting and business management, financial reporting, enterprise resource planning, human capital management, warehouse management systems, customer relationship management, and business intelligence. It also offers value-added services that focuses on consulting and professional, specialized programming, training, and technical support services. In addition, the company provides information technology managed services, such as cybersecurity, application hosting, disaster recovery, business continuity, cloud, and other services; and data back-up, network maintenance, and upgrade services. It serves small and medium-sized businesses primarily in the manufacturing, distribution, and service industries. QXO, Inc. is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.
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