WOR vs WTS: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: WOR is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. WOR and WTS share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined WOR and WTS exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Worthington Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1955 as a value-added steel processor and spent most of its life as Worthington Industries. On December 1, 2023 it distributed its steel processing business to shareholders as a separate NYSE company, Worthington Steel (WS), renamed itself, and kept the WOR ticker. What stayed behind is two reportable segments. Building Products, about 62 percent of fiscal 2026 net sales at ~$861.5 million, makes pressurized containment products (LPG and refrigerant cylinders, well water and expansion tanks under Well-X-Trol, composite cylinders under Ragasco), HVAC ductwork and framing through Elgen, and standing-seam metal roof clips through LSI and Roof Hugger. Consumer Products, ~$519.8 million or 38 percent, sells handheld torches and fuel under Bernzomatic, helium balloon kits under Balloon Time, drywall and precision tools under Level5 and General, and grills and pizza ovens under Halo and a licensed Coleman brand, largely through mass retailers. Sitting outside all of that are the unconsolidated joint ventures accounted for on the equity method: WAVE, a 50 percent interest with Armstrong World Industries in ceiling suspension systems, and ClarkDietrich, a 25 percent interest in light gauge steel framing, plus smaller stakes in SES (49 percent, with Hexagon Composites) and Workhorse (20 percent). About 3,800 people work at the consolidated operations, which run 12 Building Products facilities and five Consumer Products facilities across the US, Norway and Portugal.

Full WOR guide

Watts Water Technologies supplies products that manage the flow of fluids and energy into, through, and out of buildings: backflow preventers, pressure regulators, temperature and pressure relief valves, thermostatic mixing valves, leak-detection systems, commercial washroom and hydration solutions, and increasingly smart, connected water controls. It sells across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific and Middle East and Africa, largely into the plumbing, HVAC, and building-safety channels, where much of the demand is non-discretionary repair, replacement, and code-driven installation.

Full WTS guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• WOR drivers: WAVE is the earnings engine and it never appears in revenue; ClarkDietrich is the swing factor, and management called it a trough.
• WTS drivers: Non-discretionary replacement and code demand; Data-center and smart-water tailwinds.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The most structural risk is that roughly two thirds of pretax earnings come from ventures Worthington does not control, at 50 percent and 25 percent ownership, so an operating decision, a distribution policy change or a partner dispute at WAVE or ClarkDietrich would move reported results without any change at the company's own plants. For WTS, watts is exposed to commercial and residential construction and renovation activity, so a downturn in building spend or higher-for-longer interest rates could pressure volumes.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick WOR if you believe its drivers more; WTS if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the WOR and WTS guides.

WOR. The ~$1.42 billion trailing revenue figure understates the economics, so a price-to-sales ratio computed from it (near 2.2x) is not a meaningful comparison to a fully consolidated manufacturer. WAVE and ClarkDietrich are equity-method investments, which means none of WAVE's ~$518.9 million or ClarkDietrich's ~$1,160.7 million of fiscal 2026 sales flows through Worthington's top line while their combined ~$134.6 million of attributed profit flows straight to pretax earnings. Using ~$3.18 billion of equity value plus ~$250 million of net debt, enterprise value of roughly ~$3.4 billion against ~$303 million of trailing adjusted EBITDA works out near 11x, though that EBITDA itself includes equity income the company collects as distributions rather than as operating cash. Five analysts cover the stock in Yahoo Finance's data, with an average target near $70.

WTS. Watts has beaten EPS estimates in each of the last four reported quarters, most recently with $3.66 against about $3.34 in the second quarter of 2026 on revenue up roughly 19%. The stock's ~27% rise this year has pushed the trailing P/E to about 31 and the forward multiple to about 25, against a sub-1 percent yield, so the shares are priced as a quality compounder rather than a value name. Third quarter results on November 4, 2026 carry a consensus of about $3.14 a share on ~$693 million of revenue.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): WOR shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.42 billion through August 31, 2026; fiscal 2026 (ended May 31) ~$1.38 billion, q1 fy2027 (reported september 22, 2026) net sales ~$344 million (+13%), adjusted EPS ~$0.82 vs ~$0.75 consensus, equity income from joint ventures (fy2026) ~$134.6 million, about two thirds of ~$201.3 million pretax earnings, profitability trailing adjusted EBITDA ~$303 million; trailing free cash flow a record ~$196 million; WTS shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.68B, q2 2026 revenue ~$763M (up ~19% YoY), q2 2026 eps ~$3.66 vs ~$3.34 expected, operating / profit margin ~21% / ~14%.

WOR and WTS are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined WOR and WTS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.