Top Industrial Stocks by UQS Score
1368 stocks scored · Last updated
Industrial companies build the physical backbone of the global economy — from factories and freight networks to power grids and water treatment. These are asset-heavy businesses where competitive advantage comes from scale, operational efficiency, and long-term customer relationships cemented by high switching costs. Margins are naturally thinner than tech or healthcare, but the best industrials compensate with remarkable capital discipline, predictable revenue streams from long-term contracts, and infrastructure positions that take decades to replicate. The companies ranked highest here combine operational excellence with fortress-like balance sheets.
Industrials Sector Characteristics
This grouping includes four GICS sectors: Industrials (aerospace & defense, machinery, transportation, construction), Basic Materials and Materials (chemicals, metals, mining, paper), and Utilities (electric, gas, water, renewable power). The common thread is physical assets and capital intensity — these companies require significant upfront investment in factories, equipment, or infrastructure before generating revenue. This creates natural barriers to entry (you can't casually build a competing power grid or rail network) but also means returns on capital are structurally lower than asset-light sectors. The UQS model uses the most conservative quality thresholds for this grouping (20% ROIC, 25% operating margin) to reflect this reality.
Industrials Sector Score Overview
Top Industrials Stocks: Who Leads and Why
Wise Group plc Class A Ordinary Shares leads the industrials sector with a 77 UQS score. Its quality score of 70 is exceptional for a capital-intensive business, indicating highly efficient use of its asset base.
Newmont Corporation scores 73 overall, with a risk score of 96 that reflects the kind of balance sheet conservatism that lets industrial companies invest through downturns while weaker competitors retrench.
Kinross Gold Corporation earns the third spot at 73, standing out with a growth score of 85 that's unusual for the industrials sector — suggesting organic expansion or market share gains that defy the typically mature growth profile.
DPM Metals Inc. scores 72 with a moat score of 27, reflecting infrastructure advantages and customer switching costs that are difficult for competitors to overcome.
Entergy New Orleans, LLC scores 70 with a moat score of 56, reflecting infrastructure advantages and customer switching costs that are difficult for competitors to overcome.
Full Industrials Ranking: Top 25 Stocks
| # | Stock | UQS | Q | M | G | R | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WSE | 77 | 70 | 50 | 98 | 100 | 80 |
| 2 | NEM | 73 | 77 | 32 | 84 | 96 | 95 |
| 3 | KGC | 73 | 84 | 20 | 85 | 99 | 100 |
| 4 | DPM.TO | 72 | 80 | 27 | 85 | 100 | 87 |
| 5 | ENJ | 70 | 76 | 56 | 75 | 50 | 100 |
| 6 | CMCL | 70 | 82 | 25 | 70 | 98 | 100 |
| 7 | MLI | 70 | 86 | 34 | 77 | 82 | 80 |
| 8 | ISSC | 70 | 86 | 38 | 94 | 73 | 61 |
| 9 | DRD | 70 | 71 | 24 | 82 | 100 | 98 |
| 10 | ESP | 70 | 77 | 37 | 87 | 76 | 82 |
| 11 | VRT | 69 | 87 | 42 | 100 | 71 | 42 |
| 12 | FIX | 69 | 83 | 41 | 100 | 83 | 36 |
| 13 | BNC | 68 | 98 | 10 | 70 | 83 | 100 |
| 14 | ORLA | 68 | 85 | 16 | 82 | 78 | 100 |
| 15 | PAAS | 68 | 71 | 20 | 85 | 99 | 92 |
| 16 | FSS | 68 | 77 | 37 | 89 | 85 | 61 |
| 17 | CDLR | 68 | 62 | 47 | 100 | 39 | 100 |
| 18 | TAYD | 68 | 78 | 37 | 73 | 82 | 81 |
| 19 | KNT.TO | 68 | 76 | 25 | 85 | 100 | 71 |
| 20 | YDDL | 68 | 78 | 15 | 84 | 92 | 93 |
| 21 | SBS | 68 | 89 | 62 | 48 | 39 | 97 |
| 22 | CF | 68 | 90 | 25 | 59 | 85 | 95 |
| 23 | ASR | 68 | 77 | 38 | 71 | 66 | 98 |
| 24 | TXG.TO | 67 | 80 | 24 | 81 | 85 | 82 |
| 25 | FSM | 67 | 78 | 20 | 64 | 100 | 100 |
Filter all 1368+ industrials stocks in the full directory
Browse All StocksFrequently Asked Questions About Industrials Stocks
Why are Utilities grouped with Industrials rather than as a separate sector?
Utilities share the core industrial characteristics: heavy capital investment, physical infrastructure, regulated or contracted revenue, and naturally thinner margins. While they could be scored separately, their financial profile is closest to the industrial category — conservative quality thresholds (20% ROIC, 25% operating margin) match utility economics well. Utilities typically score highest on risk (regulated revenue is predictable) and lowest on growth (mature service territories with limited expansion). For utility investors, the risk and valuation pillars provide the most actionable insights.
How does UQS evaluate capital-intensive businesses fairly?
The key is sector-calibrated thresholds. A tech company needs a 35% ROIC to score well on that metric, while an industrial company needs only 20%. This reflects the economic reality that deploying capital into physical assets generates lower but more durable returns than deploying it into software. The UQS model also weights free cash flow yield heavily in the quality pillar, which rewards industrial companies that convert earnings into actual cash despite high capex requirements.
What makes an industrial company score high on moat?
The strongest industrial moats come from switching costs and scale advantages. Once a company's equipment, software, or infrastructure is embedded in a customer's operations, replacing it is expensive and disruptive — this creates recurring revenue and pricing power. Scale moats matter especially for companies like rail operators, pipeline networks, and utilities where the physical infrastructure itself is the competitive advantage. The AI moat score evaluates these dimensions using both the company's competitive narrative and its financial metrics (margin stability, customer concentration, capex vs depreciation).