WS
Worthington Steel, Inc. (WS) Business Model Analysis (2026)
Overall Score
Revenue Model
Revenue remains tied to a low-margin wholesale distribution model, with TTM gross margin at 11.7% and price-to-sales at 0.56x.
Asset turnover is solid at 1.52x, indicating the business still generates meaningful sales from its asset base.
Profitability
TTM operating margin is 3.1% and net margin is 0.5%, showing profitability remains thin despite positive earnings.
Return on invested capital is only 0.7%, suggesting limited economic returns on capital deployed.
Capital Efficiency
Free cash flow yield is 6.1% and operating cash flow conversion remains acceptable, supporting moderate capital efficiency.
Cash conversion cycle is 51.8 days, reflecting working-capital needs but not a severe liquidity strain.
Balance Sheet
Current ratio is 1.46x and debt-to-equity is 0.33x, indicating a manageable near-term liquidity and leverage profile.
Net debt to EBITDA is 1.22x, which is reasonable for the current scale of the business.
Growth Scalability
The model shows limited scalability because margins remain low even with decent asset turnover.
High valuation multiples such as 108.5x earnings imply the market is pricing in stronger future growth than current fundamentals show.
Sources
- Company filings (10-K, 10-Q, investor presentations)
- Financial and market data providers
- Public news and industry information
🔒 Go Beyond This Framework
This is one of 10 institutional-grade frameworks Invetso runs on Worthington Steel, Inc.. Unlock the complete analysis — SWOT, Economic Moat, Porter’s Five Forces, Management, PESTLE and the Invetso Quality Score.

