Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc.
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
AIT delivered strong FY2026 results (year ended 30 Jun) with 8.8% revenue growth, EPS of $10.95, and $460.5M in free cash flow, but the stock's rally to $343.45 has stretched EV/EBITDA to 23.4x — a 57% premium to the peer median of 14.9x.
Despite accelerating quarterly revenue (Q4 up 10.5% YoY) and consistent earnings beats, persistent insider net selling of approximately $33.6M over 24 months and neutral smart money positioning at -0.00 as of June 2026 suggest the fundamental improvement is already well-priced. Hold while awaiting a better entry point or evidence the premium can be sustained.
What could go wrong
- Valuation compression. EV/EBITDA at 23.4x carries a 57% premium to the peer median of 14.9x; any growth deceleration could trigger mean reversion.
- Persistent insider selling. Net insider dispositions of approximately $33.6M over 24 months with continued August 2026 sales by the CFO and other insiders, and no cluster buying.
- FCF margin erosion. FCF margin declined to 9.3% in FY2026 from 10.2% in FY2025 despite revenue growth, signaling rising working capital or cost pressures.
- Cyclical industrial demand. As an industrial distributor, AIT is exposed to manufacturing cycles; a downturn in factory automation or fluid power end-markets could pressure both volume and margins.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: FY26 fundamentals · peer comparison · insider trades · 13F holdings. Orin's read on AIT; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Up 14.5% over twelve months, from $260.00 on 27 Oct 2025 to $297.58 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $361.95 on 14 Aug 2026; the last close is 17.8% below it.
- Green line: the closing price each trading day.
- Grey line: the average closing price over the last 50 trading days.
- Dashed amber line: the same over the last 200 trading days — a slower, smoother line.
- Bars along the bottom: shares traded each day — green when it closed higher than the day before, rose when lower (the most, 1.2M, on 19 Dec 2025).
- Flags: the company's filings, on the day they were made (a 10-Q is the quarterly report and a 10-K the annual report; an 8-K reports a major event).
On file
All AIT filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $1.3B | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $714.0M | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $563.7M | 0.0% |
| AQR Capital Management | $451.6M | 0.2% |
| State Street | $414.5M | 0.0% |
| Geode Capital Management | $317.7M | 0.0% |
| Wellington Management Group | $213.6M | 0.0% |
| Norges Bank | $196.0M | 0.0% |
| FMR | $194.2M | 0.0% |
| Two Sigma Investments | $175.5M | 0.1% |
86 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 125 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net −$32.8M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 7 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about AIT
Orin answers questions about AIT from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →How is it priced, against its own past and its sector?
Priced at 26.0× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close) — higher than in 4 of its last 5 fiscal years (middle 19.1×); the typical Industrials company on the NYSE is at 33.7×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 26.0×above usual | 19.1× | 33.7× |
| P/S | 2.16×above usual | 1.64× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.6×above usual | 13.4× | — |
| P/B | 5.8×above usual | 4.4× | — |
- "Its usual" is the middle of its own last 5 fiscal years.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
P/S: the company's total market value divided by one year of revenue. Used when there is no profit to measure.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
P/B: the share price divided by the book value per share — what the company owns minus what it owes, as its accounts record it. When book value is tiny, P/B swings wildly and says little.
What do the analysts who cover it publish?
The analysts' average 12-month price target is $400 (from $390 to $420) — 34% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$400
$390 – $420 · +34% against the last close
- 6 buy or overweight
- 1 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
Price target: the share price an analyst publishes for about 12 months ahead. It is the opinion of the firm that wrote it; the average is across the firms that cover the company.
Overweight / underweight: analysts' rating words: overweight means the firm expects the stock to do better than the others it covers, underweight worse. Their words, not Orin's.
How is it priced next to the companies it is compared to?
Priced at 26.0× its last 12 months of profit; the middle P/E of the 5 companies it is compared to that made a profit is 29.7×.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AITApplied Industrial Technologies, Inc. | $11B | 26.0× | 17.6× | 30.4% | 8.4% | 23% |
| DNOWDnow Inc. | $2B | lost money | n/m | 16.1% | −3.9% | −9% |
| FASTFastenal Company | $59B | 41.6× | 29.0× | 44.6% | 15.6% | 35% |
| GWWW.W. Grainger, Inc. | $68B | 31.8× | 21.0× | 39.4% | 11.2% | 54% |
| MSMMSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. | $7B | 29.7× | 17.0× | 40.9% | 5.6% | 16% |
| WCCWESCO International, Inc. | $17B | 23.1× | 14.1× | 21.4% | 2.8% | 14% |
| WSOWatsco, Inc. | $13B | 26.5× | 17.0× | 27.2% | 6.3% | 16% |
- DNOW: lost money over the last 12 months, so no P/E.
- DNOW: EV/EBITDA is not meaningful (n/m) — its cash exceeds its market value plus debt, or the business lost money before depreciation.
- The list of companies is the data vendor's choice, so it can include a company a person would not have picked.
Market value: the share price times the number of shares — what the whole company is priced at.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
Gross margin: the share of each $1 of sales left after the direct cost of making what was sold.
Net margin: the share of each $1 of sales kept as profit after every cost. Below zero, the company lost money.
ROE: return on equity: one year of profit as a share of the shareholders' money in the business (its book value).
Is it priced high or low compared with its own past?
Priced at 26.0× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now26.0×
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
Fiscal year (FY): the company's own 12-month accounting year, which need not match the calendar year.
How has its sector been priced?
Industrials companies on the NYSE were priced at a typical 33.7× their yearly profit (Tue 27 Oct close).
- Now33.7×
- Each year is the middle of that calendar year's daily sector P/E; "Now" is the Tue 27 Oct close figure, the same one in the table above.
Sector P/E: the middle P/E of the companies in the same sector on the same stock exchange, as the data vendor works it out each day.
What does a cash-flow model say a share is worth?
A standard cash-flow model puts it at $252 a share — 15% below the $297.31 price it was computed against (27 Oct).
| Model | Value a share | Against the price then |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $252 | 15% below $297.31 |
| Levered | $386 | 30% above $297.31 |
Discounted cash flow: a model's estimate of what the company is worth today, from the cash it is forecast to make in future years. Small changes in the forecast move it a lot, and it says little about a company that loses money.
Standard / levered: two versions of the cash-flow model: the standard one counts the cash before the company pays its lenders, the levered one after.