Willis Lease Finance's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Willis Lease Finance (WLFC) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Willis Lease Finance vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 828M vs -M combined for its competitors (100.0% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+19.0% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
- Peer revenue share: Willis Lease Finance accounted for 100.0% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, up from 100.0% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $5.83M compares with $2.26M for the peer group (2.6x).
- Structure: Willis Lease Finance operates in the following segments: Leasing and Related Operations, Spare Parts Sales.
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
WLFC Sales vs. its Competitors, Q3 2026
Willis Lease Finance generated 100.00 % of the combined sales of its peer group, up from 100.00 % a year earlier.
API endpoints for this dataset
For context: the Construction & Mining Machinery industry grew revenue 15.3% year over year, combined, vs 34.3% for Willis Lease Finance. Willis Lease Finance's share of combined industry revenue moved from 0.36% to 0.42%, a gain of 0.06 percentage points.
Willis Lease Finance's Competitor Quality Breadth
Group definitions: see Methodology: Performance Group Definitions.
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Competitors combined (1) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (2) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 87.50 % (7 of 8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 87.50 % (7 of 8) | 12.50 % (1 of 8) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
WLFC Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
WLFC Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
WLFC Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aercap Holdings n v | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Willis Lease Finance's best-performing competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Publicly Traded Peers of Willis Lease Finance Corp
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
 Willis Lease Finance Corp |
1,028.16 | 828.30 |
 Aercap Holdings n v |
29,876.26 | 8,516.67 |
| SUBTOTAL | 30,904.41 | 9,344.97 |
Sources: see Methodology: Peer & Competitor Identification, Sourcing.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Willis Lease Finance Corp versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Willis Lease Finance's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from Willis Lease Finance reports and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Aersale Corporation | Company report | 85% |
| Willis Asset Management | Company report | 85% |
| Hanover Insurance Group Inc | Company report | 85% |
| Aercap Holdings n v | Company report | 85% |
Company report basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Willis Lease Finance's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: see Methodology: Peer & Competitor Identification, Sourcing.
Willis Lease Finance's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | Leasing and Related Operations 96.50 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's reports (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Willis Lease Finance's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | 1,028 | 5,833,120 | 557,718 |
| Aercap Holdings n v | 29,876 | 2,256,071 | 993,540 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 29,876 | 2,256,071 | 993,540 |
Willis Lease Finance's Position in Industry Market Structure
Market-capitalization share and concentration across all 19 companies in Willis Lease Finance's industry classification, broader than the peer set above. Market cap in millions of $.Willis Lease Finance ranks #0 of 19 companies by market capitalization in its industry, holding 0.00 % of total industry market cap. The industry's Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) is 7,462, indicating a highly concentrated market structure (see Methodology: Market Structure & Concentration).
| Rank | Company | Market Cap | Industry Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caterpillar Inc | 258,366 | 86.14 % |
| 2 | Cnh Industrial N v | 14,346 | 4.78 % |
| 3 | Applied Industrial Technologies Inc | 10,728 | 3.58 % |
| 4 | Terex Corporation | 6,276 | 2.09 % |
| 5 | Blue Bird Corporation | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 6 | Distribution Solutions Group Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 7 | Aebi Schmidt Holding Ag | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 8 | Douglas Dynamics Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 9 | Astec Industries Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 10 | The Manitowoc Company Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 0 | Willis Lease Finance Corp | 3,058 | 0.00 % |
Market cap and industry share for the rest of Willis Lease Finance's industry peers requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API (daily market-structure computation) across CSIMarket's industry classification, market capitalization as of 2026-11-06.
Willis Lease Finance's Profitability & Cost Structure
Trailing 12-month margins from SEC-filed financials. Operating margin is compared to the Construction & Mining Machinery industry median; gross margin, EBITDA margin and capital intensity are compared to the live industry average (26 companies). See the full Construction & Mining Machinery industry profitability benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 75.36 % | 19.37 % (avg) | +56.0 pp |
| Operating Margin | 11.27 % | industry median | +2.9 pp |
| EBITDA Margin | 38.24 % | 6.54 % (avg) | +31.7 pp |
| Capital Intensity (Capex / Revenue) | 128.91 % | 14.44 % (avg) | +114.5 pp |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. SG&A and R&D as a share of revenue have limited coverage as this data is backfilled and appear only where reported. Higher capital intensity is not inherently negative; it reflects the industry's asset requirements.
Willis Lease Finance's Valuation vs Competitive Position
Valuation multiples vs the Construction & Mining Machinery industry average (26 companies, excluding loss-making/negative-equity outliers), alongside returns on capital for context on whether a premium or discount lines up with measurably stronger or weaker returns. See the full Construction & Mining Machinery industry valuation benchmarks.| Metric | Company | Industry Average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 13.2x | 35.3x | -22.2x |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.7x | 14.9x | -1.2x |
| P/B | 2.7x | 2.9x | -0.2x |
| Return on Equity | 11.32 % | industry aggregate | 8.06 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 2.08 % | -1.03 % (avg) | 3.11 % |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. A valuation premium or discount is not, by itself, a judgment of over- or under-valuation. Compare it against the return and growth context shown elsewhere on this page.
Willis Lease Finance's Multi-Year Financial Trajectory
Fiscal-year revenue growth, operating margin, return on invested capital and P/E, as reported in company reports.| Metric | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | 32.60 % | 26.75 % | 17.46 % | -29.44 % | -5.02 % | 34.18 % | 36.00 % | 28.29 % |
| Operating Margin | 10.50 % | 15.06 % | 19.63 % | 5.09 % | 3.04 % | 15.34 % | 25.37 % | 14.28 % |
| Return on Invested Capital | 1.76 % | 2.52 % | 3.66 % | 0.59 % | 0.30 % | 2.06 % | 4.02 % | 2.41 % |
| P/E | 2.7x | 49.4x | 51.5x | 30.1x | - | 7.1x | 12.6x | 35.1x |
Source: CSIMarket API, fiscal-year figures. P/E is this company's own historical ratio at each fiscal year end and can swing sharply around an earnings trough: that is real, not a data error.
Willis Lease Finance's Strategic Group Map
Willis Lease Finance is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC are labeled. See Methodology: Strategic Group Map for how this chart is built.
Willis Lease Finance's trailing-12-month revenue growth of 20.1% and operating margin of 11.3% compares with an average of 15.8% growth and 5.2% margin across its 8 closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC -- Willis Lease Finance sits above that peer average on growth and above it on margin.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Willis Lease Finance's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive Rivalry | Low | Industry HHI of 7,462 (see Industry Market Structure & Concentration above) |
| Barriers to Entry | High (capital intensive) | Capital intensity (capex / revenue) of 128.91 % vs industry average 14.44 % (see Profitability & Cost Structure above) |
Note: see Methodology: Porter's Five Forces. Supplier power and buyer power are covered on Willis Lease Finance's dedicated Suppliers and Customers pages, not here.
Willis Lease Finance's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
See Methodology: GE/McKinsey Matrix for how the two axes are built.
Willis Lease Finance falls in the Medium attractiveness / High strength cell: Invest / Grow.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Willis Lease Finance's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Return on equity 8.1 points above the industry aggregate.
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+19.0% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
Weaknesses
- Underperforming the U.S.A. 500 over the trailing 12 months.
Opportunities
- Trades at a lower P/E than the industry average (13.2x vs 35.3x) despite a higher return on invested capital -- a possible re-rating opportunity.
Threats
- Industry dominated by Caterpillar Inc, holding 86.14 % of industry market cap.
- High capital intensity requires continuous reinvestment just to keep pace with the industry.
Methodology: see Methodology: SWOT Analysis.
Willis Lease Finance's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | 0.17 | 17.55 | 3.50 |
| Aercap Holdings n v | 0.28 | 1.40 | 2.38 |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Willis Lease Finance's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | Q3 2026 | +34.3 % | -51.9 % |
| Aercap Holdings n v | Q4 2025 | +6.5 % | +78.7 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +7.1 % | +77.2 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Willis Lease Finance's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | Q3 2026 | -56.4 % | +170.6 % |
| Aercap Holdings n v | Q4 2025 | - | -27.8 % |
Willis Lease Finance's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | 2.09% | 2.09% | 11.32% |
| Aercap Holdings n v | 5.23% | 4.92% | 20.47% |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Willis Lease Finance's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Willis Lease Finance Corp | 7.13 | 1.24 |
| Aercap Holdings n v | 7.96 | 3.51 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 8.07 | 3.31 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.