Applied Industrial Technologies is a high-quality industrial distribution franchise — earning a perfect 9-out-of-9 Piotroski financial health score and recognized as best-in-class among peers on margins — but the stock trades just 1.2% below its price target with a risk/reward ratio of 0.26-to-1 that is deeply unfavorable for new exposure. Falling on-balance volume and a 2.2x average-volume surge on a recent selloff day introduce a near-term distribution signal that adds caution to an otherwise sound fundamental picture.
Thesis pillars
- Stretched Valuation Unfavorable Risk Reward↑Improving
- Piotroski Perfect Score Best In Class Margins→Stable
- Bearish Volume Distribution Signal↓Deteriorating
- +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Pillars as of Jul 3, 2026, based on the 10-K filed Aug 13, 2026
Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT) Stock Analysis
Industrials · Industrial Distribution
Sell if holding. Momentum 2.9/10 is below the 5.0 floor at $299.10 — engine's falling-knife protection flags exit rather than catching a breakdown. Specifics: Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (88.0%); Sector modifier (Industrials): -0.7.
Applied Industrial Technologies, based in Cleveland, distributes industrial bearings, power transmission, fluid power, flow control and automation products through about 580 facilities and 6,900 associates, mainly in North America. It resells products from thousands of... Read more
Sell if holding. Momentum 2.9/10 is below the 5.0 floor at $299.10 — engine's falling-knife protection flags exit rather than catching a breakdown. Specifics: Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (88.0%); Sector modifier (Industrials): -0.7. Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Score 5.7/10, moderate confidence.
Passes 5/7 gates (favorable risk/reward ratio, clean insider activity, earnings proximity 88d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on weak momentum. Suitability: moderate.
About Applied Industrial Technologies
About Applied Industrial Technologies
Applied Industrial Technologies generated 88% of its fiscal 2026 sales in the United States, with Canada at 6% and Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Costa Rica together at 6%. The Cleveland, Ohio company reports two segments, Service Center at 64% of sales and Engineered Solutions at 36%, and employs approximately 6,900 associates, 5,300 of them in the United States. Its network of about 580 facilities stocks more than 9.4 million SKUs.
Applied buys from thousands of product manufacturers as a non-exclusive distributor and resells to thousands of customers in food processing, aggregates, chemicals, fabricated metals, mining, oil and gas, utilities, technology and other industries, plus government entities. Service Center, with about 420 facilities, covers MRO-focused distribution of bearings, motors, belting, drives, pumps, hydraulic and pneumatic components and hoses, supported by onsite training, repair and vendor-managed inventory. Engineered Solutions, with about 160 facilities and approaching 40% of sales, designs, integrates and repairs fluid power, specialty flow control and automation systems including machine vision and robotics. The filing describes Engineered Solutions as higher margin, and names the largest U.S. fluid power distribution position. Competitors are local, regional, national and multinational specialist and general line distributors, along with OEMs and integrators. Suppliers confine direct sales to large-volume transactions with large OEMs and refer maintenance and repair buyers to distributors.
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Supplier authorizations form the main dependency. Relationships with key suppliers are longstanding but terminable by either party, and authorizations vary by region, particularly in fluid power, flow control and automation. If key suppliers changed distributor programs, the number of authorizations, purchasing incentives or moved to serve end users directly, sales and earnings could be affected. Some suppliers pay volume-based incentives that may require year-over-year purchase growth, so a drop in customer demand could reduce incentive income. Customer concentration is minimal, since no single customer accounts for more than 5% of 2026 sales, and the 10-K lists reshoring, datacenter and semiconductor buildouts as demand drivers.
See also: Industrials · Industrial Distribution
From Applied Industrial Technologies's most recent 10-K filing, extracted October 18, 2026.
Recent developments
updated 2026-10-29Recent Developments — Applied Industrial Technologies
Latest news
- NEWS $100 Invested In Applied Industrial Techs 5 Years Ago Would Be Worth This Much Today - Benzinga — Benzinga positive
- NEWS Applied Industrial to Post Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards? - Yahoo Finance — Yahoo Finance neutral
- NEWS Applied Industrial to Post Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards? - TradingView — TradingView neutral
- NEWS Here’s How Much You Would Have Made Owning Applied Industrial Techs Stock In The Last 5 Years - Sahm — Sahm positive
- NEWS AIT Corp Sees FY Net Y3.39B - Moomoo — Moomoo positive
Generated 2026-10-29T11:20:24Z.
Upcoming dated catalysts
Thesis
Key Metrics
Quality Signals
Options Flow
Concentration Risks(10-K Item 1A)
- HIGHGeographicUnited States88%10-K Item 1: 'Our operations are primarily based in the United States where 88% of our 2026 sales were generated.'
Material Events(8-K, last 90d)
- 2026-08-14Item 5.02LOWPamela J. Tomczik (Target SVP, Treasurer and Business Development) elected to the board Aug 11, 2026 with a term expiring October 2026; a director also retires under the age-72 policy. Clean handoff.SEC filing →
Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results. How we score · Editorial policy
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Rating Breakdown
1 floor-breaker
Price action weak — below key moving averages, no momentum carry. Needs a base before trend-continuation setups apply.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Momentum 2.9/10 is below the 5.0 floor at $299.10 — engine's falling-knife protection flags exit rather than catching a breakdown. Specifics: Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (88.0%); Sector modifier (Industrials): -0.7. Chart setup: No clear chart pattern; technical signals are mixed. Prior stop was $284.03. Score 5.7/10, moderate confidence.
Analyst target: $330.60 (+10.5% upside). Prior stop was $284.03. Stop-loss: $284.03.
Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (88.0%); Sector modifier (Industrials): -0.7; Negative momentum.
Applied Industrial Technologies trades at a P/E of 26.4 (forward 22.6). TrendMatrix value score: 5.1/10. Verdict: Sell.
13 analysts cover AIT with a consensus score of 4.1/5. Average price target: $380.
What does Applied Industrial Technologies do?Applied Industrial Technologies, based in Cleveland, distributes industrial bearings, power transmission, fluid power,...
Applied Industrial Technologies, based in Cleveland, distributes industrial bearings, power transmission, fluid power, flow control and automation products through about 580 facilities and 6,900 associates, mainly in North America. It resells products from thousands of manufacturers as a non-exclusive distributor to thousands of MRO and OEM customers, with no customer above 5% of fiscal 2026 sales. Service Center is 64% of sales and Engineered Solutions 36%.