Clean Harbors vs GEO Group
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The short version
- Clean Harbors is the larger business, with $6.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.6B for GEO Group, about 2.3 times as much.
- GEO Group grew revenue faster (8.6%, against 2.4%).
- Clean Harbors kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (11.2% operating margin, against 9.8%).
- Clean Harbors turned more of its sales into free cash flow (7.3% FCF margin, against −4.8%).
- Clean Harbors earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (10.4%, against 6.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Clean Harbors’s earnings: a P/E of 43.1x against 12.8x for GEO Group.
| Latest fiscal year | CLH · FY25 | GEO · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $16.9B | $3.6B |
| Revenue | $6.0B | $2.6B |
| Free cash flow | $442M | −$125M |
| Net income | $391M | $254M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.4% | 8.6% |
| 5-year growth | 13.9% | 2.3% |
| Share count change | −0.9% | 4.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 31.3% | — |
| Operating margin | 11.2% | 9.8% |
| Net margin | 6.5% | 9.7% |
| FCF margin | 7.3% | −4.8% |
| Return on capital | 10.4% | 6.3% |
| Return on equity | 14.7% | 17.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.1B | $1.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.8x | 4.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $250M | $91.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 43.1x | 12.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CLH $2.8B
GEO $2.2B
FY17
CLH $2.9B
GEO $2.3B
FY18
CLH $3.3B
GEO $2.3B
FY19
CLH $3.4B
GEO $2.5B
FY20
CLH $3.1B
GEO $2.4B
FY21
CLH $3.8B
GEO $2.3B
FY22
CLH $5.2B
GEO $2.4B
FY23
CLH $5.4B
GEO $2.4B
FY24
CLH $5.9B
GEO $2.4B
FY25
CLH $6.0B
GEO $2.6B
CLH
GEO
Operating margin
FY16
CLH 2.5%
GEO 12.2%
FY17
CLH 4.3%
GEO 11.0%
FY18
CLH 5.5%
GEO 11.4%
FY19
CLH 6.7%
GEO 12.2%
FY20
CLH 8.0%
GEO 9.8%
FY21
CLH 9.1%
GEO 12.8%
FY22
CLH 12.3%
GEO 16.2%
FY23
CLH 11.3%
GEO 14.6%
FY24
CLH 11.4%
GEO 12.8%
FY25
CLH 11.2%
GEO 9.8%
CLH
GEO
Free cash flow
FY16
CLH $40.2M
GEO −$110M
FY17
CLH $119M
GEO $233M
FY18
CLH $180M
GEO $78.8M
FY19
CLH $197M
GEO $221M
FY20
CLH $234M
GEO $333M
FY21
CLH $304M
GEO $213M
FY22
CLH $281M
GEO $198M
FY23
CLH $312M
GEO $205M
FY24
CLH $346M
GEO $164M
FY25
CLH $442M
GEO −$125M
CLH
GEO
Return on capital
FY16
CLH 1.5%
GEO 7.8%
FY17
CLH 5.3%
GEO 6.2%
FY18
CLH 5.2%
GEO 6.4%
FY19
CLH 6.2%
GEO 7.3%
FY20
CLH 8.0%
GEO 5.3%
FY21
CLH 8.8%
GEO 4.1%
FY22
CLH 13.0%
GEO 8.5%
FY23
CLH 11.5%
GEO 8.5%
FY24
CLH 11.4%
GEO 7.8%
FY25
CLH 10.4%
GEO 6.3%
CLH
GEO
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.