Clean Harbors vs Veralto
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The short version
- Clean Harbors is the larger business, with $6.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.5B for Veralto.
- Veralto grew revenue faster (6.0%, against 2.4%).
- Veralto kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (23.2% operating margin, against 11.2%).
- Veralto turned more of its sales into free cash flow (18.4% FCF margin, against 7.3%).
- Veralto earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (28.1%, against 10.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Clean Harbors’s earnings: a P/E of 43.1x against 26.9x for Veralto.
| Latest fiscal year | CLH · FY25 | VLTO · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $16.9B | $26.0B |
| Revenue | $6.0B | $5.5B |
| Free cash flow | $442M | $1.0B |
| Net income | $391M | $940M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.4% | 6.0% |
| 5-year growth | 13.9% | — |
| Share count change | −0.9% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 31.3% | 60.0% |
| Operating margin | 11.2% | 23.2% |
| Net margin | 6.5% | 17.1% |
| FCF margin | 7.3% | 18.4% |
| Return on capital | 10.4% | 28.1% |
| Return on equity | 14.7% | 36.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.1B | $642M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.8x | 0.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $250M | $109M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 43.1x | 26.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CLH $2.8B
VLTO —
FY17
CLH $2.9B
VLTO —
FY18
CLH $3.3B
VLTO —
FY19
CLH $3.4B
VLTO —
FY20
CLH $3.1B
VLTO —
FY21
CLH $3.8B
VLTO $4.7B
FY22
CLH $5.2B
VLTO $4.9B
FY23
CLH $5.4B
VLTO $5.0B
FY24
CLH $5.9B
VLTO $5.2B
FY25
CLH $6.0B
VLTO $5.5B
CLH
VLTO
Operating margin
FY16
CLH 2.5%
VLTO —
FY17
CLH 4.3%
VLTO —
FY18
CLH 5.5%
VLTO —
FY19
CLH 6.7%
VLTO —
FY20
CLH 8.0%
VLTO —
FY21
CLH 9.1%
VLTO 22.2%
FY22
CLH 12.3%
VLTO 22.8%
FY23
CLH 11.3%
VLTO 22.7%
FY24
CLH 11.4%
VLTO 23.3%
FY25
CLH 11.2%
VLTO 23.2%
CLH
VLTO
Free cash flow
FY16
CLH $40.2M
VLTO —
FY17
CLH $119M
VLTO —
FY18
CLH $180M
VLTO —
FY19
CLH $197M
VLTO —
FY20
CLH $234M
VLTO —
FY21
CLH $304M
VLTO $842M
FY22
CLH $281M
VLTO $836M
FY23
CLH $312M
VLTO $909M
FY24
CLH $346M
VLTO $820M
FY25
CLH $442M
VLTO $1.0B
CLH
VLTO
Return on capital
FY16
CLH 1.5%
VLTO —
FY17
CLH 5.3%
VLTO —
FY18
CLH 5.2%
VLTO —
FY19
CLH 6.2%
VLTO —
FY20
CLH 8.0%
VLTO —
FY21
CLH 8.8%
VLTO —
FY22
CLH 13.0%
VLTO —
FY23
CLH 11.5%
VLTO 26.9%
FY24
CLH 11.4%
VLTO 27.3%
FY25
CLH 10.4%
VLTO 28.1%
CLH
VLTO
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.