Albemarle
ALB · Specialty Chemicals
$93.67
1.2%RPM International
RPM · Specialty Chemicals
$98.74
2.9%The short version
- RPM International is the larger business, with $7.9B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $5.1B for Albemarle, about 1.5 times as much.
- RPM International grew revenue faster (6.7%, against −4.4%).
- Albemarle turned more of its sales into free cash flow (13.5% FCF margin, against 8.6% FCF margin).
- RPM International earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.9%, against −2.4%).
| Latest fiscal year | ALB · FY25 | RPM · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $12.8B | $12.6B |
| Revenue | $5.1B | $7.9B |
| Free cash flow | $692M | $675M |
| Net income | −$511M | $661M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −4.4% | 6.7% |
| 5-year growth | 10.5% | 5.2% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | −0.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 13.0% | 41.4% |
| Operating margin | −7.1% | — |
| Net margin | −9.9% | 8.4% |
| FCF margin | 13.5% | 8.6% |
| Return on capital | −2.4% | 13.9% |
| Return on equity | −5.2% | 21.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.7B | $2.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.8x | 1.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $191M | $349M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 18.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
FY17
ALB $3.1B
RPM $5.0B
FY18
ALB $3.4B
RPM $5.3B
FY19
ALB $3.6B
RPM $5.6B
FY20
ALB $3.1B
RPM $5.5B
FY21
ALB $3.3B
RPM $6.1B
FY22
ALB $7.3B
RPM $6.7B
FY23
ALB $9.6B
RPM $7.3B
FY24
ALB $5.4B
RPM $7.3B
FY25
ALB $5.1B
RPM $7.4B
FY26
ALB —
RPM $7.9B
ALB
RPM
FY17
ALB 18.6%
RPM —
FY18
ALB 27.0%
RPM —
FY19
ALB 18.6%
RPM —
FY20
ALB 16.2%
RPM —
FY21
ALB 24.0%
RPM —
FY22
ALB 33.7%
RPM —
FY23
ALB 2.6%
RPM —
FY24
ALB −33.0%
RPM —
FY25
ALB −7.1%
RPM —
FY26
ALB —
RPM —
ALB
RPM
FY17
ALB −$13.7M
RPM $260M
FY18
ALB −$154M
RPM $276M
FY19
ALB −$132M
RPM $156M
FY20
ALB −$51.6M
RPM $402M
FY21
ALB −$609M
RPM $609M
FY22
ALB $646M
RPM −$43.7M
FY23
ALB −$828M
RPM $323M
FY24
ALB −$993M
RPM $908M
FY25
ALB $692M
RPM $538M
FY26
ALB —
RPM $675M
ALB
RPM
FY17
ALB 6.7%
RPM 8.7%
FY18
ALB 15.8%
RPM 12.8%
FY19
ALB 9.8%
RPM 9.7%
FY20
ALB 6.2%
RPM 10.5%
FY21
ALB 8.2%
RPM 15.3%
FY22
ALB 23.3%
RPM 13.5%
FY23
ALB 1.1%
RPM 12.5%
FY24
ALB −10.9%
RPM 15.1%
FY25
ALB −2.4%
RPM 16.1%
FY26
ALB —
RPM 13.9%
ALB
RPM
Add another company
Compare up to four at once.
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.