Ecolab
ECL · Specialty Chemicals
$288.53
1.3%PPG Industries
PPG · Specialty Chemicals
$110.61
2.2%The short version
- Ecolab is the larger business, with $16.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $15.9B for PPG Industries.
- Ecolab grew revenue faster (2.2%, against 0.2%).
- Ecolab turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.8% FCF margin, against 7.3% FCF margin).
- PPG Industries earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (14.4%, against 13.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Ecolab’s earnings: a P/E of 38.7x against 15.8x for PPG Industries.
| Latest fiscal year | ECL · FY25 | PPG · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $81.4B | $24.8B |
| Revenue | $16.1B | $15.9B |
| Free cash flow | $1.9B | $1.2B |
| Net income | $2.1B | $1.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.2% | 0.2% |
| 5-year growth | 6.4% | 2.8% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −3.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 44.5% | 41.3% |
| Operating margin | 17.0% | — |
| Net margin | 12.9% | 9.9% |
| FCF margin | 11.8% | 7.3% |
| Return on capital | 13.8% | 14.4% |
| Return on equity | 22.4% | 21.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $7.6B | $5.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.0x | 1.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.5B | $1.4B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 38.7x | 15.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 7 |
FY16
ECL $13.2B
PPG $14.3B
FY17
ECL $13.8B
PPG $14.7B
FY18
ECL $12.2B
PPG $15.4B
FY19
ECL $12.6B
PPG $15.1B
FY20
ECL $11.8B
PPG $13.8B
FY21
ECL $12.7B
PPG $16.8B
FY22
ECL $14.2B
PPG $15.6B
FY23
ECL $15.3B
PPG $16.2B
FY24
ECL $15.7B
PPG $15.8B
FY25
ECL $16.1B
PPG $15.9B
ECL
PPG
FY16
ECL 14.2%
PPG 16.7%
FY17
ECL 14.1%
PPG 15.5%
FY18
ECL 14.1%
PPG 13.8%
FY19
ECL 14.7%
PPG 15.0%
FY20
ECL 11.8%
PPG 15.3%
FY21
ECL 12.6%
PPG 12.9%
FY22
ECL 11.0%
PPG 13.1%
FY23
ECL 13.0%
PPG 16.5%
FY24
ECL 17.8%
PPG —
FY25
ECL 17.0%
PPG —
ECL
PPG
FY16
ECL $1.2B
PPG $971M
FY17
ECL $1.2B
PPG $1.2B
FY18
ECL $1.5B
PPG $1.1B
FY19
ECL $1.7B
PPG $1.7B
FY20
ECL $1.4B
PPG $1.8B
FY21
ECL $1.4B
PPG $1.2B
FY22
ECL $1.1B
PPG $477M
FY23
ECL $1.6B
PPG $1.9B
FY24
ECL $1.8B
PPG $699M
FY25
ECL $1.9B
PPG $1.2B
ECL
PPG
FY16
ECL 10.6%
PPG 22.5%
FY17
ECL 12.0%
PPG 20.2%
FY18
ECL 9.3%
PPG 19.6%
FY19
ECL 10.3%
PPG 19.3%
FY20
ECL 8.9%
PPG 17.6%
FY21
ECL 9.5%
PPG 16.0%
FY22
ECL 8.4%
PPG 12.8%
FY23
ECL 10.3%
PPG 16.1%
FY24
ECL 15.3%
PPG 13.0%
FY25
ECL 13.8%
PPG 14.4%
ECL
PPG
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.