Element Solutions
ESI · Specialty Chemicals
$33.21
0.3%Stepan
SCL · Specialty Chemicals
$63.91
0.6%The short version
- Element Solutions is the larger business, with $2.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.3B for Stepan.
- Stepan grew revenue faster (7.0%, against 3.8%).
- Element Solutions kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.4% operating margin, against 3.4% operating margin).
- Element Solutions turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.9% FCF margin, against 1.1% FCF margin).
- Element Solutions earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (6.5%, against 3.6%).
| Latest fiscal year | ESI · FY25 | SCL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.1B | $1.5B |
| Revenue | $2.6B | $2.3B |
| Free cash flow | $228M | $25.4M |
| Net income | $191M | $46.9M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.8% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.6% | 4.5% |
| Share count change | −0.1% | −0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 42.0% | 11.6% |
| Operating margin | 13.4% | 3.4% |
| Net margin | 7.5% | 2.0% |
| FCF margin | 8.9% | 1.1% |
| Return on capital | 6.5% | 3.6% |
| Return on equity | 7.6% | 3.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.0B | $494M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 2.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $103M | $35.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 39.1x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
FY16
ESI $1.8B
SCL $1.8B
FY17
ESI $1.9B
SCL $1.9B
FY18
ESI $2.0B
SCL $2.0B
FY19
ESI $1.8B
SCL $1.9B
FY20
ESI $1.9B
SCL $1.9B
FY21
ESI $2.4B
SCL $2.3B
FY22
ESI $2.5B
SCL $2.8B
FY23
ESI $2.3B
SCL $2.3B
FY24
ESI $2.5B
SCL $2.2B
FY25
ESI $2.6B
SCL $2.3B
ESI
SCL
FY16
ESI 5.1%
SCL 7.2%
FY17
ESI 10.7%
SCL 8.0%
FY18
ESI 12.7%
SCL 7.5%
FY19
ESI 13.6%
SCL 6.9%
FY20
ESI 12.6%
SCL 9.2%
FY21
ESI 12.5%
SCL 7.3%
FY22
ESI 12.8%
SCL 7.5%
FY23
ESI 7.4%
SCL 2.5%
FY24
ESI 14.0%
SCL 3.2%
FY25
ESI 13.4%
SCL 3.4%
ESI
SCL
FY16
ESI $152M
SCL $109M
FY17
ESI $151M
SCL $120M
FY18
ESI −$29.2M
SCL $84.5M
FY19
ESI $141M
SCL $113M
FY20
ESI $247M
SCL $109M
FY21
ESI $280M
SCL −$122M
FY22
ESI $248M
SCL −$141M
FY23
ESI $281M
SCL −$85.5M
FY24
ESI $294M
SCL $39.3M
FY25
ESI $228M
SCL $25.4M
ESI
SCL
FY16
ESI 1.0%
SCL 13.3%
FY17
ESI 2.0%
SCL 14.2%
FY18
ESI 2.5%
SCL 15.6%
FY19
ESI 2.6%
SCL 13.2%
FY20
ESI 6.2%
SCL 15.6%
FY21
ESI 6.3%
SCL 12.9%
FY22
ESI 5.5%
SCL 11.3%
FY23
ESI 3.9%
SCL 2.9%
FY24
ESI 7.4%
SCL 3.4%
FY25
ESI 6.5%
SCL 3.6%
ESI
SCL
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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.