Clean Harbors vs Veralto
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Clean Harbors and Veralto side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- 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 42.9x against 26.6x for Veralto.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Clean Harbors
CLH
2/10
Piotroski F-scoreShare count change
Veralto
VLTO
8/10
Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CLH FY25 | VLTO FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $16.8B | $25.8B |
| 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 | 42.9x | 26.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.