Ecolab vs Sherwin-Williams
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The short version
- Sherwin-Williams is the larger business, with $23.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $16.1B for Ecolab.
- Ecolab turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.8% FCF margin, against 11.3%).
- Sherwin-Williams earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (19.9%, against 13.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Ecolab’s earnings: a P/E of 38.7x against 31.1x for Sherwin-Williams.
| Latest fiscal year | ECL · FY25 | SHW · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $81.4B | $82.9B |
| Revenue | $16.1B | $23.6B |
| Free cash flow | $1.9B | $2.7B |
| Net income | $2.1B | $2.6B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.2% | 2.1% |
| 5-year growth | 6.4% | 5.1% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −1.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 44.5% | 48.9% |
| Operating margin | 17.0% | — |
| Net margin | 12.9% | 10.9% |
| FCF margin | 11.8% | 11.3% |
| Return on capital | 13.8% | 19.9% |
| Return on equity | 22.4% | 59.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $7.6B | $10.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.0x | 2.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.5B | $2.4B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 38.7x | 31.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
ECL $13.2B
SHW $11.9B
FY17
ECL $13.8B
SHW $15.0B
FY18
ECL $12.2B
SHW $17.5B
FY19
ECL $12.6B
SHW $17.9B
FY20
ECL $11.8B
SHW $18.4B
FY21
ECL $12.7B
SHW $19.9B
FY22
ECL $14.2B
SHW $22.1B
FY23
ECL $15.3B
SHW $23.1B
FY24
ECL $15.7B
SHW $23.1B
FY25
ECL $16.1B
SHW $23.6B
ECL
SHW
Operating margin
FY16
ECL 14.2%
SHW 18.3%
FY17
ECL 14.1%
SHW 14.9%
FY18
ECL 14.1%
SHW 14.9%
FY19
ECL 14.7%
SHW 15.7%
FY20
ECL 11.8%
SHW 18.4%
FY21
ECL 12.6%
SHW 15.5%
FY22
ECL 11.0%
SHW 15.3%
FY23
ECL 13.0%
SHW 18.1%
FY24
ECL 17.8%
SHW —
FY25
ECL 17.0%
SHW —
ECL
SHW
Free cash flow
FY16
ECL $1.2B
SHW $1.1B
FY17
ECL $1.2B
SHW $1.7B
FY18
ECL $1.5B
SHW $1.7B
FY19
ECL $1.7B
SHW $2.0B
FY20
ECL $1.4B
SHW $3.1B
FY21
ECL $1.4B
SHW $1.9B
FY22
ECL $1.1B
SHW $1.3B
FY23
ECL $1.6B
SHW $2.6B
FY24
ECL $1.8B
SHW $2.1B
FY25
ECL $1.9B
SHW $2.7B
ECL
SHW
Return on capital
FY16
ECL 10.6%
SHW 55.3%
FY17
ECL 12.0%
SHW 26.4%
FY18
ECL 9.3%
SHW 15.8%
FY19
ECL 10.3%
SHW 17.0%
FY20
ECL 8.9%
SHW 22.0%
FY21
ECL 9.5%
SHW 21.5%
FY22
ECL 8.4%
SHW 21.0%
FY23
ECL 10.3%
SHW 23.9%
FY24
ECL 15.3%
SHW 22.1%
FY25
ECL 13.8%
SHW 19.9%
ECL
SHW
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.