Element Solutions vs NewMarket
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The short version
- NewMarket is the larger business, with $2.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.6B for Element Solutions.
- Element Solutions grew revenue faster (3.8%, against −2.2%).
- NewMarket kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.0% operating margin, against 13.4%).
- NewMarket turned more of its sales into free cash flow (18.0% FCF margin, against 8.9%).
- NewMarket earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.3%, against 6.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Element Solutions’s earnings: a P/E of 39.1x against 18.7x for NewMarket.
| Latest fiscal year | ESI · FY25 | NEU · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $8.1B | $8.0B |
| Revenue | $2.6B | $2.7B |
| Free cash flow | $228M | $491M |
| Net income | $191M | $419M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.8% | −2.2% |
| 5-year growth | 6.6% | 6.3% |
| Share count change | −0.1% | −1.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 42.0% | 31.5% |
| Operating margin | 13.4% | 20.0% |
| Net margin | 7.5% | 15.4% |
| FCF margin | 8.9% | 18.0% |
| Return on capital | 6.5% | 16.3% |
| Return on equity | 7.6% | 25.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.0B | $824M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $103M | $183M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 39.1x | 18.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
ESI $1.8B
NEU $2.0B
FY17
ESI $1.9B
NEU $2.2B
FY18
ESI $2.0B
NEU $2.3B
FY19
ESI $1.8B
NEU $2.2B
FY20
ESI $1.9B
NEU $2.0B
FY21
ESI $2.4B
NEU $2.4B
FY22
ESI $2.5B
NEU $2.8B
FY23
ESI $2.3B
NEU $2.7B
FY24
ESI $2.5B
NEU $2.8B
FY25
ESI $2.6B
NEU $2.7B
ESI
NEU
Operating margin
FY16
ESI 5.1%
NEU 17.3%
FY17
ESI 10.7%
NEU 14.7%
FY18
ESI 12.7%
NEU 12.8%
FY19
ESI 13.6%
NEU 15.4%
FY20
ESI 12.6%
NEU 15.5%
FY21
ESI 12.5%
NEU 10.9%
FY22
ESI 12.8%
NEU 12.9%
FY23
ESI 7.4%
NEU 17.9%
FY24
ESI 14.0%
NEU 21.2%
FY25
ESI 13.4%
NEU 20.0%
ESI
NEU
Free cash flow
FY16
ESI $152M
NEU $211M
FY17
ESI $151M
NEU $94.1M
FY18
ESI −$29.2M
NEU $123M
FY19
ESI $141M
NEU $278M
FY20
ESI $247M
NEU $191M
FY21
ESI $280M
NEU $86.4M
FY22
ESI $248M
NEU $52.5M
FY23
ESI $281M
NEU $529M
FY24
ESI $294M
NEU $462M
FY25
ESI $228M
NEU $491M
ESI
NEU
Return on capital
FY16
ESI 1.0%
NEU 31.9%
FY17
ESI 2.0%
NEU 20.4%
FY18
ESI 2.5%
NEU 20.6%
FY19
ESI 2.6%
NEU 21.8%
FY20
ESI 6.2%
NEU 20.9%
FY21
ESI 6.3%
NEU 14.6%
FY22
ESI 5.5%
NEU 17.9%
FY23
ESI 3.9%
NEU 22.9%
FY24
ESI 7.4%
NEU 23.3%
FY25
ESI 6.5%
NEU 16.3%
ESI
NEU
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.