Avient vs Element Solutions
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The short version
- Avient is the larger business, with $3.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.6B for Element Solutions.
- Element Solutions grew revenue faster (3.8%, against 0.6%).
- Element Solutions kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.4% operating margin, against 6.2%).
- Element Solutions turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.9% FCF margin, against 6.0%).
- Element Solutions earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (6.5%, against 4.0%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Element Solutions’s earnings: a P/E of 39.1x against 22.2x for Avient.
| Latest fiscal year | AVNT · FY25 | ESI · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.8B | $8.1B |
| Revenue | $3.3B | $2.6B |
| Free cash flow | $195M | $228M |
| Net income | $81.9M | $191M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.6% | 3.8% |
| 5-year growth | 8.0% | 6.6% |
| Share count change | −0.2% | −0.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 31.2% | 42.0% |
| Operating margin | 6.2% | 13.4% |
| Net margin | 2.5% | 7.5% |
| FCF margin | 6.0% | 8.9% |
| Return on capital | 4.0% | 6.5% |
| Return on equity | 3.5% | 7.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.4B | $1.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.6x | 2.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $98.8M | $103M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 22.2x | 39.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
AVNT $2.9B
ESI $1.8B
FY17
AVNT $2.6B
ESI $1.9B
FY18
AVNT $2.9B
ESI $2.0B
FY19
AVNT $2.9B
ESI $1.8B
FY20
AVNT $2.2B
ESI $1.9B
FY21
AVNT $3.3B
ESI $2.4B
FY22
AVNT $3.4B
ESI $2.5B
FY23
AVNT $3.1B
ESI $2.3B
FY24
AVNT $3.2B
ESI $2.5B
FY25
AVNT $3.3B
ESI $2.6B
AVNT
ESI
Operating margin
FY16
AVNT 9.1%
ESI 5.1%
FY17
AVNT 6.7%
ESI 10.7%
FY18
AVNT 6.2%
ESI 12.7%
FY19
AVNT 5.5%
ESI 13.6%
FY20
AVNT 5.0%
ESI 12.6%
FY21
AVNT 8.4%
ESI 12.5%
FY22
AVNT 7.2%
ESI 12.8%
FY23
AVNT 6.3%
ESI 7.4%
FY24
AVNT 10.2%
ESI 14.0%
FY25
AVNT 6.2%
ESI 13.4%
AVNT
ESI
Free cash flow
FY16
AVNT $143M
ESI $152M
FY17
AVNT $123M
ESI $151M
FY18
AVNT $178M
ESI −$29.2M
FY19
AVNT $219M
ESI $141M
FY20
AVNT $158M
ESI $247M
FY21
AVNT $133M
ESI $280M
FY22
AVNT $293M
ESI $248M
FY23
AVNT $82.2M
ESI $281M
FY24
AVNT $135M
ESI $294M
FY25
AVNT $195M
ESI $228M
AVNT
ESI
Return on capital
FY16
AVNT 11.8%
ESI 1.0%
FY17
AVNT 10.1%
ESI 2.0%
FY18
AVNT 9.1%
ESI 2.5%
FY19
AVNT 6.9%
ESI 2.6%
FY20
AVNT 5.1%
ESI 6.2%
FY21
AVNT 7.0%
ESI 6.3%
FY22
AVNT 7.0%
ESI 5.5%
FY23
AVNT 4.4%
ESI 3.9%
FY24
AVNT 6.5%
ESI 7.4%
FY25
AVNT 4.0%
ESI 6.5%
AVNT
ESI
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.