Belden vs Coherent
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The short version
- Coherent is the larger business, with $7.1B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $2.7B for Belden, about 2.6 times as much.
- Coherent grew revenue faster (22.5%, against 10.3%).
- Belden turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.1% FCF margin, against −14.4%).
- Belden earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.3%, against 9.1%).
| Latest fiscal year | BDC · FY25 | COHR · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $4.1B | $40.9B |
| Revenue | $2.7B | $7.1B |
| Free cash flow | $219M | −$1.0B |
| Net income | $238M | $805M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 10.3% | 22.5% |
| 5-year growth | 9.2% | 18.0% |
| Share count change | −2.6% | 26.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 38.0% | 37.5% |
| Operating margin | 11.6% | — |
| Net margin | 8.8% | 11.3% |
| FCF margin | 8.1% | −14.4% |
| Return on capital | 13.3% | 9.1% |
| Return on equity | 18.6% | 9.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $906M | $1.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.0x | 0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $8.0M | $11.4M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.9x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 7 |
Revenue
FY17
BDC $2.1B
COHR $972M
FY18
BDC $2.2B
COHR $1.2B
FY19
BDC $2.1B
COHR $1.4B
FY20
BDC $1.8B
COHR $2.4B
FY21
BDC $2.3B
COHR $3.1B
FY22
BDC $2.6B
COHR $3.3B
FY23
BDC $2.5B
COHR $5.2B
FY24
BDC $2.5B
COHR $4.7B
FY25
BDC $2.7B
COHR $5.8B
FY26
BDC —
COHR $7.1B
BDC
COHR
Operating margin
FY17
BDC 11.2%
COHR 11.9%
FY18
BDC 14.5%
COHR 11.8%
FY19
BDC 9.7%
COHR 10.9%
FY20
BDC 8.6%
COHR 1.7%
FY21
BDC 11.5%
COHR 13.0%
FY22
BDC 13.9%
COHR 12.5%
FY23
BDC 12.6%
COHR −0.7%
FY24
BDC 10.8%
COHR 2.0%
FY25
BDC 11.6%
COHR —
FY26
BDC —
COHR —
BDC
COHR
Free cash flow
FY17
BDC $191M
COHR −$19.9M
FY18
BDC $191M
COHR $7.6M
FY19
BDC $167M
COHR $41.4M
FY20
BDC $83.2M
COHR $160M
FY21
BDC $181M
COHR $428M
FY22
BDC $176M
COHR $99.0M
FY23
BDC $203M
COHR $198M
FY24
BDC $223M
COHR $199M
FY25
BDC $219M
COHR $193M
FY26
BDC —
COHR −$1.0B
BDC
COHR
Return on capital
FY17
BDC 10.0%
COHR 10.5%
FY18
BDC 9.3%
COHR 9.0%
FY19
BDC 6.7%
COHR 9.5%
FY20
BDC 6.1%
COHR 1.2%
FY21
BDC 12.8%
COHR 9.6%
FY22
BDC 18.0%
COHR 10.5%
FY23
BDC 15.8%
COHR −0.5%
FY24
BDC 12.1%
COHR 0.9%
FY25
BDC 13.3%
COHR 2.0%
FY26
BDC —
COHR 9.1%
BDC
COHR
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.