Quaker Chemical vs Stepan
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The short version
- Stepan is the larger business, with $2.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.9B for Quaker Chemical.
- Stepan grew revenue faster (7.0%, against 2.7%).
- Stepan kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (3.4% operating margin, against 2.8%).
- Quaker Chemical turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.3% FCF margin, against 1.1%).
- Stepan earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (3.6%, against 1.3%).
| Latest fiscal year | KWR · FY25 | SCL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.7B | $1.5B |
| Revenue | $1.9B | $2.3B |
| Free cash flow | $80.6M | $25.4M |
| Net income | −$2.5M | $46.9M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.7% | 7.0% |
| 5-year growth | 5.9% | 4.5% |
| Share count change | −2.2% | −0.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 36.0% | 11.6% |
| Operating margin | 2.8% | 3.4% |
| Net margin | −0.1% | 2.0% |
| FCF margin | 4.3% | 1.1% |
| Return on capital | 1.3% | 3.6% |
| Return on equity | −0.2% | 3.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $726M | $494M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 6.1x | 2.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $75.9M | $35.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 27.8x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
KWR $747M
SCL $1.8B
FY17
KWR $820M
SCL $1.9B
FY18
KWR $868M
SCL $2.0B
FY19
KWR $1.1B
SCL $1.9B
FY20
KWR $1.4B
SCL $1.9B
FY21
KWR $1.8B
SCL $2.3B
FY22
KWR $1.9B
SCL $2.8B
FY23
KWR $2.0B
SCL $2.3B
FY24
KWR $1.8B
SCL $2.2B
FY25
KWR $1.9B
SCL $2.3B
KWR
SCL
Operating margin
FY16
KWR 11.4%
SCL 7.2%
FY17
KWR 7.7%
SCL 8.0%
FY18
KWR 10.1%
SCL 7.5%
FY19
KWR 4.1%
SCL 6.9%
FY20
KWR 4.2%
SCL 9.2%
FY21
KWR 8.5%
SCL 7.3%
FY22
KWR 2.7%
SCL 7.5%
FY23
KWR 11.0%
SCL 2.5%
FY24
KWR 10.6%
SCL 3.2%
FY25
KWR 2.8%
SCL 3.4%
KWR
SCL
Free cash flow
FY16
KWR $63.8M
SCL $109M
FY17
KWR $53.9M
SCL $120M
FY18
KWR $65.9M
SCL $84.5M
FY19
KWR $66.8M
SCL $113M
FY20
KWR $160M
SCL $109M
FY21
KWR $27.5M
SCL −$122M
FY22
KWR $13.3M
SCL −$141M
FY23
KWR $240M
SCL −$85.5M
FY24
KWR $163M
SCL $39.3M
FY25
KWR $80.6M
SCL $25.4M
KWR
SCL
Return on capital
FY16
KWR 16.0%
SCL 13.3%
FY17
KWR 8.1%
SCL 14.2%
FY18
KWR 16.4%
SCL 15.6%
FY19
KWR 3.6%
SCL 13.2%
FY20
KWR 2.9%
SCL 15.6%
FY21
KWR 5.5%
SCL 12.9%
FY22
KWR 1.3%
SCL 11.3%
FY23
KWR 6.8%
SCL 2.9%
FY24
KWR 6.9%
SCL 3.4%
FY25
KWR 1.3%
SCL 3.6%
KWR
SCL
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.