APD vs NUE vs BCPC Stock Comparison

Air Products & Chemicals, Nucor and Balchem Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NUE Nucor Corp
$257.44 +4.1% 1M +85.6% 1Y
Market cap
$61.58B
P/E
17.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$38.83B
Div. yield
–
Steel Basic Materials
6 wins
BCPC Balchem Corp
$170.62 +1.6% 1M +8.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.38B
P/E
31.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Nucor leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Nucor 6, Balchem 4, Air Products & Chemicals 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPDNUEBCPCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $68.32B $61.58B $5.38B APD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -1,444x 17.1x 31.5x NUE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.8x 12.8x 33.4x NUE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.5% +21.8% +9.4% NUE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.4% — 15.4% BCPC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% — 12.1% BCPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 17.4x — 0.3x BCPC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.9% +85.6% +8.9% NUE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.7%/yr +18.9%/yr +2.4%/yr NUE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.3% 31.7% 20.7% BCPC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 73/100 67/100 NUE

Percentile Scorecard

APDNUEBCPC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAPDNUEBCPC
Valuation 19 #76 of 94 85 #25 of 162 34 #62 of 94
Growth 43 #53 of 92 60 #59 of 147 86 #14 of 92
Profitability 50 #45 of 89 86 #18 of 122 85 #14 of 89
Financial Health 20 #78 of 97 – 89 #12 of 97
Shareholder Returns 61 #28 of 70 59 #44 of 107 41 #42 of 70
Overall 39 73 67
  • APD ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • NUE ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • BCPC ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAPDNUEBCPCSPY
1 month +8.5%+4.1%+1.6% -0.8%
3 months +4.5%+3.9%+3.5% +3.5%
6 months +1.1%+19.7%-2.6% +7.0%
Year to date +23.7%+57.8%+11.3% +12.2%
1 year +19.9%+85.6%+8.9% +13.0%
3 years +10.7%+73.8%+48.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year +3.4%+20.3%+14.0% +23.1%
5 years +3.7%+137.9%+12.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +0.7%+18.9%+2.4% +11.0%
10 years +129.9%+443.8%+127.4% +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.7%+18.5%+8.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAPDNUEBCPCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.3%31.7%20.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.5%31.8%19.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.070.890.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.762.700.43 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.8%-48.6%-34.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.7%-6.3%-6.9% -1.8%
52-week high $314.19$274.65$183.26 $779.14
52-week low $230.76$142.66$147.36 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAPDNUEBCPC
P/E now vs peer median -1,440xmedian 21.6x 16.3xmedian 12.8x 31.7xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 1.4x 1.5xmedian 3.1x 4.9xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 88.9xmedian 12.4x —median 7.0x 19.8xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -225.8xmedian 15.8x 34.5xmedian 15.2x 30.5xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 4.1xmedian 1.6x —median 2.1x 4.1xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 54.45median 1.66 -2.10median 0.29 1.68median 1.66

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAPDNUEBCPC
Revenue $12.60B $38.83B $1.11B
Gross profit $4.04B – $404.38M
Operating income -$593.10M – $229.57M
Net income -$19.70M $4.05B $170.85M
Free cash flow -$301.40M – $178.00M
R&D $90.80M – $20.81M
EPS (diluted) $-0.21 $15.74 $5.33
Cash & equivalents $980.50M $3.47B $66.26M
Total debt $17.48B – $145.94M
Shares (diluted) 222.80M 228.50M 32.03M
Enterprise value $63.51B $61.58B $5.10B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAPDNUEBCPC
P/E -1,440x 16.3x 31.7x
P/FCF -225.8x 34.5x 30.5x
P/Operating cash flow 14.9x 11.0x 24.3x
P/S 5.4x 1.5x 4.9x
P/B 4.1x – 4.1x
P/Tangible book 4.2x – 4.5x
EV/EBITDA 88.9x – 19.8x
EV/EBIT -142.6x – 24.0x
EV/Revenue 6.7x 1.5x 5.0x
EV/FCF -280.6x – 31.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.5x 11.0x 24.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 54.45 -2.10 1.68

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPDNUEBCPC
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.5% 21.8% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.0% 2.8% 6.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.1% – 11.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.7% – 11.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -138.7% – 12.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.0% – 14.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -101.2% 106.4% 14.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.2% -9.0% 18.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -103.1% 119.2% 16.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -26.4% -7.8% 18.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 54.8% 68.0% 11.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.1% -13.2% 12.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 93.5% – 10.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.5% – 14.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPDNUEBCPC
Gross margin 32.1% – 36.5%
EBITDA margin 7.5% – 25.1%
Operating margin -4.7% – 20.7%
Pretax margin -0.7% – 19.9%
Net margin -0.4% – 15.4%
FCF margin -2.4% – 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 36.3% 13.7% 20.2%
Return on equity 0.0% – 13.0%
Return on assets 0.0% 10.7% 10.1%
Return on invested capital 0.0% – 12.1%
Return on capital employed -1.6% – 15.0%
Asset turnover 0.3x 1.0x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -232.0x 1.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.3% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPDNUEBCPC
Debt / assets 43.2% – 8.6%
Debt / equity 1.1x – 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 17.4x – 0.3x
Debt / FCF -58.0x – 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 37.2% 22.1%
Equity / assets 41.0% – 77.9%
Interest coverage -2.7x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 2.5x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.55 – 10.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPDNUEBCPC
Dividend yield 2.4% 0.9% 0.6%
Net buyback yield – – 2.1%
Shareholder yield 2.4% 0.9% 2.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) -8,114% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) -530.3% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 2.9% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAPDNUEBCPC
Forward P/E 21.8xFY2026 12.8xFY2026 33.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.01FY2026 $20.11FY2026 $5.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.5%FY2026 +160.8%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.3% +6.9% +7.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.02BFY2026 $39.95BFY2026 $1.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.2%FY2026 +22.9%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.6% +8.6% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPDNUEBCPC
Held by institutions 91.2% 79.2% 90.5%
Institutions holding 1,772 1,541 417
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.0% +2.2% +1.5%
Institutions buying 745 751 193
Institutions selling 722 516 162
Buyers to sellers 1.03 1.46 1.19

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

APDNUEBCPC
APD 1.00 0.12 0.19
NUE 0.12 1.00 0.18
BCPC 0.19 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APD, NUE and BCPC?

Air Products & Chemicals (APD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) $68.32B, Nucor (NUE) $61.58B, Balchem (BCPC) $5.38B.

Which stock is cheaper, APD, NUE and BCPC?

Nucor (NUE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -1,444x, Nucor (NUE) 17.1x, Balchem (BCPC) 31.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nucor (NUE) is cheapest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 21.8x, Nucor (NUE) 12.8x, Balchem (BCPC) 33.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nucor (NUE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +4.5%, Nucor (NUE) +21.8%, Balchem (BCPC) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Balchem (BCPC) has the highest net margin (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -0.4%, Balchem (BCPC) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Balchem (BCPC) leads (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.0%, Balchem (BCPC) 12.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nucor (NUE) returned the most: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +19.9%, Nucor (NUE) +85.6%, Balchem (BCPC) +8.9%. Over five years, Nucor (NUE) compounded fastest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +0.7%/yr, Nucor (NUE) +18.9%/yr, Balchem (BCPC) +2.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.02%, Nucor (NUE) 0.00%, Balchem (BCPC) 0.00%. Nucor (NUE) and Balchem (BCPC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Balchem (BCPC) has been the steadiest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 26.3%, Nucor (NUE) 31.7%, Balchem (BCPC) 20.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, APD, NUE and BCPC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Nucor (NUE) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.