APD vs SCCO vs NUE Stock Comparison

Air Products & Chemicals, Southern Copper and Nucor Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SCCO Southern Copper Corp/
$179.33 -12.7% 1M +32.7% 1Y
Market cap
$149.62B
P/E
23.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.11B
Div. yield
1.65%
Copper Basic Materials
6 wins
NUE Nucor Corp
$277.64 +15.5% 1M +85.0% 1Y
Market cap
$62.99B
P/E
22.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$36.10B
Div. yield
0.81%
Steel Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Southern Copper leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Southern Copper 6, Nucor 4, Air Products & Chemicals 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAPDSCCONUELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $70.38B $149.62B $62.99B SCCO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -1,489x 23.4x 22.0x NUE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.6x 23.9x 13.8x NUE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.5% +38.7% +17.2% SCCO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -0.4% 37.2% 8.0% SCCO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 0.0% — 11.0% NUE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 17.4x 0.0x 0.8x SCCO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.28% 1.65% 0.81% APD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +30.3% +32.7% +85.0% NUE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.9%/yr +26.8%/yr +20.3%/yr SCCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.2% 52.8% 31.5% APD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 39/100 64/100 53/100 SCCO

Percentile Scorecard

APDSCCONUE

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

AxisAPDSCCONUE
Valuation 18 #77 of 94 46 #89 of 165 68 #54 of 165
Growth 43 #53 of 92 71 #45 of 150 52 #73 of 150
Profitability 50 #45 of 89 98 #4 of 122 65 #43 of 122
Financial Health 20 #78 of 97 49 #86 of 166 40 #100 of 166
Shareholder Returns 63 #27 of 72 57 #47 of 107 43 #62 of 107
Overall 39 64 53
  • APD ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • SCCO ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining
  • NUE ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAPDSCCONUESPY
1 month +13.8%-12.7%+15.5% -2.3%
3 months +7.9%-3.6%+6.2% -0.7%
6 months +5.9%+8.9%+23.0% +4.8%
Year to date +27.9%+27.3%+70.2% +10.3%
1 year +30.3%+32.7%+85.0% +10.3%
3 years +7.8%+160.6%+82.3% +73.0%
3 years, per year +2.5%+37.6%+22.2% +20.1%
5 years +4.6%+227.4%+151.8% +61.9%
5 years, per year +0.9%+26.8%+20.3% +10.1%
10 years +136.6%+621.8%+476.6% +258.6%
10 years, per year +9.0%+21.9%+19.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAPDSCCONUESPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.2%52.8%31.5% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.5%54.2%31.6% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.052.430.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.160.622.70 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -33.8%-45.2%-48.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-18.4%0.0% -3.5%
52-week high $316.03$219.70$277.64 $779.14
52-week low $230.76$117.83$142.66 $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.

MultipleAPDSCCONUE
P/E now vs peer median -1,489xmedian 20.8x 23.4xmedian 12.5x 22.0xmedian 12.5x
P/S now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 1.4x 8.7xmedian 2.9x 1.7xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 91.4xmedian 12.6x 13.7xmedian 7.3x 11.9xmedian 7.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median -233.5xmedian 15.5x 26.7xmedian 14.6x 39.8xmedian 14.6x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.7x 11.0xmedian 2.1x 2.7xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 56.29median 1.78 0.83median 0.28 -1.29median 0.28

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 monthsAPDSCCONUE
Revenue $12.60B $17.11B $36.10B
Gross profit $4.04B $11.15B $5.59B
Operating income -$593.10M $10.03B $4.17B
Net income -$19.70M $6.38B $3.26B
Free cash flow -$301.40M $5.60B $1.58B
R&D $90.80M $58.60M –
EPS (diluted) $-0.21 $7.67 $12.62
Cash & equivalents $980.50M $4.82B $2.48B
Total debt $17.48B $8.00B $7.10B
Shares (diluted) 222.80M 829.10M 228.50M
Enterprise value $68.27B $124.43B $53.53B

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
MetricAPDSCCONUE
P/E -1,489x 23.4x 22.0x
P/FCF -233.5x 26.7x 39.8x
P/Operating cash flow 15.4x 20.2x 14.2x
P/S 5.6x 8.7x 1.7x
P/B 4.2x 11.0x 2.7x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 11.0x 3.1x
EV/EBITDA 91.4x 13.7x 11.9x
EV/EBIT -146.5x 14.9x 16.2x
EV/Revenue 6.9x 8.7x 1.9x
EV/FCF -288.2x 26.7x 42.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.0x 20.2x 15.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 56.29 0.83 -1.29

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAPDSCCONUE
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.5% 38.7% 17.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.0% 18.0% -1.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.1% 54.1% 73.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.7% 25.1% -16.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -138.7% 61.8% 94.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.0% 28.8% -18.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -101.2% 66.3% 106.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -26.2% 30.1% -18.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -103.1% 65.1% 124.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -26.4% 28.1% -17.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 54.8% 60.3% 41.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.1% 21.6% -19.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 93.5% 60.9% 511.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.5% 22.2% -37.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAPDSCCONUE
Gross margin 32.1% 65.2% 15.5%
EBITDA margin 7.5% 64.0% 15.7%
Operating margin -4.7% 58.6% 11.5%
Pretax margin -0.7% 57.6% 11.4%
Net margin -0.4% 37.2% 8.0%
FCF margin -2.4% 32.7% 4.4%
Operating cash flow margin 36.3% 43.3% 12.3%
Return on equity 0.0% 48.5% 14.2%
Return on assets 0.0% 25.6% 9.0%
Return on invested capital 0.0% – 11.0%
Return on capital employed -1.6% 45.3% 13.4%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.7x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -232.0x 1.2x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAPDSCCONUE
Debt / assets 43.2% 31.2% 19.2%
Debt / equity 1.1x 0.6x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 17.4x 0.0x 0.8x
Debt / FCF -58.0x 1.4x 4.5x
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 46.9% 37.0%
Equity / assets 41.0% 53.1% 63.0%
Interest coverage -2.7x – 28.7x
Current ratio 1.1x 4.3x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.8x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 2.9x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 2.61 10.06 5.62

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAPDSCCONUE
Dividend yield 2.3% 1.7% 0.8%
Net buyback yield – – 1.0%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 1.7% 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) -8,114% 51.7% 15.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) -530.3% 58.8% 32.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) 1.2% 43.0% -0.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 6.8% -0.6%

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.

ConsensusAPDSCCONUE
Forward P/E 22.6xFY2026 23.9xFY2026 13.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $14.01FY2026 $7.51FY2026 $20.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.5%FY2026 +47.8%FY2026 +160.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.2% +7.1% +6.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.03BFY2026 $16.86BFY2026 $39.95BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.1%FY2026 +25.6%FY2026 +22.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.5% +3.9% +8.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAPDSCCONUE
Held by institutions 91.2% 9.2% 79.2%
Institutions holding 1,774 858 1,543
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.0% +0.7% +2.2%
Institutions buying 745 600 751
Institutions selling 724 220 518
Buyers to sellers 1.03 2.73 1.45

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.

APDSCCONUE
APD 1.00 0.06 0.13
SCCO 0.06 1.00 0.35
NUE 0.13 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, APD, SCCO and NUE?

Southern Copper (SCCO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) $70.38B, Southern Copper (SCCO) $149.62B, Nucor (NUE) $62.99B.

Which stock is cheaper, APD, SCCO and NUE?

Nucor (NUE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -1,489x, Southern Copper (SCCO) 23.4x, Nucor (NUE) 22.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nucor (NUE) is cheapest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 22.6x, Southern Copper (SCCO) 23.9x, Nucor (NUE) 13.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Southern Copper (SCCO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +4.5%, Southern Copper (SCCO) +38.7%, Nucor (NUE) +17.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Southern Copper (SCCO) has the highest net margin (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) -0.4%, Southern Copper (SCCO) 37.2%, Nucor (NUE) 8.0%). On return on invested capital, Nucor (NUE) leads (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 0.0%, Nucor (NUE) 11.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nucor (NUE) returned the most: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +30.3%, Southern Copper (SCCO) +32.7%, Nucor (NUE) +85.0%. Over five years, Southern Copper (SCCO) compounded fastest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) +0.9%/yr, Southern Copper (SCCO) +26.8%/yr, Nucor (NUE) +20.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Air Products & Chemicals (APD) has the highest dividend yield: Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 2.28%, Southern Copper (SCCO) 1.65%, Nucor (NUE) 0.81%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Air Products & Chemicals (APD) has been the steadiest (Air Products & Chemicals (APD) 26.2%, Southern Copper (SCCO) 52.8%, Nucor (NUE) 31.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Southern Copper (SCCO) 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.