BCPC vs LIN vs NUE Stock Comparison

Balchem, Linde and Nucor Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BCPC Balchem Corp
$177.00 +5.2% 1M +12.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.40B
P/E
31.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins
LIN Linde Plc
$508.83 +8.3% 1M +13.1% 1Y
Market cap
$234.80B
P/E
32.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Gases Basic Materials
4 wins
NUE Nucor Corp
$258.10 +4.4% 1M +86.4% 1Y
Market cap
$58.78B
P/E
20.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$36.10B
Div. yield
0.01%
Steel Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Nucor leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Nucor 5, Linde 4, Balchem 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBCPCLINNUELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.40B $234.80B $58.78B LIN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 31.6x 32.4x 20.4x NUE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.6x 30.4x 12.9x NUE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.4% +6.6% +17.2% NUE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.4% 20.4% 8.0% LIN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 12.1% 10.8% 11.0% BCPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.3x 1.8x 0.8x BCPC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.01% LIN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +12.9% +13.1% +86.4% NUE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.7%/yr +10.1%/yr +20.3%/yr NUE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 20.4% 19.2% 31.8% LIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 59/100 55/100 BCPC

Percentile Scorecard

BCPCLINNUE

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

AxisBCPCLINNUE
Valuation 31 #65 of 94 20 #75 of 94 74 #43 of 162
Growth 86 #14 of 92 66 #32 of 92 51 #73 of 147
Profitability 85 #14 of 89 94 #6 of 89 65 #43 of 122
Financial Health 89 #12 of 97 52 #47 of 97 40 #100 of 166
Shareholder Returns 39 #43 of 70 64 #26 of 70 47 #57 of 107
Overall 66 59 55
  • BCPC ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • LIN ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • NUE ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBCPCLINNUESPY
1 month +5.2%+8.3%+4.4% -1.0%
3 months +8.7%-0.7%+4.2% +2.9%
6 months +1.9%-0.3%+20.4% +6.4%
Year to date +15.4%+19.3%+58.2% +11.4%
1 year +12.9%+13.1%+86.4% +13.1%
3 years +45.5%+38.5%+75.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year +13.3%+11.5%+20.6% +21.5%
5 years +14.4%+62.0%+152.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +2.7%+10.1%+20.3% +10.9%
10 years +133.0%+324.4%+439.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +8.8%+15.6%+18.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBCPCLINNUESPY
Volatility, 1Y 20.4%19.2%31.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 18.7%19.5%32.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.150.050.90 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.630.682.72 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -34.1%-23.7%-48.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.4%-6.9%-6.0% -2.5%
52-week high $183.26$546.64$274.65 $779.14
52-week low $147.36$389.38$138.45 $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.

MultipleBCPCLINNUE
P/E now vs peer median 32.8xmedian 21.5x 32.5xmedian 21.5x 20.4xmedian 12.7x
P/S now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 1.4x 6.6xmedian 1.4x 1.6xmedian 3.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 20.5xmedian 12.4x 19.5xmedian 12.4x 11.1xmedian 6.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.6xmedian 15.5x 47.1xmedian 15.5x 37.0xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 1.6x 5.8xmedian 1.6x 2.5xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 1.75median 1.70 3.07median 1.70 -1.19median 0.27

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 monthsBCPCLINNUE
Revenue $1.11B $35.45B $36.10B
Gross profit $404.38M $17.14B $5.59B
Operating income $229.57M $9.38B $4.17B
Net income $170.85M $7.26B $3.26B
Free cash flow $178.00M $4.98B $1.58B
R&D $20.81M $146.00M –
EPS (diluted) $5.33 $15.59 $12.62
Cash & equivalents $66.26M $4.90B $2.48B
Total debt $696.62M $28.01B $28.20B
Shares (diluted) 32.03M 464.52M 228.50M
Enterprise value $5.12B $216.38B $48.16B

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
MetricBCPCLINNUE
P/E 32.8x 32.5x 20.4x
P/FCF 31.6x 47.1x 37.0x
P/Operating cash flow 25.2x 22.4x 13.2x
P/S 5.1x 6.6x 1.6x
P/B 4.2x 5.8x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 4.7x 8.1x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 20.5x 19.5x 11.1x
EV/EBIT 24.9x 27.5x 15.1x
EV/Revenue 5.2x 7.3x 1.7x
EV/FCF 32.1x 51.8x 39.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 25.5x 24.6x 14.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.75 3.07 -1.19

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBCPCLINNUE
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.4% 6.6% 17.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 2.3% -1.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.4% 6.4% 73.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.0% 5.4% -16.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.3% 5.4% 94.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.2% 9.0% -18.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 14.5% 8.1% 106.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.3% 8.2% -18.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 16.5% 10.0% 124.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 18.8% 10.6% -17.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 11.0% 5.8% 41.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 6.1% -19.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 10.1% -1.9% 511.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.8% -2.7% -37.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBCPCLINNUE
Gross margin 36.5% 48.3% 15.5%
EBITDA margin 25.1% 37.2% 15.7%
Operating margin 20.7% 26.5% 11.5%
Pretax margin 19.9% 26.4% 11.4%
Net margin 15.4% 20.4% 8.0%
FCF margin 16.1% 14.0% 4.4%
Operating cash flow margin 20.2% 29.6% 12.3%
Return on equity 13.0% 18.3% 14.2%
Return on assets 10.1% 8.4% 9.0%
Return on invested capital 12.1% 10.8% 11.0%
Return on capital employed 15.0% 13.2% 13.4%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.4x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBCPCLINNUE
Debt / assets 8.6% 31.7% 19.2%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.7x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.3x 1.8x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.8x 5.6x 4.5x
Liabilities / assets 22.1% 54.0% 37.0%
Equity / assets 77.9% 46.0% 63.0%
Interest coverage – 37.4x 28.7x
Current ratio 2.5x 0.9x 2.5x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.7x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.3x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 11.26 3.97 5.43

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBCPCLINNUE
Dividend yield 0.5% 1.2% 0.9%
Net buyback yield 2.0% 1.7% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 2.5% 3.0% 2.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 39.7% 15.7%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 57.8% 32.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 5.3% -0.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.1% -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.

ConsensusBCPCLINNUE
Forward P/E 34.6xFY2026 30.4xFY2026 12.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.11FY2026 $16.76FY2026 $20.03FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.6%FY2026 +1.9%FY2026 +159.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.2% +14.1% +6.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.07BFY2026 $38.84BFY2026 $39.95BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.6%FY2026 +14.3%FY2026 +22.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +9.7% -4.2% +8.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBCPCLINNUE
Held by institutions 90.5% 85.2% 79.2%
Institutions holding 417 2,321 1,541
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.5% +4.2% +2.2%
Institutions buying 193 1,213 751
Institutions selling 162 764 516
Buyers to sellers 1.19 1.59 1.46

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.

BCPCLINNUE
BCPC 1.00 0.25 0.18
LIN 0.25 1.00 0.11
NUE 0.18 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BCPC, LIN and NUE?

Linde (LIN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Balchem (BCPC) $5.40B, Linde (LIN) $234.80B, Nucor (NUE) $58.78B.

Which stock is cheaper, BCPC, LIN and NUE?

Nucor (NUE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Balchem (BCPC) 31.6x, Linde (LIN) 32.4x, Nucor (NUE) 20.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nucor (NUE) is cheapest (Balchem (BCPC) 34.6x, Linde (LIN) 30.4x, Nucor (NUE) 12.9x). 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: Balchem (BCPC) +9.4%, Linde (LIN) +6.6%, Nucor (NUE) +17.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Linde (LIN) has the highest net margin (Balchem (BCPC) 15.4%, Linde (LIN) 20.4%, Nucor (NUE) 8.0%). On return on invested capital, Balchem (BCPC) leads (Balchem (BCPC) 12.1%, Linde (LIN) 10.8%, Nucor (NUE) 11.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nucor (NUE) returned the most: Balchem (BCPC) +12.9%, Linde (LIN) +13.1%, Nucor (NUE) +86.4%. Over five years, Nucor (NUE) compounded fastest (Balchem (BCPC) +2.7%/yr, Linde (LIN) +10.1%/yr, Nucor (NUE) +20.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Linde (LIN) has the highest dividend yield: Balchem (BCPC) 0.00%, Linde (LIN) 0.01%, Nucor (NUE) 0.01%. Balchem (BCPC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Linde (LIN) has been the steadiest (Balchem (BCPC) 20.4%, Linde (LIN) 19.2%, Nucor (NUE) 31.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BCPC, LIN 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, Nucor (NUE) leads on 5. 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.