CLS vs JBL vs FLEX Stock Comparison

Celestica, Jabil and Flex Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CLS Celestica Inc
$259.98 -28.4% 1M -8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$31.18B
P/E
27.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.59B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
8 wins
JBL Jabil Inc
$273.98 -11.3% 1M +32.6% 1Y
Market cap
$29.71B
P/E
28.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.95B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
2 wins
FLEX Flex Ltd.
$76.55 -31.8% 1M +19.8% 1Y
Market cap
$28.88B
P/E
29.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$29.27B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Celestica leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Celestica 8, Jabil 2, Flex 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLSJBLFLEXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $31.18B $29.71B $28.88B CLS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.9x 28.5x 29.7x CLS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.8x 15.9x 15.7x FLEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +47.3% +20.6% +12.2% CLS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.2% 2.9% 3.3% CLS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 37.9% 25.9% 11.3% CLS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.7x 1.5x CLS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -8.0% +32.6% +19.8% JBL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +94.6%/yr +34.8%/yr +40.4%/yr CLS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 79.0% 47.7% 68.6% JBL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 58/100 56/100 CLS

Percentile Scorecard

CLSJBLFLEX

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

AxisCLSJBLFLEX
Valuation 55 #51 of 112 71 #33 of 112 68 #37 of 112
Growth 94 #8 of 109 66 #38 of 109 50 #55 of 109
Profitability 80 #22 of 105 68 #34 of 105 57 #46 of 105
Financial Health 35 #76 of 117 19 #95 of 117 20 #94 of 117
Shareholder Returns 54 #38 of 82 65 #29 of 82 84 #14 of 82
Overall 64 58 56
  • CLS ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • JBL ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware
  • FLEX ranked among 122 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLSJBLFLEXSPY
1 month -28.4%-11.3%-31.8% -1.0%
3 months -14.8%-12.4%-35.4% +2.9%
6 months -36.6%-19.8%-16.3% +6.4%
Year to date -12.1%+20.2%+26.7% +11.4%
1 year -8.0%+32.6%+19.8% +13.1%
3 years +899.5%+120.1%+326.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +115.5%+30.1%+62.2% +21.5%
5 years +2,683.5%+344.6%+444.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +94.6%+34.8%+40.4% +10.9%
10 years +2,162.7%+1,163.7%+639.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year +36.6%+28.9%+22.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCLSJBLFLEXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 79.0%47.7%68.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 86.3%52.6%64.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.372.183.06 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.100.680.29 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.0%-36.9%-52.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -45.0%-29.0%-52.8% -2.5%
52-week high $472.40$385.63$162.07 $779.14
52-week low $249.52$192.49$54.51 $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.

MultipleCLSJBLFLEX
P/E now vs peer median 26.8xmedian 31.3x 27.8xmedian 31.3x 28.8xmedian 31.3x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.6x 0.8xmedian 2.6x 1.0xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 19.6x 12.7xmedian 19.6x 19.7xmedian 19.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 57.6xmedian 28.3x 20.8xmedian 28.3x 34.2xmedian 28.3x
P/B now vs peer median 12.1xmedian 2.9x 17.7xmedian 2.9x 5.1xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.15 1.60median 1.15 2.00median 1.15

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 monthsCLSJBLFLEX
Revenue $15.59B $35.95B $29.27B
Gross profit $1.86B $3.32B $2.74B
Operating income $1.37B $1.70B $1.45B
Net income $1.12B $1.04B $973.00M
Free cash flow $518.70M $1.37B $826.00M
R&D $154.10M $30.00M –
EPS (diluted) $9.61 $9.75 $2.60
Cash & equivalents $535.70M $1.74B $2.84B
Total debt $810.40M $3.38B $5.22B
Shares (diluted) 116.20M 106.90M 374.00M
Enterprise value $29.36B $23.21B $18.34B

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
MetricCLSJBLFLEX
P/E 26.8x 27.8x 28.8x
P/FCF 57.6x 20.8x 34.2x
P/Operating cash flow 26.1x 14.3x 18.1x
P/S 1.9x 0.8x 1.0x
P/B 12.1x 17.7x 5.1x
P/Tangible book 13.4x 28.2x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA 19.5x 12.7x 19.7x
EV/EBIT 22.0x 17.8x 21.2x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 0.8x 1.0x
EV/FCF 58.2x 22.0x 37.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.4x 15.1x 19.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.60 2.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLSJBLFLEX
Revenue growth (1Y) 47.3% 20.6% 12.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 1.2% 1.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 55.0% 25.4% 21.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 5.0% 11.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 84.6% 44.2% 16.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 3.5% 14.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 107.4% 58.6% 9.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 8.4% -2.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 106.8% 64.5% 11.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 17.4% 14.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 108.4% 22.1% -0.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 4.9% 19.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.3% 17.2% -25.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 25.0% 54.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLSJBLFLEX
Gross margin 12.0% 9.2% 9.4%
EBITDA margin 9.9% 6.6% 5.3%
Operating margin 8.8% 4.7% 5.0%
Pretax margin 8.4% 3.9% 4.4%
Net margin 7.2% 2.9% 3.3%
FCF margin 3.3% 3.8% 2.8%
Operating cash flow margin 7.3% 5.6% 5.3%
Return on equity 48.8% 70.7% 18.3%
Return on assets 12.4% 4.1% 4.1%
Return on invested capital 37.9% 25.9% 11.3%
Return on capital employed 48.2% 43.1% 13.9%
Asset turnover 1.7x 1.4x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x 1.9x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLSJBLFLEX
Debt / assets 8.3% 12.3% 20.7%
Debt / equity 0.3x 2.1x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.2x 0.7x 1.5x
Debt / FCF 1.6x 2.5x 6.3x
Liabilities / assets 74.7% 94.1% 78.2%
Equity / assets 25.3% 5.9% 21.8%
Interest coverage 21.9x – 6.5x
Current ratio 1.2x 1.0x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 2.55 2.59

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLSJBLFLEX
Dividend yield – 0.1% –
Net buyback yield 0.2% 3.6% 2.5%
Shareholder yield 0.2% 3.7% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCLSJBLFLEX
Forward P/E 22.8xFY2026 15.9xFY2027 15.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.40FY2026 $17.25FY2027 $4.89FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +91.0%FY2026 +31.8%FY2027 +48.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +77.5% +36.2% +37.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $19.74BFY2026 $46.50BFY2027 $36.35BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +61.4%FY2026 +29.3%FY2027 +30.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +69.4% +17.4% +29.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLSJBLFLEX
Held by institutions 69.0% 96.9% 94.3%
Institutions holding 873 1,120 1,106
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% +3.2% -0.8%
Institutions buying 518 618 674
Institutions selling 272 373 342
Buyers to sellers 1.90 1.66 1.97

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.

CLSJBLFLEX
CLS 1.00 0.62 0.56
JBL 0.62 1.00 0.78
FLEX 0.56 0.78 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLS, JBL and FLEX?

Celestica (CLS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Celestica (CLS) $31.18B, Jabil (JBL) $29.71B, Flex (FLEX) $28.88B.

Which stock is cheaper, CLS, JBL and FLEX?

Celestica (CLS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Celestica (CLS) 27.9x, Jabil (JBL) 28.5x, Flex (FLEX) 29.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Flex (FLEX) is cheapest (Celestica (CLS) 22.8x, Jabil (JBL) 15.9x, Flex (FLEX) 15.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Celestica (CLS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Celestica (CLS) +47.3%, Jabil (JBL) +20.6%, Flex (FLEX) +12.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Celestica (CLS) has the highest net margin (Celestica (CLS) 7.2%, Jabil (JBL) 2.9%, Flex (FLEX) 3.3%). On return on invested capital, Celestica (CLS) leads (Celestica (CLS) 37.9%, Jabil (JBL) 25.9%, Flex (FLEX) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Jabil (JBL) returned the most: Celestica (CLS) -8.0%, Jabil (JBL) +32.6%, Flex (FLEX) +19.8%. Over five years, Celestica (CLS) compounded fastest (Celestica (CLS) +94.6%/yr, Jabil (JBL) +34.8%/yr, Flex (FLEX) +40.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Jabil (JBL) has been the steadiest (Celestica (CLS) 79.0%, Jabil (JBL) 47.7%, Flex (FLEX) 68.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLS, JBL and FLEX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Celestica (CLS) leads on 8. 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.