CLS vs SANM vs FLEX Stock Comparison

Celestica, Sanmina and Flex Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CLS Celestica Inc
$282.93 -22.8% 1M -16.2% 1Y
Market cap
$31.58B
P/E
25.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.23B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
6 wins
SANM Sanmina Corp
$173.06 -22.3% 1M +25.3% 1Y
Market cap
$8.81B
P/E
28.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.76B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
2 wins
FLEX Flex Ltd.
$93.07 -18.2% 1M +40.8% 1Y
Market cap
$31.72B
P/E
42.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.95B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Celestica leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Celestica 6, Flex 3, Sanmina 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLSSANMFLEXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $31.58B $8.81B $31.72B FLEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.4x 28.6x 42.3x CLS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.5x 15.3x 19.1x SANM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +61.6% +58.6% +17.5% CLS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.8% 2.4% — CLS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 25.0% 7.8% — CLS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -1.9x 0.5x — CLS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -16.2% +25.3% +40.8% FLEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +95.9%/yr +35.6%/yr +48.9%/yr CLS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 80.1% 71.2% 69.8% FLEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 62/100 48/100 SANM

Percentile Scorecard

CLSSANMFLEX

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

AxisCLSSANMFLEX
Valuation 65 #40 of 112 81 #22 of 112 63 #42 of 112
Growth 89 #13 of 108 84 #18 of 108 50 #55 of 108
Profitability 78 #24 of 104 56 #46 of 104 68 #34 of 104
Financial Health 57 #51 of 116 27 #85 of 116 13 #101 of 116
Shareholder Returns 18 #64 of 78 – –
Overall 61 62 48
  • CLS ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • SANM ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • FLEX ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLSSANMFLEXSPY
1 month -22.8%-22.3%-18.2% +0.7%
3 months -19.8%-5.7%-16.8% +3.7%
6 months -30.9%-20.5%+1.7% +7.1%
Year to date -4.3%+15.3%+54.0% +12.8%
1 year -16.2%+25.3%+40.8% +11.9%
3 years +1,171.6%+244.1%+383.2% +85.2%
3 years, per year +133.5%+51.0%+69.1% +22.8%
5 years +2,781.2%+358.4%+630.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +95.9%+35.6%+48.9% +10.9%
10 years +2,275.6%+507.2%+752.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +37.3%+19.8%+23.9% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCLSSANMFLEXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 80.1%71.2%69.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 86.4%81.0%64.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.392.643.12 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.200.360.58 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.0%-45.4%-52.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.1%-38.8%-42.6% -1.2%
52-week high $472.40$282.72$162.07 $779.14
52-week low $246.25$122.86$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.

MultipleCLSSANMFLEX
P/E now vs peer median 27.4xmedian 32.9x 30.3xmedian 32.9x 42.3xmedian 32.9x
P/S now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 2.9x 0.7xmedian 2.9x 1.1xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.3xmedian 20.0x 13.8xmedian 20.0x —median 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 65.4xmedian 30.2x 15.6xmedian 30.2x 50.3xmedian 30.2x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 2.9x 3.4xmedian 2.9x 5.9xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.08 10.77median 1.08 —median 1.08

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 monthsCLSSANMFLEX
Revenue $18.23B $12.76B $30.95B
Gross profit $2.09B $1.15B $2.94B
Operating income $1.50B $530.30M $1.57B
Net income $1.25B $326.85M $774.00M
Free cash flow $545.40M $594.15M –
R&D $168.90M $33.59M –
EPS (diluted) $10.23 $5.59 –
Cash & equivalents $3.96B $1.84B $3.08B
Total debt $818.80M $2.17B –
Shares (diluted) 121.80M 55.13M 374.00M
Enterprise value $26.11B $3.04B $31.72B

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
MetricCLSSANMFLEX
P/E 27.4x 30.3x 42.3x
P/FCF 65.4x 15.6x 50.3x
P/Operating cash flow 25.4x 10.3x 21.4x
P/S 2.0x 0.7x 1.1x
P/B 5.7x 3.4x 5.9x
P/Tangible book 6.0x 3.4x 6.7x
EV/EBITDA 19.3x 13.8x –
EV/EBIT 21.6x 18.1x –
EV/Revenue 1.8x 0.8x 1.1x
EV/FCF 59.7x 16.2x –
EV/Operating cash flow 23.1x 10.7x 21.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 10.77 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLSSANMFLEX
Revenue growth (1Y) 61.6% 58.6% 17.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 11.9% 3.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 53.8% 65.2% 25.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 15.7% 14.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 62.0% 45.0% 25.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 4.9% 17.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 73.8% 16.1% -11.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 0.7% -14.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 65.4% 17.5% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 2.8% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 154.8% 90.3% -5.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 55.4% 11.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 37.0% 62.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 146.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLSSANMFLEX
Gross margin 11.5% 9.0% –
EBITDA margin 9.3% 5.4% –
Operating margin 8.3% 4.2% –
Pretax margin 8.0% 3.6% –
Net margin 6.8% 2.4% –
FCF margin 3.0% 4.7% –
Operating cash flow margin 7.7% 7.1% 5.2%
Return on equity 28.7% 12.2% 13.7%
Return on assets 10.0% 3.4% 2.9%
Return on invested capital 25.0% 7.8% –
Return on capital employed 32.1% 10.0% –
Asset turnover 1.5x 1.3x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x 2.8x 2.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLSSANMFLEX
Debt / assets 5.4% 22.3% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA -1.9x 0.5x –
Debt / FCF 1.5x 3.7x –
Liabilities / assets 59.0% 71.7% 78.8%
Equity / assets 41.0% 28.3% 21.2%
Interest coverage 21.3x 5.6x –
Current ratio 1.6x 1.8x 1.3x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.0x –
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.4x –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLSSANMFLEX
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -9.3% – –
Shareholder yield -9.3% – –
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.

ConsensusCLSSANMFLEX
Forward P/E 24.5xFY2026 15.3xFY2026 19.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.54FY2026 $11.31FY2026 $4.88FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +93.3%FY2026 +87.3%FY2026 +47.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +77.4% +19.5% +38.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.07BFY2026 $13.27BFY2026 $36.41BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +64.1%FY2026 +63.3%FY2026 +30.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +70.3% +33.4% +29.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLSSANMFLEX
Held by institutions 69.0% 93.3% 94.3%
Institutions holding 875 570 1,107
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.0% -5.4% -0.8%
Institutions buying 519 317 675
Institutions selling 273 208 342
Buyers to sellers 1.90 1.52 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.

CLSSANMFLEX
CLS 1.00 0.45 0.58
SANM 0.45 1.00 0.61
FLEX 0.58 0.61 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLS, SANM and FLEX?

Flex (FLEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Celestica (CLS) $31.58B, Sanmina (SANM) $8.81B, Flex (FLEX) $31.72B.

Which stock is cheaper, CLS, SANM and FLEX?

Celestica (CLS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Celestica (CLS) 25.4x, Sanmina (SANM) 28.6x, Flex (FLEX) 42.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sanmina (SANM) is cheapest (Celestica (CLS) 24.5x, Sanmina (SANM) 15.3x, Flex (FLEX) 19.1x). 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) +61.6%, Sanmina (SANM) +58.6%, Flex (FLEX) +17.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Celestica (CLS) has the highest net margin (Celestica (CLS) 6.8%, Sanmina (SANM) 2.4%). On return on invested capital, Celestica (CLS) leads (Celestica (CLS) 25.0%, Sanmina (SANM) 7.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Flex (FLEX) returned the most: Celestica (CLS) -16.2%, Sanmina (SANM) +25.3%, Flex (FLEX) +40.8%. Over five years, Celestica (CLS) compounded fastest (Celestica (CLS) +95.9%/yr, Sanmina (SANM) +35.6%/yr, Flex (FLEX) +48.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Flex (FLEX) has been the steadiest (Celestica (CLS) 80.1%, Sanmina (SANM) 71.2%, Flex (FLEX) 69.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLS, SANM 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 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.