ECL vs GFAI vs NSSC Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Guardforce AI and Napco Security Technologies Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ECL Ecolab Inc.
$304.69 +11.3% 1M +18.3% 1Y
Market cap
$88.04B
P/E
42.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Ecolab leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Ecolab 4, Napco Security Technologies 4, Guardforce AI 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionECLGFAINSSCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $88.04B $4.19M $1.13B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 42.3x — 25.9x NSSC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.6x 1.5x 19.7x GFAI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% — +8.7% ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.0% — 21.6% NSSC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.0% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +18.3% -80.3% -22.1% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.0%/yr -71.1%/yr +6.5%/yr NSSC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 94.0% 45.3% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 — 63/100 NSSC

Percentile Scorecard

ECLGFAINSSC

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

AxisECLGFAINSSC
Valuation 53 #10 of 20 – 38 #71 of 114
Growth 82 #4 of 18 – 60 #40 of 98
Profitability 88 #3 of 17 – 98 #3 of 95
Financial Health 20 #17 of 21 93 #10 of 126 97 #5 of 126
Shareholder Returns 64 #5 of 12 – 22 #55 of 70
Overall 61 – 63
  • ECL ranked among 21 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • GFAI ranked among 131 companies in Business Services
  • NSSC ranked among 131 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLGFAINSSCSPY
1 month +11.3%-38.7%-12.2% -2.0%
3 months +7.6%-45.7%-21.0% -2.2%
6 months +18.3%-64.2%-24.0% +4.2%
Year to date +16.1%-65.9%-23.8% +10.6%
1 year +18.3%-80.3%-22.1% +10.4%
3 years +74.3%-94.9%+69.0% +73.6%
3 years, per year +20.4%-63.1%+19.1% +20.2%
5 years +33.6%-99.8%+37.2% +61.6%
5 years, per year +6.0%-71.1%+6.5% +10.1%
10 years +174.1%—+801.3% +261.3%
10 years, per year +10.6%—+24.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureECLGFAINSSCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%94.0%45.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.6%93.6%51.3% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.452.531.28 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.86-0.85-0.49 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-99.8%-65.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.2%-80.3%-32.7% -3.2%
52-week high $308.47$0.96$47.23 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$0.18$31.77 $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.

MultipleECLGFAINSSC
P/E now vs peer median 41.0xmedian 28.3x —median 20.8x 25.9xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 2.5x —median 0.9x 5.6xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 24.6xmedian 21.1x —median 11.9x 20.7xmedian 11.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.6xmedian 24.9x —median 15.0x 22.7xmedian 15.0x
P/B now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 2.1x 0.2xmedian 2.4x 5.7xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.07median 1.75 —median 1.08 2.72median 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 monthsECLGFAINSSC
Revenue $17.37B – $203.13M
Gross profit $7.63B – $121.30M
Operating income $2.90B – $46.11M
Net income $2.10B – $43.87M
Free cash flow $1.80B – $50.10M
R&D – – $14.60M
EPS (diluted) $7.38 – $1.22
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $21.30M $123.88M
Total debt $13.19B – –
Shares (diluted) 282.10M 21.92M 35.88M
Enterprise value $81.02B -$179.30M $621.69M

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
MetricECLGFAINSSC
P/E 41.0x – 25.9x
P/FCF 47.6x – 22.7x
P/Operating cash flow 28.2x – 21.7x
P/S 4.9x – 5.6x
P/B 8.2x 0.2x 5.7x
P/Tangible book 16.0x 0.2x 5.8x
EV/EBITDA 24.6x – 20.7x
EV/EBIT 33.7x – 21.7x
EV/Revenue 5.6x – 4.9x
EV/FCF 54.6x – 20.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 32.3x – 19.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.07 – 2.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLGFAINSSC
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% – 8.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% – 5.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.4% – 16.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.8% – 14.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% – -4.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% – 6.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.7% – -1.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.8% – 8.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.2% – -1.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% – 9.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.2% – -1.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.8% – 11.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 15.6% – -2.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 1.8% – 12.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLGFAINSSC
Gross margin 43.9% – 59.7%
EBITDA margin 22.9% – 23.8%
Operating margin 16.7% – 22.7%
Pretax margin 15.0% – 24.9%
Net margin 12.0% – 21.6%
FCF margin 10.3% – 24.7%
Operating cash flow margin 17.4% – 25.7%
Return on equity 20.4% – 22.5%
Return on assets 6.9% – 18.7%
Return on invested capital 10.0% – –
Return on capital employed 12.0% – 22.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x – 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x – 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% – 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLGFAINSSC
Debt / assets 42.4% – –
Debt / equity 1.3x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x – –
Debt / FCF 7.3x – –
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 30.7% 14.4%
Equity / assets 33.6% 69.3% 85.6%
Interest coverage 8.0x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 5.2x 7.2x
Quick ratio 0.7x 4.8x 5.8x
Cash ratio 0.1x 3.8x 4.8x
Altman Z-score 4.00 – 24.31

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLGFAINSSC
Dividend yield 1.0% – 1.9%
Net buyback yield 1.1% – -0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.0% – 1.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 45.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.7% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.7% – –

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.

ConsensusECLGFAINSSC
Forward P/E 38.6xFY2026 1.5xFY2026 19.7xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $0.13FY2026 $1.61FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 – +0.6%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% – +19.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $40.46MFY2026 $208.17MFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +14.9%FY2026 +2.9%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +158.0% +9.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLGFAINSSC
Held by institutions 80.0% – 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,714 – 261
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% – +4.2%
Institutions buying 764 – 138
Institutions selling 679 – 89
Buyers to sellers 1.13 – 1.55

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.

ECLGFAINSSC
ECL 1.00 0.08 0.19
GFAI 0.08 1.00 0.11
NSSC 0.19 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, GFAI and NSSC?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $88.04B, Guardforce AI (GFAI) $4.19M, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) $1.13B.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, GFAI and NSSC?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 42.3x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 25.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Guardforce AI (GFAI) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 38.6x, Guardforce AI (GFAI) 1.5x, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 19.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ecolab (ECL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +8.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) has the highest net margin (Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 21.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +18.3%, Guardforce AI (GFAI) -80.3%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) -22.1%. Over five years, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +6.0%/yr, Guardforce AI (GFAI) -71.1%/yr, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) +6.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Ecolab (ECL) 0.01%, Guardforce AI (GFAI) 0.00%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 0.00%. Guardforce AI (GFAI) and Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.3%, Guardforce AI (GFAI) 94.0%, Napco Security Technologies (NSSC) 45.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ECL, GFAI and NSSC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ecolab (ECL) leads on 4. 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.