ECL vs GLW vs AIRJ Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Corning and AirJoule Technologies Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$291.28 +4.1% 1M +4.1% 1Y
Market cap
$82.08B
P/E
39.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
3 wins
GLW Corning Inc /Ny
$126.36 -19.4% 1M +41.4% 1Y
Market cap
$113.79B
P/E
72.0x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

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

QuestionECLGLWAIRJLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $82.08B $113.79B $205.02M GLW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 39.4x 72.0x -2.4x ECL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 36.9x 36.6x — GLW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% — — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.1% +41.4% -44.4% GLW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.7%/yr +28.8%/yr — GLW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.9% 74.6% 85.0% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 22/100 41/100 ECL

Percentile Scorecard

ECLGLWAIRJ

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

AxisECLGLWAIRJ
Valuation 35 #14 of 21 11 #84 of 94 50 #11 of 21
Growth 83 #4 of 19 – 6 #18 of 19
Profitability 81 #4 of 17 – 44 #10 of 17
Financial Health 19 #18 of 22 37 #60 of 95 95 #2 of 22
Shareholder Returns – 19 #57 of 70 11 #9 of 10
Overall 55 22 41
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • GLW ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • AIRJ ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLGLWAIRJSPY
1 month +4.1%-19.4%-28.6% -0.2%
3 months +2.8%+0.3%-32.6% +3.9%
6 months +9.1%-17.4%-7.0% +8.2%
Year to date +11.0%+44.3%-25.9% +12.9%
1 year +4.1%+41.4%-44.4% +12.3%
3 years +85.0%+375.2%-72.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +22.8%+68.2%-35.1% +23.3%
5 years +31.8%+254.5%— +67.9%
5 years, per year +5.7%+28.8%— +10.9%
10 years +153.4%+451.3%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +9.7%+18.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureECLGLWAIRJSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.9%74.6%85.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.0%75.4%75.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.483.022.57 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.190.56-0.52 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-51.6%-91.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.5%-50.6%-54.4% -1.2%
52-week high $308.35$255.69$6.40 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$78.03$2.51 $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.

MultipleECLGLWAIRJ
P/E now vs peer median 39.3xmedian 25.6x 72.0xmedian 22.0x -2.4xmedian 25.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.7xmedian 2.4x 8.1xmedian 1.4x —median 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 16.7x —median 12.4x -12.4xmedian 16.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 41.5xmedian 23.6x 57.1xmedian 15.1x -29.5xmedian 23.6x
P/B now vs peer median 7.8xmedian 2.0x 7.6xmedian 1.6x 0.9xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 1.98median 1.68 —median 1.66 0.01median 1.68

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 monthsECLGLWAIRJ
Revenue $17.37B – –
Operating income $2.90B – -$13.96M
Net income – – -$84.79M
Free cash flow – – -$7.26M
R&D – – $607.33K
EPS (diluted) $7.38 – $-1.22
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $2.54B $41.42M
Shares (diluted) 282.20M 875.00M 69.74M
Enterprise value $82.08B $113.79B $84.65M

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
MetricECLGLWAIRJ
P/E 39.3x 72.0x -2.4x
P/FCF 41.5x 57.1x -29.5x
P/Operating cash flow – – -29.6x
P/S 4.7x 8.1x –
P/B 7.8x 7.6x 0.9x
P/Tangible book 15.2x 7.9x -0.8x
EV/EBITDA – – -12.4x
EV/EBIT – – -12.4x
EV/Revenue 4.7x – –
EV/FCF – – -23.8x
EV/Operating cash flow – – -23.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.98 – 0.01

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLGLWAIRJ
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% – –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% – –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% – -11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% – -46.4%
Net income growth (1Y) – – -322.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – -288.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.1% – -292.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% – -176.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – – 18.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -47.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 18.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -47.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLGLWAIRJ
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – – –
Pretax margin – – –
Net margin – – –
FCF margin – – –
Operating cash flow margin – – –
Return on equity 20.4% – -34.6%
Return on assets 6.9% – -28.1%
Return on invested capital – – –
Return on capital employed – – -4.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x – –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – – 0.1x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLGLWAIRJ
Debt / assets – – –
Debt / equity – – –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF – – –
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 58.1% 19.0%
Equity / assets 33.6% 41.9% 81.0%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.7x 19.7x
Quick ratio – – 18.9x
Cash ratio – – 18.9x
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLGLWAIRJ
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.9% –
Net buyback yield – – -17.0%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 0.9% -17.0%
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.

ConsensusECLGLWAIRJ
Forward P/E 36.9xFY2026 36.6xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $3.45FY2026 $-1.05FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +36.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% +24.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $18.34BFY2026 $168.27KFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +11.8%FY2026 +205.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% +31.0% +3,073.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLGLWAIRJ
Held by institutions 80.0% 73.0% 24.6%
Institutions holding 1,710 2,682 119
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +3.5% +8.4%
Institutions buying 762 1,476 84
Institutions selling 679 949 19
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.56 4.42

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.

ECLGLWAIRJ
ECL 1.00 0.02 0.11
GLW 0.02 1.00 0.27
AIRJ 0.11 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, GLW and AIRJ?

Corning (GLW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $82.08B, Corning (GLW) $113.79B, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) $205.02M.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, GLW and AIRJ?

Ecolab (ECL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 39.4x, Corning (GLW) 72.0x, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) -2.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Corning (GLW) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 36.9x, Corning (GLW) 36.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Corning (GLW) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +4.1%, Corning (GLW) +41.4%, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) -44.4%. Over five years, Corning (GLW) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +5.7%/yr, Corning (GLW) +28.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.9%, Corning (GLW) 74.6%, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) 85.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ECL, GLW and AIRJ?

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