ECL vs TMO vs AIRJ Stock Comparison

Ecolab, Thermo Fisher Scientific and AirJoule 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
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Thermo Fisher Scientific leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Thermo Fisher Scientific 6, Ecolab 6). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionECLTMOAIRJLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $88.04B $260.72B $166.67M TMO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 42.3x 36.9x -2.0x TMO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 38.6x 27.0x — TMO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +8.3% — ECL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.0% 14.9% — TMO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.0% 8.0% — ECL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 3.1x — TMO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% ECL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +18.3% +23.6% -52.4% TMO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.0%/yr +1.8%/yr — ECL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.3% 30.0% 85.7% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 61/100 59/100 47/100 ECL

Percentile Scorecard

ECLTMOAIRJ

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

AxisECLTMOAIRJ
Valuation 53 #10 of 20 60 #92 of 229 58 #9 of 20
Growth 82 #4 of 18 39 #135 of 221 12 #16 of 18
Profitability 88 #3 of 17 82 #39 of 209 44 #10 of 17
Financial Health 20 #17 of 21 31 #166 of 240 95 #2 of 21
Shareholder Returns 64 #5 of 12 82 #28 of 147 27 #9 of 12
Overall 61 59 47
  • ECL ranked among 21 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • TMO ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • AIRJ ranked among 21 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLTMOAIRJSPY
1 month +11.3%+6.6%-36.7% -2.0%
3 months +7.6%+23.8%-57.5% -2.2%
6 months +18.3%+49.6%-19.5% +4.2%
Year to date +16.1%+20.5%-37.1% +10.6%
1 year +18.3%+23.6%-52.4% +10.4%
3 years +74.3%+53.6%-76.8% +73.6%
3 years, per year +20.4%+15.4%-38.5% +20.2%
5 years +33.6%+9.2%— +61.6%
5 years, per year +6.0%+1.8%— +10.1%
10 years +174.1%+378.1%— +261.3%
10 years, per year +10.6%+16.9%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureECLTMOAIRJSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.3%30.0%85.7% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.6%28.6%76.2% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.450.642.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.860.79-0.61 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-41.5%-91.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.2%-1.5%-61.3% -3.2%
52-week high $308.47$709.29$6.40 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$438.34$2.48 $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.

MultipleECLTMOAIRJ
P/E now vs peer median 41.0xmedian 28.3x 36.6xmedian 28.1x -2.0xmedian 28.3x
P/S now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 2.5x 5.5xmedian 2.9x —median 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 24.6xmedian 21.1x 25.4xmedian 18.0x -10.1xmedian 21.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.6xmedian 24.9x 34.1xmedian 24.8x -25.1xmedian 24.9x
P/B now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 2.1x 4.7xmedian 2.3x 0.7xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.07median 1.75 4.84median 0.95 0.01median 1.75

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 monthsECLTMOAIRJ
Revenue $17.37B $47.35B –
Gross profit $7.63B $19.45B –
Operating income $2.90B $8.47B -$13.96M
Net income $2.10B $7.09B -$84.79M
Free cash flow $1.80B $7.60B -$7.26M
R&D – $1.40B $607.33K
EPS (diluted) $7.38 $19.06 $-1.22
Cash & equivalents $722.30M $5.46B $41.42M
Total debt $13.19B $41.37B –
Shares (diluted) 282.10M 371.00M 69.74M
Enterprise value $81.02B $237.23B $46.29M

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
MetricECLTMOAIRJ
P/E 41.0x 36.6x -2.0x
P/FCF 47.6x 34.1x -25.1x
P/Operating cash flow 28.2x 27.8x -25.2x
P/S 4.9x 5.5x –
P/B 8.2x 4.7x 0.7x
P/Tangible book 16.0x 7.1x -0.7x
EV/EBITDA 24.6x 25.4x -10.1x
EV/EBIT 33.7x 34.7x -10.1x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 6.2x –
EV/FCF 54.6x 38.7x -19.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 32.3x 31.5x -19.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.07 4.84 0.01

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLTMOAIRJ
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 8.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.9% 2.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.4% 7.8% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.8% 4.0% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.3% 12.8% -11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 17.2% 7.2% -46.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 4.7% 7.9% -322.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 18.8% 6.2% -288.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 6.2% 9.7% -292.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.8% 7.6% -176.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.2% 21.9% 18.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 4.5% -47.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 15.6% 24.3% 18.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 5.1% -47.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLTMOAIRJ
Gross margin 43.9% 41.1% –
EBITDA margin 22.9% 24.4% –
Operating margin 16.7% 17.9% –
Pretax margin 15.0% 16.7% –
Net margin 12.0% 14.9% –
FCF margin 10.3% 16.0% –
Operating cash flow margin 17.4% 19.7% –
Return on equity 20.4% 13.2% -34.6%
Return on assets 6.9% 6.2% -28.1%
Return on invested capital 10.0% 8.0% –
Return on capital employed 12.0% 8.5% -4.7%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x 0.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLTMOAIRJ
Debt / assets 42.4% 36.2% –
Debt / equity 1.3x 0.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 3.1x –
Debt / FCF 7.3x 5.4x –
Liabilities / assets 66.4% 52.1% 19.0%
Equity / assets 33.6% 47.9% 81.0%
Interest coverage 8.0x 5.5x –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.8x 19.7x
Quick ratio 0.7x 1.2x 18.9x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.4x 18.9x
Altman Z-score 4.00 4.17 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLTMOAIRJ
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.3% –
Net buyback yield 1.1% 1.6% -20.0%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 1.8% -20.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.0% 9.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 45.6% 8.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 12.7% 8.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.7% 10.1% –

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.

ConsensusECLTMOAIRJ
Forward P/E 38.6xFY2026 27.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $25.91FY2026 $-1.05FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +13.3%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +23.2% +2.0% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.26BFY2026 $50.12BFY2026 $168.27KFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2026 +12.5%FY2026 +205.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% -2.8% +3,073.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLTMOAIRJ
Held by institutions 80.0% 90.2% 24.6%
Institutions holding 1,714 2,627 119
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +0.8% +8.4%
Institutions buying 764 1,145 84
Institutions selling 679 1,145 19
Buyers to sellers 1.13 1.00 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.

ECLTMOAIRJ
ECL 1.00 0.21 0.09
TMO 0.21 1.00 0.06
AIRJ 0.09 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL, TMO and AIRJ?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $88.04B, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) $260.72B, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) $166.67M.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL, TMO and AIRJ?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 42.3x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 36.9x, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) -2.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 38.6x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 27.0x). 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%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +8.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) has the highest net margin (Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 14.9%). On return on invested capital, Ecolab (ECL) leads (Ecolab (ECL) 10.0%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 8.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +18.3%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +23.6%, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) -52.4%. Over five years, Ecolab (ECL) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +6.0%/yr, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +1.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Ecolab (ECL) has the highest dividend yield: Ecolab (ECL) 0.01%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 0.00%, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) 0.00%. AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.3%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 30.0%, AirJoule Technologies (AIRJ) 85.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ECL, TMO 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, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 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.