ECL vs TMO Stock Comparison

Ecolab and Thermo Fisher Scientific Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$288.57 +4.3% 1M +4.9% 1Y
Market cap
$81.05B
P/E
38.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.84B
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.

QuestionECLTMOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $81.05B $254.18B TMO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 38.3x 36.5x TMO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 36.5x 26.1x TMO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.1% +7.2% TMO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.6% 15.0% TMO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.0% 7.9% ECL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.1x 3.5x ECL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% ECL
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.9% +17.8% TMO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.4%/yr +1.9%/yr ECL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.9% 29.8% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 59/100 ECL

Percentile Scorecard

ECLTMO

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

AxisECLTMO
Valuation 50 #11 of 21 60 #93 of 228
Growth 83 #4 of 19 35 #144 of 222
Profitability 88 #3 of 17 83 #37 of 210
Financial Health 48 #12 of 22 28 #174 of 241
Shareholder Returns 60 #5 of 11 88 #18 of 138
Overall 66 59
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • TMO ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodECLTMOSPY
1 month +4.3%+1.2% -1.0%
3 months +7.4%+18.6% +2.9%
6 months +7.1%+43.5% +6.4%
Year to date +9.9%+16.3% +11.4%
1 year +4.9%+17.8% +13.1%
3 years +80.1%+47.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +21.7%+13.7% +21.5%
5 years +30.3%+10.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +5.4%+1.9% +10.9%
10 years +149.2%+347.3% +255.2%
10 years, per year +9.6%+16.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureECLTMOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.9%29.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 22.0%28.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.480.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.230.60 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -44.3%-41.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.4%-3.3% -2.5%
52-week high $308.35$696.55 $779.14
52-week low $245.73$438.34 $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.

MultipleECLTMO
P/E now vs peer median 38.3xmedian 25.9x 35.9xmedian 30.7x
P/S now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 2.5x 5.4xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.9xmedian 19.3x 25.9xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 43.2xmedian 25.4x 34.0xmedian 23.7x
P/B now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 2.0x 4.7xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.72median 1.53 4.27median 0.96

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 monthsECLTMO
Revenue $16.84B $46.34B
Gross profit $7.43B $18.91B
Operating income $2.85B $8.15B
Net income $2.13B $6.99B
Free cash flow $1.87B $7.32B
R&D – $1.40B
EPS (diluted) $7.50 $18.78
Cash & equivalents $5.14B $4.06B
Total debt $38.40B $42.55B
Shares (diluted) 282.20M 371.00M
Enterprise value $72.79B $233.20B

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
MetricECLTMO
P/E 38.3x 35.9x
P/FCF 43.2x 34.0x
P/Operating cash flow 26.5x 27.6x
P/S 4.8x 5.4x
P/B 8.0x 4.7x
P/Tangible book 12.2x 7.3x
EV/EBITDA 22.9x 25.9x
EV/EBIT 31.2x 35.3x
EV/Revenue 5.3x 6.2x
EV/FCF 47.4x 39.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 29.1x 31.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.72 4.27

Growth

14 metrics
MetricECLTMO
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.1% 7.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 2.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.5% 6.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.4% 3.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -1.4% 10.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 6.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -1.0% 6.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 21.3% 6.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 0.2% 7.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 22.3% 8.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 16.5% 18.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.9% 5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 19.1% 18.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.2% 7.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricECLTMO
Gross margin 44.1% 40.8%
EBITDA margin 23.1% 23.9%
Operating margin 16.9% 17.6%
Pretax margin 15.6% 16.5%
Net margin 12.6% 15.0%
FCF margin 11.1% 15.8%
Operating cash flow margin 18.1% 19.5%
Return on equity 21.2% 13.4%
Return on assets 7.8% 6.2%
Return on invested capital 11.0% 7.9%
Return on capital employed 13.3% 8.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricECLTMO
Debt / assets 44.0% 37.6%
Debt / equity 1.3x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.1x 3.5x
Debt / FCF 7.0x 5.8x
Liabilities / assets 66.3% 53.4%
Equity / assets 33.7% 46.6%
Interest coverage 17.6x 5.6x
Current ratio 1.8x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.9x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 4.15 3.98

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricECLTMO
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.3%
Net buyback yield 1.3% 2.0%
Shareholder yield 2.3% 2.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) 37.4% 9.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 42.6% 9.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) 13.4% 8.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 9.3% 10.8%

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.

ConsensusECLTMO
Forward P/E 36.5xFY2026 26.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.90FY2026 $25.77FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.9%FY2026 +12.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.3% +1.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $17.24BFY2026 $49.99BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.2%FY2026 +12.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.4% -2.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersECLTMO
Held by institutions 80.0% 90.2%
Institutions holding 1,710 2,621
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +0.8%
Institutions buying 762 1,141
Institutions selling 679 1,144
Buyers to sellers 1.12 1.00

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.

ECLTMO
ECL 1.00 0.22
TMO 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ECL and TMO?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ecolab (ECL) $81.05B, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) $254.18B.

Which stock is cheaper, ECL and TMO?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 38.3x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 36.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is cheapest (Ecolab (ECL) 36.5x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 26.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ecolab (ECL) +7.1%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +7.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) has the highest net margin (Ecolab (ECL) 12.6%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 15.0%). On return on invested capital, Ecolab (ECL) leads (Ecolab (ECL) 11.0%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 7.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) returned the most: Ecolab (ECL) +4.9%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +17.8%. Over five years, Ecolab (ECL) compounded fastest (Ecolab (ECL) +5.4%/yr, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +1.9%/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%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Ecolab (ECL) 21.9%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 29.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ECL and TMO move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.22, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ECL and TMO?

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.