EL vs HELE vs MLKMF Stock Comparison

Estee Lauder Companies, Helen Of Troy and Waldencast Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EL Estee Lauder Companies Inc
$108.31 +14.6% 1M +7.8% 1Y
Market cap
$39.63B
P/E
217.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.05B
Div. yield
0.01%
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
7 wins
HELE Helen Of Troy Ltd
$29.20 +2.0% 1M +45.7% 1Y
Market cap
$677.65M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.83B
Div. yield
–
Home Appliances Consumer Discretionary
3 wins
MLKMF Waldencast plc
$0.88 -14.6% 1M -54.4% 1Y
Market cap
$91.26M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Estee Lauder Companies leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Estee Lauder Companies 7, Helen Of Troy 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELHELEMLKMFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $39.63B $677.65M $91.26M EL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 217.8x -6.8x — –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.1x 7.8x — HELE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.0% +0.3% — EL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.2% -5.4% — EL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.4% 1.6% — EL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.4x 8.3x — EL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +7.8% +45.7% -54.4% HELE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.8%/yr -33.4%/yr -38.2%/yr EL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.5% 54.0% 100.5% EL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 44/100 — HELE

Percentile Scorecard

ELHELEMLKMF

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

AxisELHELEMLKMF
Valuation 37 #33 of 52 78 #10 of 42 –
Growth 61 #20 of 50 39 #26 of 42 –
Profitability 59 #19 of 45 49 #21 of 40 –
Financial Health 40 #34 of 56 30 #31 of 44 67 #19 of 56
Shareholder Returns 20 #25 of 31 22 #22 of 28 –
Overall 44 44 –
  • EL ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • HELE ranked among 45 companies in Household Durables
  • MLKMF ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodELHELEMLKMFSPY
1 month +14.6%+2.0%-14.6% -0.2%
3 months +27.8%+1.2%-47.3% +3.9%
6 months +40.5%+24.5%+12.8% +8.2%
Year to date +3.4%+37.4%-53.2% +12.9%
1 year +7.8%+45.7%-54.4% +12.3%
3 years -13.0%-69.8%-90.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year -4.5%-32.9%-53.6% +23.3%
5 years -66.7%-86.9%-90.9% +67.9%
5 years, per year -19.8%-33.4%-38.2% +10.9%
10 years +26.1%-62.6%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +2.3%-9.4%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureELHELEMLKMFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.5%54.0%100.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.4%48.3%88.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.310.971.35 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.160.85-0.54 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -86.5%-94.5%-93.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-3.4%-71.4% -1.2%
52-week high $119.61$30.22$3.08 $779.14
52-week low $67.23$13.88$0.75 $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.

MultipleELHELEMLKMF
P/E now vs peer median 215.6xmedian 18.5x -6.9xmedian 16.0x —median 18.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.6x 0.4xmedian 0.6x —median 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.3xmedian 12.9x 17.0xmedian 9.8x —median 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.8xmedian 18.6x 4.6xmedian 11.9x —median 18.6x
P/B now vs peer median 10.3xmedian 2.2x 0.8xmedian 1.2x 0.3xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -4.94median 0.97 0.17median 0.64 —median 0.97

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 monthsELHELEMLKMF
Revenue $15.05B $1.83B –
Gross profit $11.36B $864.98M –
Operating income $780.00M $23.94M –
Net income $182.00M -$99.23M –
Free cash flow $1.32B $147.21M –
EPS (diluted) $0.50 $-4.11 –
Cash & equivalents $3.50B $22.58M $7.82M
Total debt $7.31B $3.17B $631.43M
Shares (diluted) 364.80M 24.15M 114.07M
Enterprise value $27.71B $587.36M $29.29M

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
MetricELHELEMLKMF
P/E 215.6x -6.9x –
P/FCF 29.8x 4.6x –
P/Operating cash flow 22.1x 3.8x –
P/S 2.6x 0.4x –
P/B 10.3x 0.8x 0.3x
P/Tangible book 172.9x 1.4x 0.3x
EV/EBITDA 27.3x 17.0x –
EV/EBIT 55.2x 55.6x –
EV/Revenue 2.9x 0.7x –
EV/FCF 32.7x 9.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 24.3x 7.4x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -4.94 0.17 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELHELEMLKMF
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.0% 0.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.8% -3.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.2% 0.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.0% -1.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 199.4% 103.7% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -19.7% -52.1% –
Net income growth (1Y) 116.1% 84.9% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -43.5% -39.6% –
EPS growth (1Y) 115.9% 85.7% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -43.6% -39.5% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 39.4% 97.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.8% -25.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 96.4% 192.7% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% -25.7% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELHELEMLKMF
Gross margin 75.5% 47.4% –
EBITDA margin 10.5% 4.3% –
Operating margin 5.2% 1.3% –
Pretax margin 3.4% -1.5% –
Net margin 1.2% -5.4% –
FCF margin 8.7% 8.1% –
Operating cash flow margin 11.8% 9.8% –
Return on equity 4.7% -11.7% –
Return on assets 0.9% -4.8% –
Return on invested capital 2.4% 1.6% –
Return on capital employed 5.8% 1.5% –
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.9x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 9.7x -1.8x –
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% 1.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELHELEMLKMF
Debt / assets 37.0% 32.1% 23.1%
Debt / equity 1.9x 0.8x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.4x 8.3x –
Debt / FCF 5.6x 4.6x –
Liabilities / assets 80.7% 59.3% 39.5%
Equity / assets 19.3% 40.7% 60.5%
Interest coverage 2.3x 0.5x –
Current ratio 1.2x 1.7x 4.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.7x 0.1x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.25 1.74 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELHELEMLKMF
Dividend yield 1.3% – –
Net buyback yield 0.0% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 1.3% -0.1% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 279.1% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 38.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -17.8% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -18.1% – –

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.

ConsensusELHELEMLKMF
Forward P/E 34.1xFY2027 7.8xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $3.18FY2027 $3.74FY2026 $-0.51FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +28.7%FY2027 +5.4%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +13.9% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.39BFY2027 $1.76BFY2026 $272.64MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.9%FY2027 -1.8%FY2026 +0.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.8% -2.6% +10.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELHELEMLKMF
Held by institutions 92.8% 96.3% –
Institutions holding 832 198 –
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% +5.7% –
Institutions buying 439 120 –
Institutions selling 282 46 –
Buyers to sellers 1.56 2.61 –

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.

ELHELEMLKMF
EL 1.00 0.25 0.11
HELE 0.25 1.00 0.02
MLKMF 0.11 0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EL, HELE and MLKMF?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) $39.63B, Helen Of Troy (HELE) $677.65M, Waldencast (MLKMF) $91.26M.

Which company is growing faster?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +5.0%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) +0.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) has the highest net margin (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 1.2%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) -5.4%). On return on invested capital, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) leads (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 2.4%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) 1.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Helen Of Troy (HELE) returned the most: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +7.8%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) +45.7%, Waldencast (MLKMF) -54.4%. Over five years, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) compounded fastest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) -19.8%/yr, Helen Of Troy (HELE) -33.4%/yr, Waldencast (MLKMF) -38.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 0.01%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) 0.00%, Waldencast (MLKMF) 0.00%. Helen Of Troy (HELE) and Waldencast (MLKMF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) has been the steadiest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 48.5%, Helen Of Troy (HELE) 54.0%, Waldencast (MLKMF) 100.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, EL, HELE and MLKMF?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) leads on 7. 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.