EL vs MLKMF vs NUS Stock Comparison

Estee Lauder Companies, Waldencast and Nu Skin Enterprises Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EL Estee Lauder Companies Inc
$108.67 +9.9% 1M +9.2% 1Y
Market cap
$39.47B
P/E
216.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.05B
Div. yield
0.01%
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
6 wins
MLKMF Waldencast plc
$0.89 -12.7% 1M -51.1% 1Y
Market cap
$96.96M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Estee Lauder Companies leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Estee Lauder Companies 6, Nu Skin Enterprises 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELMLKMFNUSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $39.47B $96.96M $227.92M EL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 216.9x — -1.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.2x — 6.2x NUS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.0% — -15.4% EL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.2% — -15.7% EL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.4% — -1.2% EL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.4x — 0.6x NUS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.05% NUS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.2% -51.1% -56.1% EL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -19.8%/yr -38.1%/yr -34.9%/yr EL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.6% 100.5% 47.9% NUS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 42/100 — 55/100 NUS

Percentile Scorecard

ELMLKMFNUS

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

AxisELMLKMFNUS
Valuation 35 #33 of 50 – 86 #8 of 50
Growth 60 #20 of 49 – 13 #43 of 49
Profitability 58 #19 of 44 – 42 #26 of 44
Financial Health 37 #35 of 55 70 #17 of 55 63 #21 of 55
Shareholder Returns 20 #25 of 31 – 73 #9 of 31
Overall 42 – 55
  • EL ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • MLKMF ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • NUS ranked among 59 companies in Household and Personal Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodELMLKMFNUSSPY
1 month +9.9%-12.7%+3.9% -1.0%
3 months +35.4%-47.3%-5.5% +2.9%
6 months +39.6%+4.7%-36.3% +6.4%
Year to date +3.8%-52.7%-50.1% +11.4%
1 year +9.2%-51.1%-56.1% +13.1%
3 years -21.3%-89.9%-75.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year -7.7%-53.5%-37.2% +21.5%
5 years -66.8%-90.9%-88.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year -19.8%-38.1%-34.9% +10.9%
10 years +25.6%—-92.4% +255.2%
10 years, per year +2.3%—-22.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureELMLKMFNUSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.6%100.5%47.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.5%88.3%57.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.301.380.60 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.19-0.51-1.17 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -86.5%-93.5%-91.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.1%-71.1%-58.4% -2.5%
52-week high $119.61$3.08$11.54 $779.14
52-week low $67.23$0.75$4.53 $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.

MultipleELMLKMFNUS
P/E now vs peer median 216.3xmedian 18.7x —median 18.7x -1.1xmedian 18.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.6x —median 1.6x 0.2xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.4xmedian 13.0x —median 13.0x 6.5xmedian 13.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.9xmedian 19.0x —median 19.0x 21.7xmedian 19.0x
P/B now vs peer median 10.3xmedian 2.3x 0.3xmedian 2.3x 0.4xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -4.96median 0.97 —median 0.97 0.01median 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 monthsELMLKMFNUS
Revenue $15.05B – $1.38B
Gross profit $11.36B – $951.49M
Operating income $780.00M – -$10.41M
Net income $182.00M – -$216.39M
Free cash flow $1.32B – $10.78M
EPS (diluted) $0.50 – $-4.45
Cash & equivalents $3.50B $7.82M $189.64M
Total debt $29.26B $631.43M $890.49M
Shares (diluted) 364.80M 114.07M 48.60M
Enterprise value $27.54B $34.99M -$656.71M

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
MetricELMLKMFNUS
P/E 216.3x – -1.1x
P/FCF 29.9x – 21.7x
P/Operating cash flow 22.2x – 4.6x
P/S 2.6x – 0.2x
P/B 10.3x 0.3x 0.4x
P/Tangible book 173.4x 0.3x 0.5x
EV/EBITDA 27.4x – 6.5x
EV/EBIT 55.4x – -24.6x
EV/Revenue 2.9x – 0.2x
EV/FCF 32.8x – 23.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.4x – 5.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -4.96 – 0.01

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELMLKMFNUS
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.0% – -15.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.8% – -12.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.2% – -13.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.0% – -13.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 199.4% – 25.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -19.7% – -29.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 116.1% – -314.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -43.5% – -72.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 115.9% – -318.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -43.6% – -73.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 39.4% – -45.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.8% – -9.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 96.4% – -81.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% – 76.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELMLKMFNUS
Gross margin 75.5% – 69.2%
EBITDA margin 10.5% – 2.9%
Operating margin 5.2% – -0.8%
Pretax margin 3.4% – -1.9%
Net margin 1.2% – -15.7%
FCF margin 8.7% – 0.8%
Operating cash flow margin 11.8% – 3.7%
Return on equity 4.7% – -32.4%
Return on assets 0.9% – -17.3%
Return on invested capital 2.4% – -1.2%
Return on capital employed 5.8% – -1.0%
Asset turnover 0.8x – 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 9.7x – -0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% – 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELMLKMFNUS
Debt / assets 37.0% 23.1% 19.1%
Debt / equity 1.9x 0.4x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.4x – 0.6x
Debt / FCF 5.6x – 19.8x
Liabilities / assets 80.7% 39.5% 51.6%
Equity / assets 19.3% 60.5% 48.4%
Interest coverage 2.3x – -0.7x
Current ratio 1.2x 4.8x 2.0x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.1x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.1x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.26 – 3.71

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELMLKMFNUS
Dividend yield 1.3% – 5.0%
Net buyback yield 0.0% – 10.7%
Shareholder yield 1.3% – 15.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 279.1% – -5.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) 38.6% – 108.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) -17.8% – -2.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -18.1% – -46.8%

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.

ConsensusELMLKMFNUS
Forward P/E 34.2xFY2027 – 6.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.18FY2027 – $0.78FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +28.7%FY2027 – -38.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% – +43.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $16.39BFY2027 – $1.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.9%FY2027 – -17.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -1.8% – +24.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELMLKMFNUS
Held by institutions 92.8% – 74.1%
Institutions holding 832 – 161
Change in shares held, QoQ 0.0% – -0.9%
Institutions buying 439 – 77
Institutions selling 282 – 61
Buyers to sellers 1.56 – 1.26

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.

ELMLKMFNUS
EL 1.00 0.11 0.28
MLKMF 0.11 1.00 0.14
NUS 0.28 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EL, MLKMF and NUS?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) $39.47B, Waldencast (MLKMF) $96.96M, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) $227.92M.

Which company is growing faster?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +5.0%, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) -15.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) has the highest net margin (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 1.2%, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) -15.7%). On return on invested capital, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) leads (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 2.4%, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) -1.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Estee Lauder Companies (EL) returned the most: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +9.2%, Waldencast (MLKMF) -51.1%, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) -56.1%. Over five years, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) compounded fastest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) -19.8%/yr, Waldencast (MLKMF) -38.1%/yr, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) -34.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) has the highest dividend yield: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 0.01%, Waldencast (MLKMF) 0.00%, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) 0.05%. Waldencast (MLKMF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) has been the steadiest (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 48.6%, Waldencast (MLKMF) 100.5%, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) 47.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.