ESI vs FSI vs GLW Stock Comparison

Element Solutions, Flexible Solutions International and Corning Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ESI Element Solutions Inc
$35.39 -1.6% 1M +33.9% 1Y
Market cap
$8.31B
P/E
40.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins
GLW Corning Inc /Ny
$128.89 -18.8% 1M +42.8% 1Y
Market cap
$106.56B
P/E
49.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.72B
Div. yield
0.01%
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Corning leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Corning 6, Element Solutions 3, Flexible Solutions International 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESIFSIGLWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.31B $78.76M $106.56B GLW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 40.5x -25.3x 49.6x ESI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.6x — 37.4x ESI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +39.6% -4.7% +18.8% ESI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.9% -8.8% 12.1% GLW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.4% — 11.0% GLW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x -1.5x 1.3x FSI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +33.9% -30.9% +42.8% GLW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +9.3%/yr +11.3%/yr +29.4%/yr GLW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.0% 45.4% 74.5% FSI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 31/100 59/100 GLW

Percentile Scorecard

ESIFSIGLW

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

AxisESIFSIGLW
Valuation 38 #59 of 94 25 #71 of 94 23 #73 of 94
Growth 75 #24 of 92 2 #90 of 92 96 #5 of 92
Profitability 58 #37 of 86 28 #62 of 86 85 #14 of 86
Financial Health 42 #54 of 93 80 #19 of 93 60 #38 of 93
Shareholder Returns 29 #51 of 71 17 #59 of 71 33 #48 of 71
Overall 48 31 59
  • ESI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • FSI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • GLW ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESIFSIGLWSPY
1 month -1.6%+7.4%-18.8% +0.7%
3 months -0.6%+24.3%-4.8% +3.7%
6 months -16.9%+0.8%-21.5% +7.1%
Year to date +41.6%-7.1%+47.2% +12.8%
1 year +33.9%-30.9%+42.8% +11.9%
3 years +94.5%+218.9%+383.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year +24.8%+47.2%+69.2% +22.8%
5 years +55.8%+70.8%+262.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year +9.3%+11.3%+29.4% +10.9%
10 years +391.5%+247.2%+468.3% +262.0%
10 years, per year +17.3%+13.3%+19.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureESIFSIGLWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.0%45.4%74.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.4%45.2%75.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.190.693.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.72-0.680.57 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.3%-69.1%-51.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -27.9%-31.0%-49.6% -1.2%
52-week high $49.09$9.06$255.69 $779.14
52-week low $22.99$4.91$78.03 $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.

MultipleESIFSIGLW
P/E now vs peer median 42.0xmedian 21.0x -25.5xmedian 21.0x 51.7xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 1.4x 2.2xmedian 1.4x 6.3xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 18.1xmedian 12.9x 68.2xmedian 12.9x 26.5xmedian 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 46.9xmedian 15.5x -22.9xmedian 15.5x 45.1xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 1.7x 2.0xmedian 1.7x 7.8xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.75median 1.68 0.70median 1.68 0.97median 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 monthsESIFSIGLW
Revenue $3.49B $35.58M $17.72B
Gross profit $1.28B $6.80M $6.46B
Operating income $408.70M -$933.97K $2.92B
Net income $205.20M -$1.66M $2.35B
Free cash flow $182.90M -$3.48M $2.46B
R&D $80.00M $565.72K $1.18B
EPS (diluted) $0.84 $-0.24 $2.47
Cash & equivalents $224.90M $7.20M $2.54B
Total debt $2.08B $29.29M $8.23B
Shares (diluted) 243.70M 12.74M 871.00M
Enterprise value $7.09B $50.16M $98.24B

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
MetricESIFSIGLW
P/E 42.0x -25.5x 51.7x
P/FCF 46.9x -22.9x 45.1x
P/Operating cash flow 30.3x 31.4x 26.5x
P/S 2.5x 2.2x 6.3x
P/B 3.0x 2.0x 7.8x
P/Tangible book 4.5x 2.1x 8.1x
EV/EBITDA 18.1x 68.2x 26.5x
EV/EBIT 25.6x -83.6x 40.0x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 2.2x 6.6x
EV/FCF 57.1x -22.4x 47.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 36.9x 30.7x 27.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.75 0.70 0.97

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESIFSIGLW
Revenue growth (1Y) 39.6% -4.7% 18.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -6.9% 10.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 21.5% -50.8% 21.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.7% -18.0% 18.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.6% -115.5% 46.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.9% -29.7% 48.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -14.4% -141.2% 57.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 56.0% -31.4% 53.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -15.0% -206.7% 56.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 55.8% -36.7% 53.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.0% -49.2% 85.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.2% -33.4% 30.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -32.2% -1,054% 111.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.3% -45.3% 84.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESIFSIGLW
Gross margin 36.6% 19.1% 36.5%
EBITDA margin 16.6% 3.2% 24.9%
Operating margin 11.7% -2.6% 16.5%
Pretax margin 9.0% -6.5% 15.9%
Net margin 5.9% -8.8% 12.1%
FCF margin 5.2% -9.8% 13.9%
Operating cash flow margin 8.1% 7.1% 23.7%
Return on equity 7.2% -4.0% 17.1%
Return on assets 3.5% -2.7% 7.0%
Return on invested capital 5.4% – 11.0%
Return on capital employed 7.8% -1.8% 10.8%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x -1.5x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.4% 1.6% 2.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESIFSIGLW
Debt / assets 35.5% 10.1% 24.1%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.1x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x -1.5x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 11.4x -1.7x 3.3x
Liabilities / assets 50.7% 30.7% 58.1%
Equity / assets 49.3% 69.3% 41.9%
Interest coverage – -1.9x 8.0x
Current ratio 2.8x 2.8x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.6x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.7x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 2.58 3.99 5.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESIFSIGLW
Dividend yield 0.9% – 0.9%
Net buyback yield 0.5% -0.3% -0.5%
Shareholder yield 1.4% -0.3% 0.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 43.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 41.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 1.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 1.2%

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.

ConsensusESIFSIGLW
Forward P/E 20.6xFY2026 – 37.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.72FY2026 $-0.10FY2026 $3.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.4%FY2026 -266.7%FY2026 +36.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +33.7% – +24.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.86BFY2026 $43.78MFY2026 $18.34BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +51.4%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026 +11.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.3% +69.3% +31.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESIFSIGLW
Held by institutions 100.0% 9.1% 73.0%
Institutions holding 500 31 2,684
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.7% -2.7% +3.5%
Institutions buying 270 11 1,477
Institutions selling 176 8 950
Buyers to sellers 1.53 1.38 1.55

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.

ESIFSIGLW
ESI 1.00 0.11 0.56
FSI 0.11 1.00 0.06
GLW 0.56 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESI, FSI and GLW?

Corning (GLW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Element Solutions (ESI) $8.31B, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) $78.76M, Corning (GLW) $106.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, ESI, FSI and GLW?

Element Solutions (ESI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Element Solutions (ESI) 40.5x, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) -25.3x, Corning (GLW) 49.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Element Solutions (ESI) is cheapest (Element Solutions (ESI) 20.6x, Corning (GLW) 37.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Element Solutions (ESI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Element Solutions (ESI) +39.6%, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) -4.7%, Corning (GLW) +18.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Corning (GLW) has the highest net margin (Element Solutions (ESI) 5.9%, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) -8.8%, Corning (GLW) 12.1%). On return on invested capital, Corning (GLW) leads (Element Solutions (ESI) 5.4%, Corning (GLW) 11.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Corning (GLW) returned the most: Element Solutions (ESI) +33.9%, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) -30.9%, Corning (GLW) +42.8%. Over five years, Corning (GLW) compounded fastest (Element Solutions (ESI) +9.3%/yr, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) +11.3%/yr, Corning (GLW) +29.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Element Solutions (ESI) 0.00%, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) 0.00%, Corning (GLW) 0.01%. Element Solutions (ESI) and Flexible Solutions International (FSI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) has been the steadiest (Element Solutions (ESI) 47.0%, Flexible Solutions International (FSI) 45.4%, Corning (GLW) 74.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESI, FSI and GLW?

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 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.