ESI vs IFF vs Q Stock Comparison

Element Solutions, International Flavors & Fragrances and Qnity Electronics Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ESI Element Solutions Inc
$33.53 -6.1% 1M +28.1% 1Y
Market cap
$8.46B
P/E
41.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
3 wins
Q Qnity Electronics, Inc.
$114.12 -8.4% 1M
Market cap
$24.52B
P/E
41.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.21B
Div. yield
0.00%
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Qnity Electronics leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Qnity Electronics 5, International Flavors & Fragrances 4, Element Solutions 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionESIIFFQLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.46B $23.57B $24.52B Q
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 41.3x 33.9x 41.8x IFF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.7x 28.4x 26.2x ESI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +39.6% -4.6% +14.8% ESI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.9% 7.0% 11.2% Q
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.4% 3.0% 8.3% Q
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 3.0x 1.8x Q
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% IFF
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +28.1% +42.1% — IFF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +8.7%/yr -8.8%/yr — ESI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.8% 35.1% 55.2% IFF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 50/100 60/100 Q

Percentile Scorecard

ESIIFFQ

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

AxisESIIFFQ
Valuation 38 #59 of 94 42 #55 of 94 37 #60 of 94
Growth 76 #23 of 92 81 #18 of 92 52 #45 of 92
Profitability 59 #37 of 89 57 #39 of 89 88 #12 of 89
Financial Health 46 #53 of 97 44 #55 of 97 67 #33 of 97
Shareholder Returns 30 #49 of 70 26 #52 of 70 55 #32 of 70
Overall 50 50 60
  • ESI ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • IFF ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • Q ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodESIIFFQSPY
1 month -6.1%+9.3%-8.4% -0.8%
3 months -11.4%+22.6%-14.2% +3.5%
6 months -16.9%+32.0%-20.7% +7.0%
Year to date +34.2%+39.0%+39.8% +12.2%
1 year +28.1%+42.1%— +13.0%
3 years +86.3%+38.1%— +86.3%
3 years, per year +23.1%+11.4%— +23.1%
5 years +51.5%-36.8%— +68.6%
5 years, per year +8.7%-8.8%— +11.0%
10 years +349.5%-29.1%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +16.2%-3.4%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureESIIFFQSPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.8%35.1%55.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.4%28.7%58.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.170.682.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.601.20— 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -40.3%-61.1%-38.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -31.7%-0.5%-35.0% -1.8%
52-week high $49.09$94.13$175.64 $779.14
52-week low $22.99$61.49$73.54 $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.

MultipleESIIFFQ
P/E now vs peer median 39.8xmedian 21.6x 34.3xmedian 21.6x 40.8xmedian 21.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.4x 2.4xmedian 1.4x 4.6xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.3xmedian 12.4x 17.1xmedian 12.4x 15.7xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 44.5xmedian 15.8x 44.3xmedian 15.8x 28.9xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 1.6x 3.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.71median 1.66 1.06median 1.66 —median 1.66

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 monthsESIIFFQ
Revenue $3.49B $9.98B $5.21B
Gross profit $1.28B $3.74B $2.41B
Operating income $408.70M $754.00M $1.34B
Net income $205.20M $295.00M $630.00M
Free cash flow $182.90M $540.00M $825.00M
R&D $80.00M $684.00M $374.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.84 $2.71 $2.79
Cash & equivalents $224.90M $569.00M $961.00M
Total debt $2.08B $5.70B $4.02B
Shares (diluted) 243.70M 257.00M 210.20M
Enterprise value $7.24B $21.23B $21.66B

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
MetricESIIFFQ
P/E 39.8x 34.3x 40.8x
P/FCF 44.5x 44.3x 28.9x
P/Operating cash flow 28.7x 20.6x 20.4x
P/S 2.3x 2.4x 4.6x
P/B 2.8x 1.7x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 4.3x 2.3x 3.7x
EV/EBITDA 17.3x 17.1x 15.7x
EV/EBIT 24.4x 38.5x 20.2x
EV/Revenue 2.9x 2.9x 5.2x
EV/FCF 54.6x 53.8x 32.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 35.3x 25.0x 23.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.71 1.06 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricESIIFFQ
Revenue growth (1Y) 39.6% -4.6% 14.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.4% -5.6% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 21.5% -3.8% 13.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.7% -0.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.6% 295.8% 11.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.9% 35.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) -14.4% 170.2% -23.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 56.0% 28.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) -15.0% 900.0% -26.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 55.8% 32.3% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -16.0% 5.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.2% 12.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -32.2% -4.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 26.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricESIIFFQ
Gross margin 36.6% 37.5% 46.2%
EBITDA margin 16.6% 17.1% 33.0%
Operating margin 11.7% 7.6% 25.6%
Pretax margin 9.0% 3.5% 16.9%
Net margin 5.9% 7.0% 11.2%
FCF margin 5.2% 5.4% 15.8%
Operating cash flow margin 8.1% 11.6% 22.4%
Return on equity 7.2% 2.1% 8.4%
Return on assets 3.5% 1.2% 4.4%
Return on invested capital 5.4% 3.0% 8.3%
Return on capital employed 7.8% 3.6% 10.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.4x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 3.9x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 2.4% 0.9% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricESIIFFQ
Debt / assets 35.5% 22.7% 28.1%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.4x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 3.0x 1.8x
Debt / FCF 11.4x 10.6x 4.9x
Liabilities / assets 50.7% 44.3% 47.3%
Equity / assets 49.3% 55.7% 52.7%
Interest coverage – 4.0x 7.1x
Current ratio 2.8x 2.1x 2.0x
Quick ratio 1.7x 0.5x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 2.49 1.82 2.93

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricESIIFFQ
Dividend yield 1.0% 1.7% 0.3%
Net buyback yield 0.5% 0.3% 0.2%
Shareholder yield 1.5% 2.0% 0.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 138.6% 5.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 75.7% 4.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 0.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -20.7% –

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.

ConsensusESIIFFQ
Forward P/E 19.7xFY2026 28.4xFY2026 26.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.70FY2026 $3.30FY2026 $4.35FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.1%FY2026 -21.4%FY2026 +29.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +32.9% +22.7% +21.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.83BFY2026 $8.11BFY2026 $5.34BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +50.2%FY2026 -25.6%FY2026 +12.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.1% -8.3% +23.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersESIIFFQ
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% –
Institutions holding 499 753 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +6.0% –
Institutions buying 269 410 –
Institutions selling 176 226 –
Buyers to sellers 1.53 1.81 –

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.

ESIIFFQ
ESI 1.00 0.14 0.69
IFF 0.14 1.00 0.05
Q 0.69 0.05 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ESI, IFF and Q?

Qnity Electronics (Q) is the largest by market capitalisation: Element Solutions (ESI) $8.46B, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) $23.57B, Qnity Electronics (Q) $24.52B.

Which stock is cheaper, ESI, IFF and Q?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Element Solutions (ESI) 41.3x, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 33.9x, Qnity Electronics (Q) 41.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Element Solutions (ESI) is cheapest (Element Solutions (ESI) 19.7x, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 28.4x, Qnity Electronics (Q) 26.2x). 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%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -4.6%, Qnity Electronics (Q) +14.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Qnity Electronics (Q) has the highest net margin (Element Solutions (ESI) 5.9%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 7.0%, Qnity Electronics (Q) 11.2%). On return on invested capital, Qnity Electronics (Q) leads (Element Solutions (ESI) 5.4%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 3.0%, Qnity Electronics (Q) 8.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) returned the most: Element Solutions (ESI) +28.1%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +42.1%. Over five years, Element Solutions (ESI) compounded fastest (Element Solutions (ESI) +8.7%/yr, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -8.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has the highest dividend yield: Element Solutions (ESI) 0.00%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 0.02%, Qnity Electronics (Q) 0.00%. Element Solutions (ESI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has been the steadiest (Element Solutions (ESI) 46.8%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 35.1%, Qnity Electronics (Q) 55.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ESI, IFF and Q?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Qnity Electronics (Q) leads on 5. 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.