FLEX vs CLS vs ASX Stock Comparison

Flex, Celestica and ASE Technology Holding Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FLEX Flex Ltd.
$76.99 -32.9% 1M +19.8% 1Y
Market cap
$30.40B
P/E
31.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$29.27B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
1 win
CLS Celestica Inc
$246.25 -32.6% 1M -17.0% 1Y
Market cap
$33.42B
P/E
26.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.23B
Div. yield
–
Electronic Manufacturing Services Technology
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Celestica leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Celestica 6, ASE Technology Holding 4, Flex 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFLEXCLSASXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $30.40B $33.42B $90.77B ASX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 31.2x 26.8x 46.5x CLS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.8x 21.3x 31.4x FLEX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.2% +61.6% +18.2% CLS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.3% 6.8% 8.5% ASX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.3% 25.0% 11.1% CLS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.5x -1.9x 1.1x CLS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.8% -17.0% +207.6% ASX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +41.1%/yr +90.6%/yr +42.0%/yr CLS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 68.7% 79.2% 58.0% ASX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 62/100 59/100 CLS

Percentile Scorecard

FLEXCLSASX

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

AxisFLEXCLSASX
Valuation 66 #38 of 111 69 #35 of 111 73 #26 of 95
Growth 49 #56 of 108 91 #11 of 108 77 #22 of 93
Profitability 56 #46 of 104 78 #24 of 104 68 #30 of 91
Financial Health 19 #93 of 115 57 #50 of 115 18 #83 of 101
Shareholder Returns 84 #14 of 81 16 #68 of 81 61 #30 of 75
Overall 55 62 59
  • FLEX ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CLS ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • ASX ranked among 104 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodFLEXCLSASXSPY
1 month -32.9%-32.6%-9.9% -0.8%
3 months -33.7%-22.6%+9.2% +3.5%
6 months -14.5%-41.7%+29.4% +7.0%
Year to date +27.4%-16.7%+148.0% +12.2%
1 year +19.8%-17.0%+207.6% +13.0%
3 years +297.3%+1,000.3%+433.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +58.4%+122.5%+74.8% +23.1%
5 years +458.7%+2,412.8%+476.0% +68.6%
5 years, per year +41.1%+90.6%+42.0% +11.0%
10 years +645.3%+1,983.3%+570.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +22.2%+35.5%+21.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureFLEXCLSASXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 68.7%79.2%58.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 64.2%86.3%62.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.093.352.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.29-0.213.58 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -52.8%-54.0%-43.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -52.5%-47.9%-16.2% -1.8%
52-week high $162.07$472.40$47.62 $779.14
52-week low $54.51$246.25$13.23 $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.

MultipleFLEXCLSASX
P/E now vs peer median 29.0xmedian 32.0x 23.8xmedian 32.0x 44.4xmedian 42.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 2.8x 1.7xmedian 2.8x 3.9xmedian 7.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.8xmedian 19.4x 16.5xmedian 19.4x 20.3xmedian 27.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 34.4xmedian 29.0x 56.9xmedian 29.0x 7.3xmedian 37.2x
P/B now vs peer median 5.2xmedian 2.9x 5.0xmedian 2.9x 7.3xmedian 4.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.01median 1.13 —median 1.13 5.71median 2.23

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 monthsFLEXCLSASX
Revenue $29.27B $18.23B $22.92B
Gross profit $2.74B $2.09B $4.46B
Operating income $1.45B $1.50B $2.24B
Net income $973.00M $1.25B $2.65B
Free cash flow $826.00M $545.40M $12.11B
R&D – $168.90M $1.18B
EPS (diluted) $2.60 $10.23 $0.88
Cash & equivalents $2.84B $3.96B $2.86B
Total debt $5.22B $818.80M $31.57B
Shares (diluted) 374.00M 121.80M 2.21B
Enterprise value $19.87B $27.95B $78.78B

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
MetricFLEXCLSASX
P/E 29.0x 23.8x 44.4x
P/FCF 34.4x 56.9x 7.3x
P/Operating cash flow 18.2x 22.1x 16.4x
P/S 1.0x 1.7x 3.9x
P/B 5.2x 5.0x 7.3x
P/Tangible book 6.0x 5.2x 8.8x
EV/EBITDA 19.8x 16.5x 20.3x
EV/EBIT 21.3x 18.5x 42.0x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 1.5x 4.1x
EV/FCF 37.3x 51.2x 7.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 19.7x 19.8x 17.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.01 – 5.71

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFLEXCLSASX
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.2% 61.6% 18.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.0% – 3.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 21.3% 53.8% 37.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.7% – 6.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 16.2% 62.0% 68.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 14.0% – 4.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.2% 73.8% 83.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -2.5% – 3.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.2% 65.4% 81.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.4% – 7.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.1% 154.8% 51.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.4% – 13.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -25.2% 37.0% 57.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 54.7% – 27.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFLEXCLSASX
Gross margin 9.4% 11.5% 19.5%
EBITDA margin 5.3% 9.3% 20.2%
Operating margin 5.0% 8.3% 9.8%
Pretax margin 4.4% 8.0% 10.7%
Net margin 3.3% 6.8% 8.5%
FCF margin 2.8% 3.0% 52.9%
Operating cash flow margin 5.3% 7.7% 23.6%
Return on equity 18.3% 28.7% 22.0%
Return on assets 4.1% 10.0% 8.4%
Return on invested capital 11.3% 25.0% 11.1%
Return on capital employed 13.9% 32.1% 8.4%
Asset turnover 1.2x 1.5x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.1x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFLEXCLSASX
Debt / assets 20.7% 5.4% 25.2%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.1x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.5x -1.9x 1.1x
Debt / FCF 6.3x 1.5x 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 78.2% 59.0% 63.7%
Equity / assets 21.8% 41.0% 36.3%
Interest coverage 6.5x 21.3x 9.9x
Current ratio 1.4x 1.6x 0.3x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.0x 1.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 2.59 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFLEXCLSASX
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield 2.5% -10.7% –
Shareholder yield 2.5% -10.7% 1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusFLEXCLSASX
Forward P/E 15.8xFY2026 21.3xFY2026 31.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.88FY2026 $11.54FY2026 $1.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +47.9%FY2026 +93.3%FY2026 +126.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +38.7% +77.4% +37.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $36.41BFY2026 $20.07BFY2026 $24.36BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +30.4%FY2026 +64.1%FY2026 +19.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +29.4% +70.3% +32.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFLEXCLSASX
Held by institutions 94.3% 69.0% 6.9%
Institutions holding 1,106 873 482
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.8% +5.0% -2.5%
Institutions buying 674 518 308
Institutions selling 342 272 133
Buyers to sellers 1.97 1.90 2.32

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.

FLEXCLSASX
FLEX 1.00 0.56 0.61
CLS 0.56 1.00 0.54
ASX 0.61 0.54 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FLEX, CLS and ASX?

ASE Technology Holding (ASX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Flex (FLEX) $30.40B, Celestica (CLS) $33.42B, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) $90.77B.

Which stock is cheaper, FLEX, CLS and ASX?

Celestica (CLS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Flex (FLEX) 31.2x, Celestica (CLS) 26.8x, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) 46.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Flex (FLEX) is cheapest (Flex (FLEX) 15.8x, Celestica (CLS) 21.3x, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) 31.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Celestica (CLS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Flex (FLEX) +12.2%, Celestica (CLS) +61.6%, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) +18.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

ASE Technology Holding (ASX) has the highest net margin (Flex (FLEX) 3.3%, Celestica (CLS) 6.8%, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) 8.5%). On return on invested capital, Celestica (CLS) leads (Flex (FLEX) 11.3%, Celestica (CLS) 25.0%, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) 11.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year ASE Technology Holding (ASX) returned the most: Flex (FLEX) +19.8%, Celestica (CLS) -17.0%, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) +207.6%. Over five years, Celestica (CLS) compounded fastest (Flex (FLEX) +41.1%/yr, Celestica (CLS) +90.6%/yr, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) +42.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) has been the steadiest (Flex (FLEX) 68.7%, Celestica (CLS) 79.2%, ASE Technology Holding (ASX) 58.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, FLEX, CLS and ASX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Celestica (CLS) 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.