GFAI vs ECL vs JCI Stock Comparison

Guardforce AI, Ecolab and Johnson Controls International Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ECL Ecolab Inc.
$300.86 +8.3% 1M +16.9% 1Y
Market cap
$84.83B
P/E
40.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Johnson Controls International leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Johnson Controls International 4, Ecolab 2, Guardforce AI 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGFAIECLJCILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.95M $84.83B $90.13B JCI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — 40.7x 31.6x JCI
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 1.5x 38.1x 24.7x GFAI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +9.3% — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 12.0% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 10.0% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -81.1% +16.9% +39.6% JCI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -72.6%/yr +6.3%/yr +16.6%/yr JCI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 93.8% 21.2% 31.7% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 64/100 37/100 ECL

Percentile Scorecard

GFAIECLJCI

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

AxisGFAIECLJCI
Valuation – 50 #11 of 21 9 #50 of 55
Growth – 83 #4 of 19 80 #11 of 51
Profitability – 93 #2 of 16 –
Financial Health 93 #10 of 122 25 #16 of 21 –
Shareholder Returns – 67 #4 of 10 23 #31 of 40
Overall – 64 37
  • GFAI ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • JCI ranked among 59 companies in Construction Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGFAIECLJCISPY
1 month -40.6%+8.3%+5.9% +0.7%
3 months -38.7%+7.7%+10.0% +3.7%
6 months -66.6%+15.4%+8.4% +7.1%
Year to date -65.9%+14.6%+32.1% +12.8%
1 year -81.1%+16.9%+39.6% +11.9%
3 years -94.0%+89.0%+225.5% +85.2%
3 years, per year -60.9%+23.7%+48.2% +22.8%
5 years -99.8%+35.4%+115.7% +67.6%
5 years, per year -72.6%+6.3%+16.6% +10.9%
10 years —+161.4%+261.6% +262.0%
10 years, per year —+10.1%+13.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureGFAIECLJCISPY
Volatility, 1Y 93.8%21.2%31.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 93.1%20.4%32.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.530.481.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.860.791.25 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.8%-44.3%-43.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -81.1%-2.4%-0.3% -1.2%
52-week high $1.01$308.35$158.77 $779.14
52-week low $0.19$245.73$110.85 $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.

MultipleGFAIECLJCI
P/E now vs peer median —median 21.9x 40.5xmedian 25.4x 33.7xmedian 20.3x
P/S now vs peer median —median 0.9x 4.9xmedian 2.5x 3.6xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.9x 24.3xmedian 17.9x —median 12.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 14.4x 47.0xmedian 22.3x 28.6xmedian 16.9x
P/B now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 2.4x 8.1xmedian 1.8x 7.0xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.97 2.04median 1.73 1.67median 1.13

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 monthsGFAIECLJCI
Revenue – $17.37B –
Gross profit – $7.63B $9.52B
Operating income – $2.90B –
Net income – $2.10B –
Free cash flow – $1.80B –
EPS (diluted) – $7.38 $4.68
Cash & equivalents $21.30M $722.30M $618.00M
Total debt – $13.19B –
Shares (diluted) 21.92M 282.10M 610.00M
Enterprise value -$179.53M $77.81B $90.13B

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
MetricGFAIECLJCI
P/E – 40.5x 33.7x
P/FCF – 47.0x 28.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 27.9x 24.8x
P/S – 4.9x 3.6x
P/B 0.2x 8.1x 7.0x
P/Tangible book 0.2x 15.8x 9.4x
EV/EBITDA – 24.3x –
EV/EBIT – 33.4x –
EV/Revenue – 5.6x –
EV/FCF – 54.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 32.0x 24.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 2.04 1.67

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGFAIECLJCI
Revenue growth (1Y) – 9.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 4.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 8.4% 10.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 8.8% 6.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 11.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 17.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 4.7% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 18.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) – 6.2% -7.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 19.8% 20.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 15.2% 51.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 7.8% 27.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 15.6% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 1.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGFAIECLJCI
Gross margin – 43.9% –
EBITDA margin – 22.9% –
Operating margin – 16.7% –
Pretax margin – 15.0% –
Net margin – 12.0% –
FCF margin – 10.3% –
Operating cash flow margin – 17.4% –
Return on equity – 20.4% 21.1%
Return on assets – 6.9% 7.3%
Return on invested capital – 10.0% –
Return on capital employed – 12.0% –
Asset turnover – 0.6x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.4x –
Stock comp / revenue – 0.8% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGFAIECLJCI
Debt / assets – 42.4% –
Debt / equity – 1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.1x –
Debt / FCF – 7.3x –
Liabilities / assets 30.7% 66.4% –
Equity / assets 69.3% 33.6% 33.9%
Interest coverage – 8.0x –
Current ratio 5.2x 1.1x 0.9x
Quick ratio 4.8x 0.7x –
Cash ratio 3.8x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score – 3.96 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGFAIECLJCI
Dividend yield – 1.0% 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 1.1% –
Shareholder yield – 2.1% 1.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 39.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 45.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 12.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 9.7% –

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.

ConsensusGFAIECLJCI
Forward P/E 1.5xFY2026 38.1xFY2026 24.7xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $0.13FY2026 $7.90FY2026 $6.41FY2027
EPS growth, next FY – +4.9%FY2026 +36.6%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after – +23.2% +8.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $40.46MFY2026 $17.26BFY2026 $26.80BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.9%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +158.0% +5.4% +6.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGFAIECLJCI
Held by institutions – 80.0% 89.5%
Institutions holding – 1,712 1,598
Change in shares held, QoQ – +1.4% -1.1%
Institutions buying – 764 791
Institutions selling – 679 557
Buyers to sellers – 1.13 1.42

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.

GFAIECLJCI
GFAI 1.00 0.08 0.15
ECL 0.08 1.00 0.17
JCI 0.15 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GFAI, ECL and JCI?

Johnson Controls International (JCI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Guardforce AI (GFAI) $3.95M, Ecolab (ECL) $84.83B, Johnson Controls International (JCI) $90.13B.

Which stock is cheaper, GFAI, ECL and JCI?

Johnson Controls International (JCI) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ecolab (ECL) 40.7x, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 31.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Guardforce AI (GFAI) is cheapest (Guardforce AI (GFAI) 1.5x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.1x, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 24.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Johnson Controls International (JCI) returned the most: Guardforce AI (GFAI) -81.1%, Ecolab (ECL) +16.9%, Johnson Controls International (JCI) +39.6%. Over five years, Johnson Controls International (JCI) compounded fastest (Guardforce AI (GFAI) -72.6%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +6.3%/yr, Johnson Controls International (JCI) +16.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Guardforce AI (GFAI) 0.00%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.01%, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 0.00%. Guardforce AI (GFAI) and Johnson Controls International (JCI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Guardforce AI (GFAI) 93.8%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.2%, Johnson Controls International (JCI) 31.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GFAI, ECL and JCI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Johnson Controls International (JCI) leads on 4. 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.