GGB vs RIO vs SQM Stock Comparison

Gerdau, Rio Tinto and Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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GGB Gerdau S.A.
$4.66 -6.6% 1M +33.9% 1Y
Market cap
$9.19B
P/E
17.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.89B
Div. yield
–
Steel Basic Materials
2 wins
RIO Rio Tinto Plc
$81.63 -13.4% 1M +16.0% 1Y
Market cap
$136.96B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Iron Ore Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile 6, Rio Tinto 3, Gerdau 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionGGBRIOSQMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.19B $136.96B $16.40B RIO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.0x — 11.8x SQM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.0x 10.4x 7.5x SQM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.5% — +59.0% SQM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.6% — 20.6% SQM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.2% — 22.8% SQM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x — 0.2x GGB
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +33.9% +16.0% +10.5% GGB
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +5.5%/yr +6.1%/yr -4.1%/yr RIO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 37.0% 30.9% 47.5% RIO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 65/100 — 70/100 SQM

Percentile Scorecard

GGBRIOSQM

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

AxisGGBRIOSQM
Valuation 88 #21 of 168 – 81 #33 of 168
Growth 31 #106 of 152 – 67 #51 of 152
Profitability 63 #47 of 124 – 81 #24 of 124
Financial Health 52 #80 of 166 26 #123 of 166 30 #116 of 166
Shareholder Returns 93 #9 of 115 98 #3 of 115 92 #10 of 115
Overall 65 – 70
  • GGB ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining
  • RIO ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining
  • SQM ranked among 177 companies in Metals and Mining

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGGBRIOSQMSPY
1 month -6.6%-13.4%-16.7% -2.0%
3 months -8.3%-17.5%-21.7% -2.2%
6 months -2.9%-18.8%-42.0% +4.2%
Year to date +26.3%+2.0%-21.9% +10.6%
1 year +33.9%+16.0%+10.5% +10.4%
3 years +19.7%+23.1%+7.9% +73.6%
3 years, per year +6.2%+7.2%+2.6% +20.2%
5 years +30.5%+34.1%-18.9% +61.6%
5 years, per year +5.5%+6.1%-4.1% +10.1%
10 years +89.4%+136.2%+84.2% +261.3%
10 years, per year +6.6%+9.0%+6.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureGGBRIOSQMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 37.0%30.9%47.5% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.8%32.5%44.4% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.171.281.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.920.520.22 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.8%-39.0%-73.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.1%-27.1%-43.6% -3.2%
52-week high $5.24$112.04$95.31 $779.14
52-week low $3.26$67.89$46.10 $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.

MultipleGGBRIOSQM
P/E now vs peer median 17.3xmedian 12.4x —median 12.4x 11.1xmedian 12.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 2.9x —median 2.9x 2.3xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 7.2x —median 7.2x 4.6xmedian 7.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 67.4xmedian 14.8x —median 14.8x —median 14.8x
P/B now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 2.1x 1.8xmedian 2.1x 1.8xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 4.77median 0.26 —median 0.26 -1.54median 0.26

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 monthsGGBRIOSQM
Revenue $14.89B – $6.73B
Gross profit $1.99B – $2.83B
Operating income $1.70B – $3.11B
Net income $546.25M – $1.39B
Free cash flow $138.65M – –
EPS (diluted) $0.42 – $4.86
Cash & equivalents $1.09B $8.91B $3.38B
Total debt $309.89M $21.82B $5.22B
Shares (diluted) 1.29B 1.63B 285.64M
Enterprise value $4.51B $97.78B $3.06B

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
MetricGGBRIOSQM
P/E 17.3x – 11.1x
P/FCF 67.4x – –
P/Operating cash flow 5.5x – –
P/S 0.6x – 2.3x
P/B 0.9x 1.8x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 0.9x 2.0x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA 3.5x – 4.6x
EV/EBIT 4.9x – 5.2x
EV/Revenue 0.6x – 2.4x
EV/FCF 60.6x – –
EV/Operating cash flow 4.9x – –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.77 – -1.54

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGGBRIOSQM
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.5% – 59.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -2.9% – 9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 39.0% – 150.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -7.2% – 4.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 61.4% – 134.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -29.0% – -16.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -27.3% – 190.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -30.2% – -7.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.0% – 190.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.6% – -7.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 25.9% – –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.6% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -77.0% – –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -52.1% – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGGBRIOSQM
Gross margin 13.4% – 42.1%
EBITDA margin 16.0% – 52.7%
Operating margin 11.4% – 46.2%
Pretax margin 6.2% – 36.6%
Net margin 3.6% – 20.6%
FCF margin 0.9% – –
Operating cash flow margin 11.4% – –
Return on equity 5.2% – 16.4%
Return on assets 3.4% – 8.6%
Return on invested capital 15.2% – 22.8%
Return on capital employed 12.2% – 23.4%
Asset turnover 0.9x – 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.1x – –
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGGBRIOSQM
Debt / assets 1.9% 16.3% 31.3%
Debt / equity 0.0x 0.3x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x – 0.2x
Debt / FCF 2.2x – –
Liabilities / assets 34.9% 46.3% 47.9%
Equity / assets 65.1% 53.7% 52.1%
Interest coverage 4.4x – 15.3x
Current ratio 2.9x 1.4x 2.6x
Quick ratio 1.2x 1.2x 1.8x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.6x 1.5x
Altman Z-score 2.93 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGGBRIOSQM
Dividend yield 3.2% 5.7% 4.5%
Net buyback yield 3.6% – –
Shareholder yield 6.8% 5.7% 4.5%
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.

ConsensusGGBRIOSQM
Forward P/E 8.0xFY2026 10.4xFY2026 7.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.58FY2026 $7.84FY2026 $7.12FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +346.2%FY2026 +17.2%FY2026 +245.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +3.4% +9.1% -2.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $14.44BFY2026 $67.58BFY2026 $8.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.5%FY2026 +17.2%FY2026 +82.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.1% -8.0% +2.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGGBRIOSQM
Held by institutions 18.0% 7.9% 13.4%
Institutions holding 211 969 317
Change in shares held, QoQ +17.1% -1.1% -3.0%
Institutions buying 119 504 166
Institutions selling 52 284 101
Buyers to sellers 2.29 1.77 1.64

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.

GGBRIOSQM
GGB 1.00 0.43 0.25
RIO 0.43 1.00 0.46
SQM 0.25 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GGB, RIO and SQM?

Rio Tinto (RIO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Gerdau (GGB) $9.19B, Rio Tinto (RIO) $136.96B, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) $16.40B.

Which stock is cheaper, GGB, RIO and SQM?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Gerdau (GGB) 17.0x, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 11.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) is cheapest (Gerdau (GGB) 8.0x, Rio Tinto (RIO) 10.4x, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 7.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Gerdau (GGB) +9.5%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +59.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) has the highest net margin (Gerdau (GGB) 3.6%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 20.6%). On return on invested capital, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) leads (Gerdau (GGB) 15.2%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 22.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Gerdau (GGB) returned the most: Gerdau (GGB) +33.9%, Rio Tinto (RIO) +16.0%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) +10.5%. Over five years, Rio Tinto (RIO) compounded fastest (Gerdau (GGB) +5.5%/yr, Rio Tinto (RIO) +6.1%/yr, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) -4.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Rio Tinto (RIO) has been the steadiest (Gerdau (GGB) 37.0%, Rio Tinto (RIO) 30.9%, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 47.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GGB, RIO and SQM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Chemical & Mining Co Of Chile (SQM) 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.