LIN vs SCCO vs BCPC Stock Comparison

Linde, Southern Copper and Balchem Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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LIN Linde Plc
$508.83 +8.3% 1M +13.1% 1Y
Market cap
$234.80B
P/E
32.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.45B
Div. yield
0.01%
Industrial Gases Basic Materials
2 wins
SCCO Southern Copper Corp/
$184.94 -8.4% 1M +48.0% 1Y
Market cap
$154.49B
P/E
27.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.79B
Div. yield
0.02%
Copper Basic Materials
8 wins
BCPC Balchem Corp
$177.00 +5.2% 1M +12.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.40B
P/E
31.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Southern Copper leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Southern Copper 8, Linde 2, Balchem 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLINSCCOBCPCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $234.80B $154.49B $5.40B LIN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.4x 27.3x 31.6x SCCO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.4x 25.5x 34.6x SCCO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.6% +32.8% +9.4% SCCO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.4% 35.9% 15.4% SCCO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.8% — 12.1% BCPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 0.1x 0.3x SCCO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.02% 0.00% SCCO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.1% +48.0% +12.9% SCCO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.1%/yr +25.5%/yr +2.7%/yr SCCO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 19.2% 52.0% 20.4% LIN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 63/100 66/100 BCPC

Percentile Scorecard

LINSCCOBCPC

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

AxisLINSCCOBCPC
Valuation 20 #75 of 94 45 #90 of 162 31 #65 of 94
Growth 66 #32 of 92 69 #47 of 147 86 #14 of 92
Profitability 94 #6 of 89 98 #4 of 122 85 #14 of 89
Financial Health 52 #47 of 97 47 #89 of 166 89 #12 of 97
Shareholder Returns 64 #26 of 70 58 #46 of 107 39 #43 of 70
Overall 59 63 66
  • LIN ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • SCCO ranked among 176 companies in Metals and Mining
  • BCPC ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLINSCCOBCPCSPY
1 month +8.3%-8.4%+5.2% -1.0%
3 months -0.7%+3.1%+8.7% +2.9%
6 months -0.3%+3.5%+1.9% +6.4%
Year to date +19.3%+31.3%+15.4% +11.4%
1 year +13.1%+48.0%+12.9% +13.1%
3 years +38.5%+180.1%+45.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year +11.5%+41.0%+13.3% +21.5%
5 years +62.0%+211.2%+14.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.1%+25.5%+2.7% +10.9%
10 years +324.4%+628.4%+133.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +15.6%+22.0%+8.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureLINSCCOBCPCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 19.2%52.0%20.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 19.5%52.7%18.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.052.370.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.680.920.63 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.7%-45.2%-34.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.9%-15.8%-3.4% -2.5%
52-week high $546.64$219.70$183.26 $779.14
52-week low $389.38$117.83$147.36 $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.

MultipleLINSCCOBCPC
P/E now vs peer median 32.5xmedian 21.5x 27.1xmedian 12.7x 32.8xmedian 21.5x
P/S now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 1.4x 9.8xmedian 3.1x 5.1xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 12.4x 15.7xmedian 6.9x 20.5xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 47.1xmedian 15.5x 30.3xmedian 15.1x 31.6xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 5.8xmedian 1.6x 12.1xmedian 2.1x 4.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 3.07median 1.70 1.10median 0.27 1.75median 1.70

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 monthsLINSCCOBCPC
Revenue $35.45B $15.79B $1.11B
Gross profit $17.14B $10.07B $404.38M
Operating income $9.38B $8.98B $229.57M
Net income $7.26B $5.68B $170.85M
Free cash flow $4.98B $5.10B $178.00M
R&D $146.00M $53.10M $20.81M
EPS (diluted) $15.59 $6.83 $5.33
Cash & equivalents $4.90B $5.67B $66.26M
Total debt $28.01B $28.24B $696.62M
Shares (diluted) 464.52M 829.10M 32.03M
Enterprise value $216.38B $133.28B $5.12B

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
MetricLINSCCOBCPC
P/E 32.5x 27.1x 32.8x
P/FCF 47.1x 30.3x 31.6x
P/Operating cash flow 22.4x 22.9x 25.2x
P/S 6.6x 9.8x 5.1x
P/B 5.8x 12.1x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 8.1x 12.1x 4.7x
EV/EBITDA 19.5x 15.7x 20.5x
EV/EBIT 27.5x 17.3x 24.9x
EV/Revenue 7.3x 9.8x 5.2x
EV/FCF 51.8x 30.4x 32.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.6x 23.0x 25.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.07 1.10 1.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLINSCCOBCPC
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.6% 32.8% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.3% 16.2% 6.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.4% 45.5% 11.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.4% 23.2% 11.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 5.4% 52.8% 12.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 26.7% 14.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.1% 56.8% 14.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 8.2% 26.7% 18.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 10.0% 52.8% 16.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 24.7% 18.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.8% 49.8% 11.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 22.6% 12.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.9% 47.3% 10.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.7% 24.5% 14.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLINSCCOBCPC
Gross margin 48.3% 63.8% 36.5%
EBITDA margin 37.2% 62.5% 25.1%
Operating margin 26.5% 56.9% 20.7%
Pretax margin 26.4% 55.8% 19.9%
Net margin 20.4% 35.9% 15.4%
FCF margin 14.0% 32.3% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 29.6% 42.7% 20.2%
Return on equity 18.3% 46.2% 13.0%
Return on assets 8.4% 24.7% 10.1%
Return on invested capital 10.8% – 12.1%
Return on capital employed 13.2% 43.0% 15.0%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% – 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLINSCCOBCPC
Debt / assets 31.7% 33.1% 8.6%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.6x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 0.1x 0.3x
Debt / FCF 5.6x 1.6x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 54.0% 47.3% 22.1%
Equity / assets 46.0% 52.7% 77.9%
Interest coverage 37.4x – –
Current ratio 0.9x 5.1x 2.5x
Quick ratio 0.7x 4.4x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.3x 3.4x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 3.97 10.69 11.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLINSCCOBCPC
Dividend yield 1.2% 1.6% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 1.7% – 2.0%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 1.6% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 39.7% 53.2% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 57.8% 59.2% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 5.3% 41.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 6.3% –

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.

ConsensusLINSCCOBCPC
Forward P/E 30.4xFY2026 25.5xFY2026 34.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $16.76FY2026 $7.24FY2026 $5.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.9%FY2026 +42.5%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.1% +6.1% +7.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $38.84BFY2026 $16.56BFY2026 $1.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.3%FY2026 +23.4%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.2% +2.4% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLINSCCOBCPC
Held by institutions 85.2% 9.2% 90.5%
Institutions holding 2,321 856 417
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.2% +0.7% +1.5%
Institutions buying 1,213 599 193
Institutions selling 764 219 162
Buyers to sellers 1.59 2.74 1.19

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.

LINSCCOBCPC
LIN 1.00 0.06 0.25
SCCO 0.06 1.00 0.14
BCPC 0.25 0.14 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LIN, SCCO and BCPC?

Linde (LIN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Linde (LIN) $234.80B, Southern Copper (SCCO) $154.49B, Balchem (BCPC) $5.40B.

Which stock is cheaper, LIN, SCCO and BCPC?

Southern Copper (SCCO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Linde (LIN) 32.4x, Southern Copper (SCCO) 27.3x, Balchem (BCPC) 31.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Southern Copper (SCCO) is cheapest (Linde (LIN) 30.4x, Southern Copper (SCCO) 25.5x, Balchem (BCPC) 34.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Southern Copper (SCCO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Linde (LIN) +6.6%, Southern Copper (SCCO) +32.8%, Balchem (BCPC) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Southern Copper (SCCO) has the highest net margin (Linde (LIN) 20.4%, Southern Copper (SCCO) 35.9%, Balchem (BCPC) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Balchem (BCPC) leads (Linde (LIN) 10.8%, Balchem (BCPC) 12.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Southern Copper (SCCO) returned the most: Linde (LIN) +13.1%, Southern Copper (SCCO) +48.0%, Balchem (BCPC) +12.9%. Over five years, Southern Copper (SCCO) compounded fastest (Linde (LIN) +10.1%/yr, Southern Copper (SCCO) +25.5%/yr, Balchem (BCPC) +2.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Southern Copper (SCCO) has the highest dividend yield: Linde (LIN) 0.01%, Southern Copper (SCCO) 0.02%, Balchem (BCPC) 0.00%. Balchem (BCPC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Linde (LIN) has been the steadiest (Linde (LIN) 19.2%, Southern Copper (SCCO) 52.0%, Balchem (BCPC) 20.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LIN, SCCO and BCPC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Southern Copper (SCCO) leads on 8. 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.