MLKMF vs EL vs YSG Stock Comparison

Waldencast, Estee Lauder Companies and Yatsen Holding Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MLKMF Waldencast plc
$0.88 -14.6% 1M -54.4% 1Y
Market cap
$100.38M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
EL Estee Lauder Companies Inc
$108.31 +14.6% 1M +7.8% 1Y
Market cap
$39.24B
P/E
215.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.05B
Div. yield
1.29%
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
5 wins
YSG Yatsen Holding Ltd
$2.38 -7.0% 1M -68.1% 1Y
Market cap
$446.78M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$653.85M
Div. yield
–
Cosmetics Consumer Staples
2 wins

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

Estee Lauder Companies leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Estee Lauder Companies 5, Yatsen Holding 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMLKMFELYSGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $100.38M $39.24B $446.78M EL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only — 215.6x -9.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 34.1x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +5.0% +25.6% YSG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 1.2% -3.5% EL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 2.4% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.4x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.29% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -54.4% +7.8% -68.1% EL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -38.2%/yr -19.8%/yr -30.9%/yr EL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 100.5% 48.5% 82.4% EL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 44/100 69/100 YSG

Percentile Scorecard

MLKMFELYSG

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

AxisMLKMFELYSG
Valuation – 37 #33 of 52 63 #20 of 52
Growth – 61 #20 of 50 82 #10 of 50
Profitability – 59 #19 of 45 50 #23 of 45
Financial Health 67 #19 of 56 40 #34 of 56 84 #10 of 56
Shareholder Returns – 20 #25 of 31 –
Overall – 44 69
  • MLKMF ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • EL ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products
  • YSG ranked among 60 companies in Household and Personal Products

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMLKMFELYSGSPY
1 month -14.6%+14.6%-7.0% -0.2%
3 months -47.3%+27.8%-30.2% +3.9%
6 months +12.8%+40.5%-15.9% +8.2%
Year to date -53.2%+3.4%-38.8% +12.9%
1 year -54.4%+7.8%-68.1% +12.3%
3 years -90.0%-13.0%-48.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -53.6%-4.5%-19.8% +23.3%
5 years -90.9%-66.7%-84.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year -38.2%-19.8%-30.9% +10.9%
10 years —+26.1%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+2.3%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMLKMFELYSGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 100.5%48.5%82.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 88.2%51.4%93.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.351.311.13 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.540.16-0.83 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -93.5%-86.5%-88.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -71.4%-9.4%-68.1% -1.2%
52-week high $3.08$119.61$7.46 $779.14
52-week low $0.75$67.23$2.19 $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.

MultipleMLKMFELYSG
P/E now vs peer median —median 18.5x 215.6xmedian 18.5x -9.7xmedian 18.5x
P/S now vs peer median —median 1.6x 2.6xmedian 1.6x 0.7xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 12.9x 27.3xmedian 12.9x —median 12.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median —median 18.6x 29.8xmedian 18.6x —median 18.6x
P/B now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 2.2x 10.3xmedian 2.2x 1.1xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.97 -4.94median 0.97 0.98median 0.97

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 monthsMLKMFELYSG
Revenue – $15.05B $653.85M
Gross profit – $11.36B $505.96M
Operating income – $780.00M -$47.33M
Net income – $182.00M -$31.82M
Free cash flow – $1.32B –
R&D – – $22.34M
EPS (diluted) – $0.50 $-0.25
Cash & equivalents $7.82M $3.50B $104.68M
Total debt $631.43M $7.31B –
Shares (diluted) 114.07M 364.80M 93.13M
Enterprise value $38.41M $27.32B -$125.33M

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
MetricMLKMFELYSG
P/E – 215.6x -9.7x
P/FCF – 29.8x –
P/Operating cash flow – 22.1x –
P/S – 2.6x 0.7x
P/B 0.3x 10.3x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 0.3x 172.9x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA – 27.3x –
EV/EBIT – 55.2x -6.2x
EV/Revenue – 2.9x 0.4x
EV/FCF – 32.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow – 24.3x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -4.94 0.98

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMLKMFELYSG
Revenue growth (1Y) – 5.0% 25.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -1.8% 9.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 7.2% 24.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 0.0% 12.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 199.4% 45.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -19.7% 11.5%
Net income growth (1Y) – 116.1% 56.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -43.5% 11.0%
EPS growth (1Y) – 115.9% -537.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -43.6% -9.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 39.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 0.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 96.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 21.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMLKMFELYSG
Gross margin – 75.5% 77.4%
EBITDA margin – 10.5% –
Operating margin – 5.2% -7.2%
Pretax margin – 3.4% -4.6%
Net margin – 1.2% -3.5%
FCF margin – 8.7% –
Operating cash flow margin – 11.8% –
Return on equity – 4.7% -7.8%
Return on assets – 0.9% -5.7%
Return on invested capital – 2.4% –
Return on capital employed – 5.8% -10.1%
Asset turnover – 0.8x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 9.7x –
Stock comp / revenue – 2.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMLKMFELYSG
Debt / assets 23.1% 37.0% –
Debt / equity 0.4x 1.9x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.4x –
Debt / FCF – 5.6x –
Liabilities / assets 39.5% 80.7% 32.0%
Equity / assets 60.5% 19.3% 68.0%
Interest coverage – 2.3x –
Current ratio 4.8x 1.2x 3.7x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.8x 2.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.6x 1.7x
Altman Z-score – 3.25 -0.15

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMLKMFELYSG
Dividend yield – 1.3% –
Net buyback yield – 0.0% –
Shareholder yield – 1.3% –
Payout ratio (earnings) – 279.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 38.6% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -17.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -18.1% –

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.

ConsensusMLKMFELYSG
Forward P/E – 34.1xFY2027 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.51FY2026 $3.18FY2027 $-0.16FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +28.7%FY2027 –
EPS growth, the year after – +17.9% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $272.64MFY2026 $16.39BFY2027 $638.64MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.2%FY2026 +8.9%FY2027 +3.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.6% -1.8% +13.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMLKMFELYSG
Held by institutions – 92.8% 6.8%
Institutions holding – 832 43
Change in shares held, QoQ – 0.0% -11.7%
Institutions buying – 439 15
Institutions selling – 282 18
Buyers to sellers – 1.56 0.83

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.

MLKMFELYSG
MLKMF 1.00 0.11 0.15
EL 0.11 1.00 0.23
YSG 0.15 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MLKMF, EL and YSG?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Waldencast (MLKMF) $100.38M, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) $39.24B, Yatsen Holding (YSG) $446.78M.

Which company is growing faster?

Yatsen Holding (YSG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +5.0%, Yatsen Holding (YSG) +25.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Estee Lauder Companies (EL) has the highest net margin (Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 1.2%, Yatsen Holding (YSG) -3.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Estee Lauder Companies (EL) returned the most: Waldencast (MLKMF) -54.4%, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) +7.8%, Yatsen Holding (YSG) -68.1%. Over five years, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) compounded fastest (Waldencast (MLKMF) -38.2%/yr, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) -19.8%/yr, Yatsen Holding (YSG) -30.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 1.29%. Waldencast (MLKMF) and Yatsen Holding (YSG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) has been the steadiest (Waldencast (MLKMF) 100.5%, Estee Lauder Companies (EL) 48.5%, Yatsen Holding (YSG) 82.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MLKMF, EL and YSG?

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