NUE vs BCPC Stock Comparison

Nucor and Balchem Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NUE Nucor Corp
$258.10 +4.4% 1M +86.4% 1Y
Market cap
$59.32B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$36.10B
Div. yield
0.01%
Steel Basic Materials
6 wins
BCPC Balchem Corp
$177.00 +5.2% 1M +12.9% 1Y
Market cap
$5.42B
P/E
31.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Specialty Chemicals Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Nucor leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Nucor 6, Balchem 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNUEBCPCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $59.32B $5.42B NUE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.6x 31.7x NUE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.9x 34.6x NUE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.2% +9.4% NUE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.0% 15.4% BCPC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.0% 12.1% BCPC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.3x BCPC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +86.4% +12.9% NUE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +20.3%/yr +2.7%/yr NUE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.8% 20.4% BCPC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 55/100 66/100 BCPC

Percentile Scorecard

NUEBCPC

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

AxisNUEBCPC
Valuation 74 #43 of 162 31 #65 of 94
Growth 51 #73 of 147 86 #14 of 92
Profitability 65 #43 of 122 85 #14 of 89
Financial Health 40 #100 of 166 89 #12 of 97
Shareholder Returns 47 #57 of 107 39 #43 of 70
Overall 55 66
  • NUE 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

PeriodNUEBCPCSPY
1 month +4.4%+5.2% -1.0%
3 months +4.2%+8.7% +2.9%
6 months +20.4%+1.9% +6.4%
Year to date +58.2%+15.4% +11.4%
1 year +86.4%+12.9% +13.1%
3 years +75.4%+45.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year +20.6%+13.3% +21.5%
5 years +152.2%+14.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +20.3%+2.7% +10.9%
10 years +439.2%+133.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +18.4%+8.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNUEBCPCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.8%20.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.0%18.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.900.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.720.63 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -48.6%-34.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.0%-3.4% -2.5%
52-week high $274.65$183.26 $779.14
52-week low $138.45$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.

MultipleNUEBCPC
P/E now vs peer median 20.4xmedian 12.7x 32.8xmedian 21.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 3.1x 5.1xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.1xmedian 6.9x 20.5xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 37.0xmedian 15.1x 31.6xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.1x 4.2xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median -1.19median 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 monthsNUEBCPC
Revenue $36.10B $1.11B
Gross profit $5.59B $404.38M
Operating income $4.17B $229.57M
Net income $3.26B $170.85M
Free cash flow $1.58B $178.00M
R&D – $20.81M
EPS (diluted) $12.62 $5.33
Cash & equivalents $2.48B $66.26M
Total debt $28.20B $696.62M
Shares (diluted) 228.50M 32.03M
Enterprise value $48.70B $5.14B

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
MetricNUEBCPC
P/E 20.4x 32.8x
P/FCF 37.0x 31.6x
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x 25.2x
P/S 1.6x 5.1x
P/B 2.5x 4.2x
P/Tangible book 2.9x 4.7x
EV/EBITDA 11.1x 20.5x
EV/EBIT 15.1x 24.9x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 5.2x
EV/FCF 39.8x 32.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.2x 25.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.19 1.75

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNUEBCPC
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.2% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.2% 6.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 73.8% 11.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -16.1% 11.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 94.4% 12.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -18.5% 14.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 106.1% 14.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -18.2% 18.3%
EPS growth (1Y) 124.8% 16.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -17.1% 18.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 41.3% 11.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.5% 12.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 511.2% 10.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -37.3% 14.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNUEBCPC
Gross margin 15.5% 36.5%
EBITDA margin 15.7% 25.1%
Operating margin 11.5% 20.7%
Pretax margin 11.4% 19.9%
Net margin 8.0% 15.4%
FCF margin 4.4% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 12.3% 20.2%
Return on equity 14.2% 13.0%
Return on assets 9.0% 10.1%
Return on invested capital 11.0% 12.1%
Return on capital employed 13.4% 15.0%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.2% 1.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNUEBCPC
Debt / assets 19.2% 8.6%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.3x
Debt / FCF 4.5x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 37.0% 22.1%
Equity / assets 63.0% 77.9%
Interest coverage 28.7x –
Current ratio 2.5x 2.5x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 5.43 11.26

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNUEBCPC
Dividend yield 0.9% 0.5%
Net buyback yield 1.1% 2.0%
Shareholder yield 2.0% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) 15.7% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 32.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) -0.8% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -0.6% –

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.

ConsensusNUEBCPC
Forward P/E 12.9xFY2026 34.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $20.03FY2026 $5.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +159.8%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.5% +7.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $39.95BFY2026 $1.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +22.9%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.6% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNUEBCPC
Held by institutions 79.2% 90.5%
Institutions holding 1,541 417
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.2% +1.5%
Institutions buying 751 193
Institutions selling 516 162
Buyers to sellers 1.46 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.

NUEBCPC
NUE 1.00 0.18
BCPC 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NUE and BCPC?

Nucor (NUE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nucor (NUE) $59.32B, Balchem (BCPC) $5.42B.

Which stock is cheaper, NUE and BCPC?

Nucor (NUE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nucor (NUE) 20.6x, Balchem (BCPC) 31.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nucor (NUE) is cheapest (Nucor (NUE) 12.9x, 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?

Nucor (NUE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Nucor (NUE) +17.2%, Balchem (BCPC) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Balchem (BCPC) has the highest net margin (Nucor (NUE) 8.0%, Balchem (BCPC) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Balchem (BCPC) leads (Nucor (NUE) 11.0%, Balchem (BCPC) 12.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nucor (NUE) returned the most: Nucor (NUE) +86.4%, Balchem (BCPC) +12.9%. Over five years, Nucor (NUE) compounded fastest (Nucor (NUE) +20.3%/yr, Balchem (BCPC) +2.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Nucor (NUE) 0.01%, Balchem (BCPC) 0.00%. Balchem (BCPC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Balchem (BCPC) has been the steadiest (Nucor (NUE) 31.8%, Balchem (BCPC) 20.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do NUE and BCPC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.18, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, NUE 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, Nucor (NUE) 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.