ECL vs APD Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Ecolab and Air Products by water treatment revenue, hydrogen infrastructure investment, pricing power, return on capital, and long-term valuation.
Use this Ecolab vs Air Products comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
APD holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. APD leads on both 1-year return (-0.38%) and forward P/E quality (20.70x vs 29.16x for ECL), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, ECL is growing revenue faster (10.00%), while APD maintains the higher operating margin (23.59%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for ECL (+17.08%) than for APD (+12.63%).
| Metric | ECL | APD |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 41.6 | 49.8 |
| AI rank | #982 | #516 |
| Latest close | $266.88 | $297.00 |
| 1M return | -0.91% | +4.91% |
| 6M return | -4.64% | +12.88% |
| 1Y return | -1.36% | -0.38% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ECL | APD |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.94K (-0.6%) started 2025-07-23 | $9.97K (-0.3%) started 2025-07-23 |
| 5Y ago | $13.27K (+32.7%) started 2021-07-26 | $12.43K (+24.3%) started 2021-07-26 |
| 10Y ago | $27.08K (+170.8%) started 2016-07-25 | $33.81K (+238.1%) started 2016-07-25 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ECL | APD |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $76.78B | $65.83B |
| Trailing P/E | 36.92 | 31.15 |
| Forward P/E | 29.16 | 20.70 |
| Price/Sales | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenue | 5.20 | 6.88 |
| Analyst target | $319.43 | $332.95 |
| Target upside | +17.08% | +12.63% |
| Metric | ECL | APD |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 10.00% | 8.80% |
| Earnings growth | 7.80% | 9.70% |
| EPS growth | +7.80% | +9.70% |
| FCF margin | +9.64% | -28.24% |
| Operating margin | 16.93% | 23.59% |
| Profit margin | 12.80% | 16.91% |
| ROIC proxy | 22.43% | 12.35% |
| Return on equity | 22.43% | 12.35% |
| Dividend yield | 1.07% | 2.45% |
| Beta | 0.90 | 0.74 |
| Debt/equity | 92.37 | 101.61 |
| Current ratio | 0.99 | 1.43 |
| Quick ratio | 0.68 | 0.98 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | ECL | APD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -0.60% | -0.30% |
| CAGR | -0.60% | -0.30% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.13 | -0.05 | |
| Max drawdown | 20.31% | 22.90% | |
| Max daily drop | 4.09% | 9.45% | |
| Max wkly drop | 8.32% | 10.13% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +27.08% | +12.76% |
| CAGR | +4.92% | +2.43% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.13 | 0.05 | |
| Max drawdown | 43.70% | 31.77% | |
| Max daily drop | 8.97% | 15.55% | |
| Max wkly drop | 14.59% | 16.51% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +145.04% | +167.27% |
| CAGR | +9.38% | +10.34% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.30 | 0.34 | |
| Max drawdown | 43.70% | 31.77% | |
| Max daily drop | 11.74% | 15.55% | |
| Max wkly drop | 24.62% | 19.77% |
| Category | ECL | APD |
|---|---|---|
| Company | ECL | APD |
| Sector | Basic Materials | Basic Materials |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | N/A | N/A |
| Investor focus | N/A | N/A |
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