JCI vs HON Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
JCI (Johnson Controls) and HON (Honeywell) are both industrial companies with significant building automation capabilities — but Johnson Controls is a pure-play building technology company after its portfolio simplification, while Honeywell is a diversified industrial with aerospace, performance materials, and automation alongside its building segment. JCI offers pure building technology exposure; HON offers diversified industrial with building as a component.
JCI vs HON is building technology pure-play (Johnson Controls' entire business focused on building HVAC, fire, security, and digital building platforms) versus diversified industrial with building automation embedded (Honeywell's building automation within aerospace, materials, and broader industrial technology).
HON holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. JCI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+33.22% vs +3.95%), though HON has the better forward P/E setup (21.74x vs 23.14x for JCI). On fundamentals, JCI is growing revenue faster (9.30%), while HON maintains the higher operating margin (20.25%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for HON (+21.46%) than for JCI (+16.85%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want a pure-play building technologies company with York HVAC systems, building security, fire safety, and the OpenBlue digital platform driving sustainable building transformation
- Value Johnson Controls' service revenue model from maintenance contracts on installed building systems as providing recurring, high-margin cash flows
- See commercial building energy efficiency mandates and sustainability upgrades as a structural driver for building system modernization benefiting JCI's retrofit and upgrade business
- Want diversified industrial exposure with Honeywell's balanced portfolio across aerospace (aviation, defense), industrial automation, building automation, and specialty materials
- Value Honeywell's aerospace segment as providing exposure to the robust commercial aviation market recovery and growing defense spending
- See Honeywell's portfolio simplification (spinning off Advanced Materials, potential further divestitures) as unlocking value from the conglomerate structure
| Metric | JCI | HON |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 54.3 | 42.1 |
| AI ranki | #395 | #890 |
| Latest closei | $147.63 | $210.50 |
| 1M returni | +6.75% | +3.47% |
| 3M returni | +4.51% | -6.99% |
| 6M returni | +7.33% | -8.23% |
| 1Y returni | +33.22% | +3.95% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | JCI | HON |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.5K (+35.0%) started 2025-10-16 | $10.36K (+3.6%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $24.1K (+141.0%) started 2021-10-18 | $11.18K (+11.8%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $66.8K (+568.0%) started 2016-10-17 | $29.66K (+196.6%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | JCI | HON |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $84.56B | $68.91B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 40.00 | 8.36 |
| Forward P/Ei | 23.14 | 21.74 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 3.75 |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.74 | 2.50 |
| Analyst targeti | $163.11 | $264.09 |
| Target upsidei | +16.85% | +21.46% |
| Metric | JCI | HON |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 9.30% | 4.30% |
| Earnings growthi | 15.30% | 263.90% |
| EPS growthi | +15.30% | +263.90% |
| FCF margini | +11.94% | +6.86% |
| Operating margini | 15.88% | 20.25% |
| Profit margini | 14.32% | 21.58% |
| ROIC proxyi | 14.33% | 46.58% |
| Return on equityi | 14.33% | 46.58% |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.15% | 1.29% |
| Payout ratioi | 45.20% | 34.70% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.32 | 0.92 |
| Debt/equityi | 70.11 | 185.37 |
| Current ratioi | 1.00 | 1.21 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.68 | 0.76 |
Over the past year, JCI and HON have moved weakly in the same direction (correlation of 0.24), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | JCI | HON |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +34.98% | +3.61% |
| CAGRi | +35.06% | +3.61% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.60% | 26.85% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.99 | 0.10 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.45 | 0.14 | |
| Max drawdowni | 12.98% | 19.06% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.01% | 15.39% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 4.10% | 8.71% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 5.18% | 10.19% | |
| Max daily dropi | 6.24% | 6.00% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 9.37% | 10.46% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +121.78% | +3.17% |
| CAGRi | +17.29% | +0.63% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.03% | 22.72% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.54 | -0.06 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.77 | -0.08 | |
| Max drawdowni | 42.32% | 25.21% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.01% | 15.39% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.99% | 9.91% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 18.25% | 11.37% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.25% | 7.62% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 17.30% | 14.33% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +364.95% | +143.53% |
| CAGRi | +16.62% | +9.31% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.13% | 23.94% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.53 | 0.30 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.74 | 0.43 | |
| Max drawdowni | 46.36% | 43.01% | |
| Current drawdowni | 7.01% | 15.39% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.37% | 8.35% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.36% | 10.78% | |
| Max daily dropi | 13.32% | 12.09% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.61% | 24.70% |
| Category | JCI | HON |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Johnson Controls International plc | Honeywell International Inc. |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | Building Products & Equipment | Conglomerates |
| Core business | Johnson Controls is a global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable building solutions — providing HVAC equipment (York, Coleman, Luxaire brands), building security systems, fire detection/suppression, and OpenBlue building management platform for data-driven building optimization. | Honeywell is a diversified industrial technology company operating in aerospace technologies (jet engine components, avionics, defense), industrial automation (process control, safety, sensing), building automation (thermostats, fire, security, energy management), and performance materials (specialty chemicals, refrigerants). |
| Investor focus | Investors track Johnson Controls' organic revenue growth, order backlog, service revenue mix, OpenBlue digital building platform adoption, and capital return as the company focuses purely on building technologies after divesting its power solutions business. | Investors track Honeywell's segment organic growth (Aerospace, Industrial Automation, Building Automation, Energy & Sustainability Solutions), margin improvement, portfolio transformation through spin-offs, and capital allocation between acquisitions, buybacks, and dividends. |
- Pure-play building technologies focus after divesting automotive batteries and other non-core businesses — Johnson Controls is now solely focused on commercial, industrial, and residential building systems
- OpenBlue connected building platform uses AI and IoT data from building systems to optimize energy efficiency, security, and occupant comfort — a growing software and services revenue layer
- Service revenue from maintenance contracts on installed HVAC, fire, and security systems provides recurring revenue with high margins versus project-based equipment sales
- Aerospace segment provides exposure to the robust commercial aviation and defense aerospace markets — jet engine components and avionics create recurring aftermarket revenue tied to flight hours
- Diversified industrial technology portfolio provides resilience — strength in aerospace offsets weakness in industrial or building automation in different economic environments
- Honeywell Forge digital transformation software platform is evolving from product company to connected industrial software across all segments
- Johnson Controls has faced corporate governance and operational execution challenges — activist investor pressure and management changes reflect ongoing concerns about performance versus potential
- Commercial building activity and sustainability upgrade investment are the primary revenue drivers — economic downturns that reduce commercial construction or corporate building spending affect JCI revenue
- Competition from Siemens, Schneider Electric, and Honeywell in building management systems for large commercial and institutional buildings is intense
- Honeywell has been targeted by activist investors and is executing a portfolio separation — spinning off its Advanced Materials (performance materials) segment and potentially other units to simplify the conglomerate structure
- Building automation is a smaller segment within Honeywell's diversified portfolio — less focused investment versus pure-play building technology companies like Johnson Controls
- Industrial and building automation spending can be discretionary and economically sensitive — commercial construction slowdowns and industrial capex cuts affect both HON and JCI
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