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Universe/Miscellaneous Chemical Products/ESI

Element Solutions Inc

ESI · US · USD
Watchlist and comparison: planned
Market value8.84 bn USD
Industry per SECMiscellaneous Chemical Products
Price as of12 Oct 2026
Last financial year2025
Latest filing10-Q, 28 Jul 2026
Method version2.7.0
Years in the base11
Company quality, four grades from 0 to 5
Balance sheet4
Profitability3
Cash flow4
Growth3
Total points14 of 20
Share valuation, scored separately
Position in the rangeabove

The key figures

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All values from audited annual reports filed with the US regulator SEC. No value is estimated, none smoothed.

GradePointsBasis
Balance sheet4/5Net debt to operating income 2.0× · Current ratio 3.7
How this grade is built
Net debt to operating income2.0×3/51: ≤ 5.0×2: ≤ 4.0×3: ≤ 3.0×4: ≤ 2.0×5: ≤ 1.0×Next step: at most 2.0× for grade 4
Current ratio3.75/51: ≥ 0.82: ≥ 1.03: ≥ 1.34: ≥ 1.85: ≥ 2.5
Mean 3 + 5 / 2 = 4.00, rounded 4
Profitability3/5Operating margin 13.4% · Return on equity 7.1%
How this grade is built
Operating margin13.4%3/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 5.0%3: ≥ 12.0%4: ≥ 20.0%5: ≥ 30.0%Next step: at least 20.0% for grade 4
Return on equity7.1%2/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 5.0%3: ≥ 10.0%4: ≥ 18.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 10.0% for grade 3
Mean 3 + 2 / 2 = 2.50, rounded 3
Cash flow4/5Free cash flow to revenue 8.9% · Profit covered by cash flow 1.2× · Free cash flow positive 5 of 5 years
How this grade is built
Free cash flow to revenue8.9%2/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 5.0%3: ≥ 10.0%4: ≥ 18.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 10.0% for grade 3
Profit covered by cash flow1.2×4/51: ≥ 0.4×2: ≥ 0.6×3: ≥ 0.8×4: ≥ 1.0×5: ≥ 1.2×Next step: at least 1.2× for grade 5
Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years5/51: 1 of 52: 2 of 53: 3 of 54: 4 of 55: 5 of 5
Mean 2 + 4 + 5 / 3 = 3.67, rounded 4
Growth3/5Revenue growth per year 6.6% · Operating income per year 8.0%
How this grade is built
Revenue growth per year6.6%2/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 3.0%3: ≥ 8.0%4: ≥ 15.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 8.0% for grade 3
Operating income per year8.0%3/51: ≥ 0.0%2: ≥ 3.0%3: ≥ 8.0%4: ≥ 15.0%5: ≥ 25.0%Next step: at least 15.0% for grade 4
Mean 2 + 3 / 2 = 2.50, rounded 3

Each grade is the rounded mean of two or three key figures, each placed on a five-step scale. Open the derivation under a grade to see, for every figure, the measured value, the step it reached and what the next step would have required.

The valuation range

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The range comes from this company's own history, not from a comparison with others. Price today 36.45 EUR, range 19.28 to 28.55 EUR. The price sits above the upper edge of its own valuation range. The middle of the range sits 34.4% below today's price. Reliability: robust, from 6 methods.

MethodTodaySeriesYears
Price to earnings46,12019–20257
Price to revenue3,52016–202510
Price to free cash flow38,82016–20259
Price to book value3,32016–202510
Enterprise value to revenue3,92016–202510
Enterprise value to operating profit28,82018–20257

Open each method to see the arithmetic year by year.

Price to earnings
YearPriceBasisMultiple
201911,680,3533,4
202017,730,3059,1
202124,280,8229,6
202218,190,7623,9
202323,140,4947,2
202425,431,0125,2
202524,990,7931,6
heute36,450,7946,1
Price to revenue
YearPriceBasisMultiple
20169,816,501,5
20179,926,571,5
201810,336,801,5
201911,687,061,7
202017,737,422,4
202124,289,682,5
202218,1910,371,8
202323,149,652,4
202425,4310,132,5
202524,9910,522,4
heute36,4510,523,5
Price to free cash flow
YearPriceBasisMultiple
20169,810,558917,6
20179,920,528818,8
201911,680,542921,5
202017,730,989217,9
202124,281,128321,5
202218,191,009418,0
202323,141,161719,9
202425,431,210221,0
202524,990,938926,6
heute36,450,938938,8
Price to book value
YearPriceBasisMultiple
20169,8110,051,0
20179,929,591,0
201810,337,321,4
201911,688,541,4
202017,739,281,9
202124,2810,012,4
202218,199,491,9
202323,149,632,4
202425,439,822,6
202524,9911,032,3
heute36,4511,033,3
Enterprise value to revenue
YearPriceBasisMultiple
20169,811.770,104,3
20179,921.878,604,3
201810,331.961,004,2
201911,681.835,902,4
202017,731.853,703,1
202124,282.399,803,2
202218,192.549,402,4
202323,142.333,203,1
202425,432.456,903,1
202524,992.551,202,8
heute36,452.551,203,9
Enterprise value to operating profit
YearPriceBasisMultiple
201810,33248,5032,8
201911,68249,1017,6
202017,73232,7024,4
202124,28299,9025,4
202218,19325,3018,8
202425,43343,9022,2
202524,99342,2020,7
heute36,45342,2028,8

Price divided by basis gives the multiple. Every row can be recomputed; if a row does not add up, this page is not built at all.

Within the sector

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Rank 3 of 6 in the industry. Median of total points in this industry: 14.0 of 20, across 6 graded companies. The grades are absolute and are not normalised to the sector: in a weak industry a weak grade stays weak.

one place above
WD 40 Co.
WDFC
15/20
one place below
Flotek Industries Inc.
FTK
14/20

The neighbours follow from the ranking alone, not from a judgement. More total points does not mean a company is the better investment, only that more quality rules are met. It says nothing about the price.

The series of figures

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Every figure comes from the annual report of that year and has not been revised afterwards. Amounts in USD.

Swipe sideways for all columns.

YearRevenueOperating profitFree cash flowEarnings per shareSharesNet debt
20152.54 bn71.60 m273.00 m-1.52203.20 m4.80 bn
20161.77 bn89.40 m152.20 m-0.65272.30 m4.93 bn
20171.88 bn200.20 m151.30 m-1.04286.10 m5.25 bn
20181.96 bn248.50 m-29.20 m-1.13288.20 m5.17 bn
20191.84 bn249.10 m141.20 m0.35260.10 m1.35 bn
20201.85 bn232.70 m247.20 m0.30249.90 m1.24 bn
20212.40 bn299.90 m279.70 m0.82247.90 m1.60 bn
20222.55 bn325.30 m248.10 m0.76245.80 m1.65 bn
20232.33 bn173.60 m280.90 m0.49241.80 m1.66 bn
20242.46 bn343.90 m293.60 m1.01242.60 m1.48 bn
20252.55 bn342.20 m227.60 m0.79242.40 m1.01 bn

How durable the advantage is

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4 of 10 points, measured over 10 years (2016 to 2025). Classification: weak.

FeaturePointsBasis
Return on capital, level0/3The company earns on average 5.5% of its assets per year as operating profit, measured over 10 years. Comparable companies are around 10%.
Return on capital, consistency0/30 of 10 years above 10%. Consistency is the real evidence, because anyone has one good year.
Pricing power2/2Gross margin averaging 42%, trending -2.5 percentage points from the first third to the last. A margin that holds for a decade is pricing power. One that melts away is competition.
Stability in a downturn2/2Operating margin averaging 13%. Tested in 2020 and 2022: 2020 13%, 2022 13%. Holding counts from two thirds of the company's own average.

What is measured is the trace of a moat: a durably high return on capital and margins that survive a downturn. The causes (switching costs, network effects, brand, licences, economies of scale) appear in no filing and are not claimed here.

Next figures

Expected on 27 Oct 2026 (estimated from the rhythm of earlier filings, ± 6 days). Grades can change after a report; the page is then rebuilt.

Required disclosures for this analysis

Produced byFlorian Maier
Completed on14.10.2026 03:58
Price as of12 Oct 2026
Latest filing10-Q, 28 Jul 2026
Method version2.7.0
Time horizonThe grades describe a state that can change with every annual report, so roughly quarterly. The historical analysis is computed over 36 months.
Own positionNot disclosed individually, see the risk notice.
Earlier analysesThe list of all analyses of this company from the past twelve months will appear once twelve months of analyses exist. This run is the start of the series.

This is not investment advice. Limits of the method, assumptions and conflicts of interest: risk notice.