ESIElement Solutions Inc
Is the business good?
A genuinely good business: earnings fully cash-backed (1.1×) and margins widening.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is worsening vs a year ago.
Negative operating leverage, costs are rising faster than sales, squeezing margins as it grows.
A balanced mix of margins, efficiency, and leverage. ROE 7% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is ESI?
Element Solutions Inc earns 6.8% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 2.2 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 12%
Operating margin · Specialty Chemicals median 7.4% · 12 months to Q3 2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.06×
Cash conversion · 1.22× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +0.70%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 13% |
| FY2021 | 13% |
| FY2022 | 13% |
| FY2023 | 7.4% |
| FY2024 | 14% |
| FY2025 | 13% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q3 2026
- 37%
- Operating margin12 months to Q3 2026
- 12%
- Net margin12 months to Q3 2026
- 5.9%
- Free cash flow margin
- 5.2%
- R&D as % of revenue
- 2.3%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $3.49B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $183M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $205M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 6.8%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.