SQMSociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A.
Is the business good?
The checks split: nothing decisive, though earnings fully cash-backed (1.9×).
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is improving 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 10% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is SQM?
Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A. earns 9.0% 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% · 0.03 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- 23%
Operating margin · Specialty Chemicals median 7.4% · fiscal year to FY2025
- Cash conversion
- 1.85×
Cash conversion · 1.68× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- 0.00%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 17% |
| FY2021 | 32% |
| FY2022 | 52% |
| FY2023 | 38% |
| FY2024 | 24% |
| FY2025 | 23% |
Details›
- Gross marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 30%
- Operating marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 23%
- Net marginfiscal year to FY2025
- 13%
- Free cash flow margin
- 9.6%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $4.58B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $438M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $588M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 9.0%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Customers and suppliers
Who buys from SQM and who it buys from, as the companies report it.
- 10 largest customers75%
Combined share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
- Ten largest customers63%
Combined share of revenue · FY2025 20-F
None disclosed.
A company has to disclose every customer behind 10% or more of its revenue. Each share comes from the latest annual report of the company that states it and shows on both companies’ pages; SQM’s own figures are from its FY2025 20-F. Smaller customers and suppliers go unreported.