Sifting through countless of stocks in the Chemicals industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Element Solutions Inc or Balchem Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation

Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals technology company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments: MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions and Element Specialties. Its MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions segment provides assembly solutions, including surface mount technologies, pastes fluxes, thermal management materials, coatings, and other attachment materials; circuitry solutions, such as circuit board metallization, circuit formation products, electronic materials, surface finishes, and film and smart surface solutions; and semiconductor solutions, which includes semiconductor assembly and wafer level packaging materials. This segment serves the mobile communications, computers, automobiles, and aerospace equipment industries. The Element Specialties segment offers industrial solutions, including electroless nickel, plating products, pre-treatment and cleaning solutions, functional conversion coatings, and water treatment; and energy solutions, which includes offshore fluids. This segment serves the aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer electronics, and oil and gas production end markets. The company was formerly known as Platform Specialty Products Corporation and changed its name to Element Solutions Inc in January 2019. Element Solutions Inc was founded in 1785 and is based in Miami Beach, Florida.

Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures, and distributes specialty performance ingredients and products for the nutritional, food, pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device sterilization, plant nutrition, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Human Nutrition and Health, Animal Nutrition and Health, and Specialty Products. The Human Nutrition & Health segment supplies ingredients in the food and beverage industry. Its products include spray dried and emulsified powders, extrusion and agglomeration, blended lipid systems, liquid flavor delivery systems, juice and dairy bases, chocolate systems, and cereal systems, as well as ice cream bases and variegates. This segment offers specialty vitamin K2; microencapsulation solutions for various applications; and human grade choline nutrients and mineral amino acid chelated products for nutrition and health applications. The Animal Nutrition & Health segment provides microencapsulated products to enhance health and milk production and delivering nutrient supplements in ruminant animals; chelation technology, which offers enhanced nutrient absorption for various species of production and companion animals; methylsulfonylmethane; and choline chloride, a nutrient for monogastric animal health. The Specialty Products segment distributes ethylene oxide and ammonia primarily for use in the health care industry; and single use canisters for sterilizing re-usable devices. This segment also markets and sells propylene oxide, a fumigant to aid in the control of insects and microbiological spoilage, as well as to reduce bacterial and mold contamination in shell and processed nut meats, processed spices, cacao beans, cocoa powder, raisins, figs, and prunes; and chelated minerals for high value crops. It sells its products through sales force, independent distributors, and sales agents. The company was incorporated in 1967 and is headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey.

Latest Chemicals and Element Solutions Inc, Balchem Corporation Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, Element Solutions Inc had a $8.8 billion market capitalization, compared to the Chemicals median of $4.1 million. Element Solutions Inc’s stock is up 46.4% in 2026, up 2.9% in the previous five trading days and up 40.12% in the past year.

Currently, Element Solutions Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 48.9. Element Solutions Inc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.2 billion with a 5.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 56.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.810 per share for the current fiscal year. Element Solutions Inc currently has a 0.9% dividend yield.

As of September 4, 2026, Balchem Corporation had a $5.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 68th percentile of all stocks. Balchem Corporation’s stock is up 10.7% in 2026, down 3.5% in the previous five trading days and up 6.33% in the past year.

Currently, Balchem Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 33.8. Balchem Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.1 billion with a 15.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 11.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.839 per share for the current fiscal year. Balchem Corporation currently has a 0.6% dividend yield.

How We Compare Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Element Solutions Inc	ESI	F
Balchem Corporation	BCPC	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Element Solutions Inc has a Value Score of 19, which is Ultra Expensive. Balchem Corporation has a Value Score of 19, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Element Solutions Inc or Balchem Corporation has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Element Solutions Inc or Balchem Corporation is the better investment when it comes to value.

Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Element Solutions Inc	ESI	C
Balchem Corporation	BCPC	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Element Solutions Inc has a Quality Score of 46, which is Average. Balchem Corporation has a Quality Score of 96, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Balchem Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Balchem Corporation has a better overall quality grade than Element Solutions Inc. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Balchem Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Element Solutions Inc	ESI	C
Balchem Corporation	BCPC	B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Element Solutions Inc has a Earnings Estimate Score of 58, which is Neutral. Balchem Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 63, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Balchem Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Balchem Corporation has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Element Solutions Inc. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Balchem Corporation could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Quality and Value, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Element Solutions Inc or Balchem Corporation Stock?

Overall, Element Solutions Inc stock has a Value Score of 19, Estimate Revisions Score of 58 and Quality Score of 46.

Balchem Corporation stock has a Value Score of 19, Estimate Revisions Score of 63 and Quality Score of 96.

Comparing Element Solutions Inc and Balchem Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.