Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. CF scored 70.3, BCPC scored 52.2 — CF leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. CF's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but BCPC's are as of March 2026 — a 3-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
CF
CF Industries Holdings, Inc.
Agricultural Inputs · Quality-Growth
70.3
$111.54 · $16.9B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
18.1
CF leads
BCPC
Balchem Corporation
Specialty Chemicals · Quality-Growth
52.2
$167.83 · $5.4B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestCF8.3x
Fastest growthCF+19.3%
Strongest balance sheetBCPC0.13
Highest qualityCF91 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueCF-68%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
CF
stronger →← stronger
BCPC
91
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
75
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
50
77
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
38
CF is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
CF
BCPC
$1.9bC+
FCF
$176mC
+19.3%B+
Rev
+8.8%B
0.41B
D/E
0.13A-
8.3xA-
P/E
33.2xC
0.49A
PEG
3.26D
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
CF
BCPC
68% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
65% above
~-18%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~19%/yr
+186%
1-yr DCF upside
-43%
+216%
5-yr DCF upside
-39%
+269%
10-yr DCF upside
-34%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
CF
Why this score
Buying back stock
Raising its dividend
Cyclical growth
BCPC
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Cyclical growth
The companies
CFCF Industries Holdings, Inc.
Agricultural Inputs · $111.54 · beta 0.53
Why now
Agricultural Inputs · market cap $16.9b. Down 21% from 52-week high of $141.96 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +19%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.49 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 20 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $127.69 (implying +14% upside).
Moat
Net margin 27% sits well above the S&P median (~11%) — suggests structural pricing advantage or cost discipline competitors can't quickly close. ROE 30% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
BCPCBalchem Corporation
Specialty Chemicals · $167.83 · beta 0.85
Why now
Specialty Chemicals · market cap $5.4b. 9% off the 52-week high of $183.90. 4 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $209.25 (implying +25% upside).
Moat
Net margin 15% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 13% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 107% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash.
Risk
Trailing P/E 33x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where CF and BCPC diverge
On the headline score the gap is 18.1 points in favor of CF. The widest single difference is Value, where CF leads by 38.5 points.
ValueCF 76.6 · BCPC 38.1CF +38.5
QualityCF 90.9 · BCPC 74.8CF +16.1
GrowthCF 50.0 · BCPC 50.0level
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is CF or BCPC the better stock?
CF scores higher: CF 70.3, BCPC 52.2 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do CF and BCPC differ most?
The widest gap is value, where CF leads by 39 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. CF also leads quality, while growth is effectively level between them.
How are CF and BCPC scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.