The Sherwin-Williams Company holds the cleaner structural position, with the lead spread across stability and profitability. Albemarle still leads on growth and valuation, which keeps the comparison from looking entirely one-sided. Both sides have seen trend damage — neither carries a clear market edge right now. With both trends damaged, the structural comparison carries most of the weight here.
The comparison is based on similar long-term financial trajectories, not sector labels. Both peer scores are relative to the S&P 500 universe, making them directly comparable.
This is not just a one-metric split: both stability and profitability materially support the lead. The overall score gap is 13 points in favour of The Sherwin-Williams Company.
Both operate in: Specialty Chemicals
This comparison is based on industry proximity, not on functional trajectory similarity. ALB and SHW share the same industry classification.
For a similarity-based comparison, see how Albemarle and SHW each position within their functional peer groups in AssetNext.
Scores reflect position relative to comparable companies with similar long-term financial trajectories.
The largest gaps do not all point in the same direction.
Left means cheaper relative valuation. Higher means stronger structure.
The price setup looks more supportive for The Sherwin-Williams Company, but Albemarle Corporation still has the stronger structure.
Valuation position uses Forward P/E and peer-relative PE percentile (idx_pct_pe) where available.
Where ALB and SHW each sit in their own 5-year price and valuation history.
Describes historical entry positioning only. Descriptive — not investment advice.
The clearest distance comes from a steadier profile over time.
Absolute pricing still looks more supportive for Albemarle, with a forward P/E that is 15.7 turns lower there.
The lead is built on both stability and profitability — though growth still provides a counterweight.
Break down the ALB vs SHW comparison across all dimensions with the full interactive tool.
Explore how ALB and SHW each compare against other companies in their peer groups.
Rule-based, descriptive analysis only. Derived from peer percentile dimensions. Not investment advice. Peer groups are determined algorithmically based on structural similarity — not by sector classification alone.
AssetNext scores reflect each company's structural position within its functional peer group — not a ranking against all stocks simultaneously. Peers are identified by similarity across eight financial dimensions, including revenue growth trajectory, margin structure, capital intensity, and earnings stability. A score of 75 means the company ranks in the top quartile within its own peer group, not the entire market.
Four dimension scores drive the overall peer score: Growth (revenue trajectory and expansion dynamics), Quality (margin structure and capital efficiency), Valuation (peer-relative pricing on standard multiples), and Stability (earnings consistency and financial predictability). Each dimension is scored 0–100 relative to the peer group, then combined into an overall peer score using equal weighting.
Because scores are peer-relative, the same company can have slightly different scores in different index universes. On comparison pages, both companies are shown within their shared peer universe wherever possible — so the scores are directly comparable. The peer basis is stated on each score card.
Scores are recalculated periodically as underlying financial data is updated. All analysis is descriptive and rule-based — AssetNext describes structural realities and never issues buy, sell or hold recommendations.