ARCHER-DANIELS-MIDLAND CO vs British American Tobacco p.l.c., two Food & Beverage stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Set a grain processor beside a tobacco company and the margins tell you which business has pricing power. British American Tobacco keeps 30.32 cents of every revenue dollar; Archer-Daniels-Midland keeps 1.34. BTI earns 16.13% on equity against ADM's 4.74%, and trades at a much lower 14.13 times earnings versus ADM's 34.29, because cigarettes are a shrinking market the market refuses to pay up for. ADM's edge is cash conversion, a 12.89% free cash yield against BTI's 5.34%, the reward for a low-margin, high-turnover trade. BTI is the giant at $137.3B, nearly four times ADM's $37.2B. Thin and cyclical meets fat and fading.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | ADM | BTI |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $80.41 | $60.01 |
| Market cap | $38.9B | $131.2B |
| Sector | Food & Beverage | Food & Beverage |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +5.0% | — |
| P/E | 35.9 | 13.5 |
| P/B | 1.71 | 2.15 |
| P/S | 0.48 | 4.05 |
| EV/EBITDA | 39.2 | 10.0 |
| Revenue growth | -3.7% | +0.0% |
| Gross margin | 6.0% | — |
| Operating margin | — | 39.0% |
| Net margin | 1.3% | 30.3% |
| Return on equity | 4.7% | 16.1% |
| Return on assets | 1.9% | 7.1% |
| Return on invested capital | — | 16.4% |
| FCF yield | 12.3% | 5.6% |
| Dividend yield | 2.5% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.36 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.31 | 0.87 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 8.16 | 6.81 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.