CRH public limited company vs CEMEX SAB DE CV, two Building Materials stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Scale and quality both lean toward CRH, the $75.1B aggregates and cement leader, which earns 15.22% on equity to Cemex's 7.69% and keeps a wider net margin, 9.65% against 5.93%. Cemex, at $17.8B, isn't without its own case. It carries no net debt where CRH runs 0.87 debt-to-equity, it yields more free cash at 5.04% against 4%, and it trades at less than half the book multiple, 1.42 times against 3.11 times. The earnings multiples sit close, 20.83 times for CRH and 18.85 times for Cemex. CRH pays a 1.32% dividend. The choice is a proven compounder against a cheaper, debt-free turnaround.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | CRH | CX |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $104.68 | $12.47 |
| Market cap | $70.0B | $18.0B |
| Sector | Building Materials | Building Materials |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +16.4% | — |
| P/E | 19.4 | 19.2 |
| P/B | 2.90 | 1.45 |
| P/S | 1.84 | 1.11 |
| EV/EBITDA | 14.7 | 5.6 |
| Revenue growth | +6.6% | +6.5% |
| Gross margin | 27.8% | 33.6% |
| Operating margin | -0.5% | 11.2% |
| Net margin | 9.7% | 5.9% |
| Return on equity | 15.2% | 7.7% |
| Return on assets | 6.3% | 3.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.4% | 13.6% |
| FCF yield | 4.3% | 5.0% |
| Dividend yield | 1.4% | — |
| Debt / equity | 0.87 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 1.59 | 0.82 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.62 | 1.77 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 2 / 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.