BHE vs CLS: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: CLS is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. BHE and CLS share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined BHE and CLS exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE: BHE), headquartered in Tempe, Arizona and founded in 1979, is a global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider. It offers full product-lifecycle solutions, from design and engineering through prototyping, high-complexity printed circuit board assembly, system integration, and aftermarket support. The company deliberately targets low-to-medium volume, high-mix, high-reliability work in regulated end markets, including aerospace and defense (AC&C), medical technologies, semiconductor capital equipment, complex industrials, and next-generation communications. It operates roughly 22 sites across about eight countries with around 11,800 employees.

Full BHE guide

Celestica is a Toronto-based electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and supply-chain company that designs, builds, and tests hardware for other companies. It reports in two segments. Connectivity & Cloud Solutions (CCS) is the larger and faster-growing one, serving data-center and communications customers with networking switches, servers, storage, and increasingly custom AI/ML compute hardware; in Q1 2026 CCS was about ~80% of total revenue and grew roughly ~76% year over year, with hyperscaler customers making up the majority of that segment. Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS) is the diversified segment covering aerospace and defense, industrial, HealthTech, and capital equipment. The company makes money on the volume and complexity of the hardware it manufactures and on higher-value design and joint-design-manufacturing (JDM) work, where margins are structurally better than commodity contract assembly.

Full CLS guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• BHE drivers: Aerospace, defense, and reshoring demand; Semiconductor capital equipment, AI infrastructure, and medical.
• CLS drivers: Hyperscaler-driven CCS growth; AI networking and compute content.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: EMS is a structurally low-margin, capital-intensive, and cyclical business, so gross margins near 10% and a net margin under 2% leave limited buffer against demand slowdowns or pricing pressure. For CLS, customer concentration is the headline risk: as of Q1 2026 three customers each represented at least 10% of revenue (roughly 35%, 15%, and 15%), and the top ten customers made up about ~78% of revenue, so losing or being de-prioritized by a single hyperscaler would matter a lot.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick BHE if you believe its drivers more; CLS if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the BHE and CLS guides.

BHE. Benchmark's trailing multiple looks high at about 49 times because GAAP earnings were depressed in 2025, while the forward multiple near 22 times prices in the expected EPS recovery to around $2.94 in 2026 and $3.31 in 2027. At under 1 times sales the stock is still valued like a thin-margin manufacturer, so whether the October 28 report confirms the growth pace matters as much as the reported multiple.

CLS. At about 32 times trailing and 16 times forward earnings as of October 16, 2026, Celestica trades at a much lower multiple than in mid-2026, because the share price has drifted while earnings estimates kept rising (analysts expect 2027 EPS near $19.36, up about 76%). The 18-analyst mean target of about $474 sits far above the $306.83 close, with a consensus of strong buy. A premium-to-history multiple still leaves the stock sensitive to any sign that hyperscaler AI spending is slowing, and the October 26 Q3 report is the next test.

Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): BHE shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.8B, q2 2026 revenue ~$756M (up ~18% YoY), non-gaap eps (q2 2026) ~$0.75 (vs ~$0.69 est.), margins (ttm) ~10% gross, ~4% operating, ~2% net; CLS shows revenue (ttm) ~$15.6B, q2 2026 revenue ~$4.7B (up ~62% YoY), q2 2026 adjusted eps $2.54 vs $2.31 estimate, net income (ttm) ~$1.12B (~7.2% net margin).

BHE and CLS are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined BHE and CLS exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.