CSL vs HAE: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
CSL is the larger of the two ($14.29B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (15.05x forward earnings, beta 0.85). HAE is the smaller challenger ($4.13B), priced similarly on forward earnings (15.82x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
CSL vs HAE: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 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.
| Metric | CSL | HAE | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $14.29B | $4.13B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 15.05 | 15.82 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 20.40 | 43.86 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 0.85 | 0.52 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 48% of range | 97% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 8.80 | 4.93 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Before you buy: how CSL and HAE affect your concentration
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. CSL and HAE 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 CSL and HAE 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.
What does Carlisle Companies Incorporated (CSL) do?
Carlisle Companies Incorporated (NYSE: CSL) is a diversified manufacturer that, after years of portfolio reshaping, has become a focused supplier of building-envelope products that make commercial and residential buildings more energy efficient. It operates through two segments: Carlisle Construction Materials (CCM), which makes single-ply roofing membranes (EPDM rubber, TPO, and PVC), polyiso insulation, and metal roofing and wall systems, and Carlisle Weatherproofing Technologies (CWT), which makes waterproofing, air and vapor barriers, sealants, spray polyurethane foam, coatings, and related moisture-protection products. The company earns most of its revenue from commercial construction, and within that, a large share comes from re-roofing (replacing aging roofs), which is more stable than new construction because roofs wear out on a predictable cycle regardless of the economy.
What does Haemonetics (HAE) do?
Haemonetics Corporation, based in Boston and listed on the NYSE, has sold blood-handling technology since 1971. Its largest business is plasma: the NexSys PCS apheresis machines, and the far more profitable single-use disposable kits that run on them, sit in the collection centers operated by companies like Grifols, Takeda's BioLife and Octapharma, which turn donated plasma into immunoglobulin and other plasma-derived therapies. A second business, grouped under the hospital umbrella, splits into Interventional Technologies (the VASCADE and VASCADE MVP vascular closure devices used after catheter procedures, plus the OpSens optical pressure sensing line and the Attune Medical esophageal cooling device) and Blood Management Technologies (TEG viscoelastic hemostasis analyzers, Cell Saver autotransfusion systems, and blood-tracking software). A third and shrinking business supplies whole-blood and apheresis collection to blood banks.
CSL vs HAE: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- CSL drivers: Commercial re-roofing replacement cycle; Margin expansion and pure-play focus.
- HAE drivers: Plasma without the CSL overhang; Yield software as a razor-blade lever.
Which fits which kind of investor
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: Carlisle's end markets are cyclical: commercial and residential construction activity is sensitive to interest rates, credit availability, and the broader economy, and a downturn in construction spending would pressure volumes. For HAE, customer concentration is the structural risk: plasma collection in the United States is consolidated into a handful of buyers, and the CSL departure showed how much revenue a single non-renewal can remove.
CSL or HAE: which should you pick?
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 CSL if you believe its drivers more; HAE 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 CSL and HAE guides.
CSL vs HAE: the full fundamentals
CSL. Carlisle trades around a low-20s trailing P/E, roughly in line with its own long-term historical median and typical for a high-margin, cash-generative industrial. Because a large part of its earnings power comes from resilient re-roofing demand and steady margin expansion, investors tend to focus on adjusted EBITDA margin, free cash flow, and the pace of buybacks rather than raw revenue growth, which can be lumpy with weather and construction cycles. The Q1 2026 revenue dip was driven largely by poor winter weather that limited roofing installation, while margins still expanded and management reaffirmed full-year guidance for low-single-digit revenue growth.
HAE. A little over three times sales is an unremarkable multiple for a medical-device company with high-margin recurring disposables, and it reflects several years in which reported growth was held down by the CSL transition rather than by demand. The August 2026 print was the first quarter in a while where reported and organic growth were the same number, which is what happens when the lost contract finally leaves the comparison. What the multiple is really pricing is whether mid single-digit organic growth is the ceiling or the floor.
Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): CSL shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.0 billion, q1 2026 revenue ~$1.05 billion (down ~4% year over year), q1 2026 adjusted eps ~$3.63 (up ~1% year over year), q1 2026 adjusted ebitda margin ~22.3% (up ~50 bps); HAE shows market cap ~$4.13B, revenue (ttm) ~$1.35B, share price ~$90.80, price / ttm sales ~3.1x.
The bottom line: CSL vs HAE
CSL and HAE 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 CSL and HAE exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how CSL or HAE fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Carlisle Companies Incorporated with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how CSL fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between CSL and HAE?
+
Carlisle Companies Incorporated (NYSE: CSL) is a diversified manufacturer that, after years of portfolio reshaping, has become a focused supplier of building-envelope products that make commercial and residential buildings more energy efficient. Haemonetics Corporation, based in Boston and listed on the NYSE, has sold blood-handling technology since 1971. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is CSL or HAE the better stock?
+
Neither is universally better. CSL is the larger incumbent; HAE is the smaller challenger and looks pricier on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, CSL or HAE?
+
On forward P/E (as of August 2026), CSL trades at 15.05x and HAE at 15.82x, so CSL is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both CSL and HAE?
+
Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of CSL vs HAE?
+
CSL: Carlisle's end markets are cyclical: commercial and residential construction activity is sensitive to interest rates, credit availability, and the broader economy, and a downturn in construction spending would pressure volumes. Revenue can swing on weather, as seen in Q1 2026 when unfavorable winter conditions limited contractors' days on the roof and helped push revenue down about 4% year over year. The business is exposed to raw-material and energy cost inflation (chemicals, membranes, insulation feedstocks) and to destocking or restocking cycles in its distribution channel that can amplify demand swings. Competition in single-ply roofing is intense, with large rivals such as Holcim (owner of Firestone and Duro-Last), GAF, and Johns Manville. Finally, much of Carlisle's growth story depends on continued margin expansion and disciplined capital allocation, so any slippage in pricing power or a misstep in M&A could weigh on the shares. HAE: Customer concentration is the structural risk: plasma collection in the United States is consolidated into a handful of buyers, and the CSL departure showed how much revenue a single non-renewal can remove. Immunoglobulin demand has been reliable but is not guaranteed, and any move by a large customer toward in-house or competing collection hardware would repeat the problem. The interventional portfolio was assembled through three acquisitions in roughly two years, which leaves goodwill and intangibles on the balance sheet and convertible debt against them, and the pulsed field ablation transition has already demonstrated that a procedure-mix shift can cut into those products faster than the thesis assumed. The blood center business continues to decline as hospitals use less transfused blood, so mix has to keep improving just to hold consolidated growth flat. Tariffs, medical-device quality regulation and the pace of hospital capital budgets are the usual additional constraints on a company that manufactures physical disposables at scale.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell CSL or HAE; figures are approximate and dated (as of August 2026). Verify current data before investing.