ICL vs SQM: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

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.

Reading it: SQM 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. ICL and SQM 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 ICL and SQM 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.

ICL Group Ltd. runs four businesses out of a mineral base most competitors cannot replicate. Industrial Products extracts bromine from the highly concentrated Dead Sea brine and turns it into flame retardants, clear brine fluids and specialty minerals, making ICL the largest elemental bromine producer in the world alongside Albemarle and Lanxess. Potash comes from solar evaporation ponds at Sodom in Israel and from underground mines in Catalonia, Spain. Phosphate Solutions works phosphate rock from the Negev and China into fertilisers and higher value food and industrial specialties, and Growing Solutions sells controlled release and water soluble fertilisers, biostimulants and micronutrients into agriculture, turf and ornamental markets. The company employs about ~12,000 people, reports in US dollars under IFRS as a foreign private issuer, and had ~1.29 billion ordinary shares outstanding at the end of 2025.

Full ICL guide

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile, known as SQM, is a Chilean mining and chemicals company and one of the world's largest producers of lithium, a critical material for electric-vehicle and energy-storage batteries. SQM extracts lithium from brine in Chile's Atacama Desert, one of the lowest-cost and highest-quality lithium resources globally, under a concession with the Chilean state agency. Beyond lithium, SQM is a leading producer of specialty plant nutrients (potassium nitrate and specialty fertilizers), iodine (used in X-ray contrast media and other applications, where SQM is a global leader), and industrial chemicals. The company makes money selling these commodities and specialty products into global markets, with lithium being the most cyclical and most watched segment. SQM's fortunes are heavily tied to lithium prices, which swing sharply with EV demand and supply additions. Headquartered in Santiago, Chile, it trades in the US via American Depositary Receipts.

Full SQM guide

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

• ICL drivers: Potash pricing against a low cost Dead Sea position; Bromine and an improving specialty mix.
• SQM drivers: Low-cost Atacama lithium resource; EV and energy-storage demand growth.

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: The Dead Sea Works concession covering ~652 square kilometres runs only to March 31, 2030, and ICL must win the successor concession from the Israeli state on terms the state sets, which is the largest open question in the equity. For SQM, sQM's earnings are highly cyclical and dominated by volatile lithium prices, which have swung dramatically as supply additions outpaced demand at times, crushing margins.

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 ICL if you believe its drivers more; SQM 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 ICL and SQM guides.

ICL. ICL reports in US dollars under IFRS even though it is an Israeli issuer filing a Form 20-F, so no currency translation is needed to read these numbers. The reported price to earnings ratio of about ~23x overstates the expense, because 2025 absorbed roughly ~$293 million of impairments, closure charges and a Dead Sea water fee provision; on adjusted trailing earnings near ~$0.41 per share the multiple is closer to ~13x. Dividend policy is a payout of up to ~50% of adjusted annual net income, and ~$232 million was declared against 2025 results.

SQM. SQM is a commodity producer whose valuation and earnings track the lithium cycle. In upcycles margins and profits surge; in downcycles they compress sharply. The qualitative profile is a low-cost, diversified miner leveraged to long-term EV-battery demand but exposed to lithium-price volatility and Chilean policy. Earnings multiples are noisy and best read across a full cycle.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): ICL shows revenue (ttm) ~$7.7B, with Q2 2026 sales of ~$2.14B up ~17% year over year, adjusted ebitda (ttm) ~$1.64B; FY2026 guidance reiterated at ~$1.5B to ~$1.7B, diluted eps (ttm) ~$0.24 reported, ~$0.41 on an adjusted basis, ev / adjusted ebitda ~6x (market cap ~$7.2B plus ~$2.6B net financial liabilities); SQM shows revenue (ttm) ~$4 to 5 billion, highly variable with lithium prices, lithium revenue share the largest segment, swinging with commodity prices, operating margin wide swings; very high in lithium upcycles, compressed in downcycles, iodine position global market leader, a steadier earnings contributor.

ICL and SQM 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 ICL and SQM exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.