# How Johnson Controls International (JCI) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/jci
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on JCI alone. It places JCI (Johnson Controls International plc) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where JCI stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: JCI's full trading record, from October 1986 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 6 months, WTS (Watts Water Technologies) rose 22.3% and HON (Honeywell International) fell 10.7%. Over the past 6 months, JCI rose 5.5% against 9.1% for the S&P 500 and 11.2% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Stock or market?:** JCI held up far better than its industry: it rose 6.4% over the past 3 months while the building products ETF XHB (State Street SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF) fell 8.8%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its building product peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: ALLE (Allegion) rose 14.1%, while CARR (Carrier Global) fell 15.8%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** JCI has run far ahead of the market, rising 35.4% over the past year against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (220% against 89.3%). JCI lagged its building product peers in 2023, then moved up the pack in 2025.
- **Long term:** JCI turned $10,000 into $52,600 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. JCI's 10-year return of 426% puts it ahead of 83% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, JCI has typically fallen 1.4 times as far as the S&P 500. In the 2022 bear market, JCI fell 41.6%, against 24.5% for the S&P 500. That was more than TT (Trane Technologies, 37.5%) but less than IBP (Installed Building Products, 46.4%).
- **Diversification:** Against the S&P 500, JCI has a correlation of 0.66 over 5 years, more closely than 96% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is more of the same, not a cushion.
- **Better options**
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** TJX (TJX Companies, specialty retail) and WAB (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies, industrial machinery) earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years. TJX returned 19.9% a year at 22.3% volatility, against 17.4% a year at 29.1%.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only 70 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT (Walmart), XOM (Exxonmobil) and ABBV (AbbVie).

## How much would $10,000 in JCI have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in JCI over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of JCI over the same span and JCI's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in JCI at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $864,263 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of JCI, and AAON finished highest, at $1,960,947.

## JCI at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- JCI's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 85.6%, from January 2001 to July 2002. It took about five years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, JCI's best was 1997, when it returned 89.2%, and its worst was 2002, when it lost 66.9%. It lost money in eight of those years.
- JCI is 6.8% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Materials (Construction Materials)
- Trading since: October 20, 1986
- Market value: $90B
- Volatility (5 years): 29.1%; Sharpe ratio: 0.70
- Worst decline ever: −85.6%, from January 30, 2001 to July 25, 2002; back at its high by July 2, 2007

| Period | JCI total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +1.9% |
| 3 months | +6.4% |
| 6 months | +5.5% |
| year to date | +22.0% |
| 1 year | +35.4% |
| 3 years | +220% |
| 5 years | +123% |
| 10 years | +426% |

## JCI against the whole market

Where JCI ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does JCI rank among all stocks?

This section ranks JCI on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- JCI's 3-year return ranks in the top 12% of the 3,017 stocks worth at least $300 million with 3 years of history.

| Measure | JCI | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +35.4% | 841 of 3,287 (top 26%) |
| 3-year return | +220% | 350 of 3,017 (top 12%) |
| 5-year return | +123% | 556 of 2,893 (top 20%) |
| 10-year return | +426% | 385 of 2,202 (top 18%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 29.1% | 642 of 2,893 (top 23%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.70 | 462 of 2,893 (top 16%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −46.4% | 332 of 2,187 (top 16%) |

### What has beaten JCI on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 46 stocks and 24 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than JCI over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 2% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half JCI's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, 15% less than JCI's 29.1%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.55 against 0.70 for JCI.
- None of JCI's popular alternatives made it, but WAB (industrial machinery) did: 25.6% a year at 26.2% volatility, 10% less than JCI's 29.1%.

### Is there a better investment than JCI?

The table below lists investments that beat JCI over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among JCI's popular alternatives, TT earned more for the risk it took than JCI over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 40.5%, against 46.4% for JCI.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, TJX (specialty retail) and WAB (industrial machinery) earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years. TJX returned 19.9% a year at 22.3% volatility, against 17.4% a year at 29.1%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only 70 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT, XOM and ABBV.

The 15 strongest of 70 investments that beat JCI over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with JCI | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| JCI: Johnson Controls International plc (this page) |  | +17.4% | 29.1% | 0.70 | −46.4% | +426% |  |  |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | International Equity | +20.4% | 24.2% | 0.89 | −38.9% | +468% | 0.49 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [MCK](https://easycompare.io/research/mck): McKesson Corporation | Health Care Distribution | +38.7% | 25.0% | 1.44 | −38.1% | +586% | 0.30 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [ABBV](https://easycompare.io/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Pharmaceuticals | +26.1% | 23.4% | 1.11 | −45.1% | +603% | 0.15 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [WMT](https://easycompare.io/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +20.8% | 22.6% | 0.96 | −25.7% | +508% | 0.51 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.40 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [GWW](https://easycompare.io/research/gww): W.W. Grainger, Inc. | Industrial Distribution | +26.3% | 24.9% | 1.07 | −41.6% | +654% | 0.53 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [HLT](https://easycompare.io/research/hlt): Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. | Hotels & Resorts | +21.0% | 26.8% | 0.85 | −50.8% | +694% | 0.59 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [AMGN](https://easycompare.io/research/amgn): Amgen Inc. | Biotechnology | +19.6% | 24.9% | 0.85 | −24.9% | +266% | 0.20 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [GILD](https://easycompare.io/research/gild): Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Biotechnology | +22.8% | 24.9% | 0.95 | −30.5% | +200% | 0.25 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [PGR](https://easycompare.io/research/pgr): The Progressive Corporation | Property & Casualty Insurance | +21.3% | 25.6% | 0.89 | −30.3% | +816% | 0.19 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [XLK](https://easycompare.io/research/xlk): State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF | Technology Equity | +19.4% | 26.0% | 0.82 | −33.6% | +767% | 0.45 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [COR](https://easycompare.io/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +24.2% | 22.8% | 1.07 | −32.4% | +406% | 0.34 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | US Momentum Equity | +18.7% | 20.8% | 0.93 | −30.9% | +499% | 0.54 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| DTM: DT Midstream, Inc. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +24.5% | 25.2% | 1.00 | −23.6% | — | 0.48 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| NEU: NewMarket Corporation | Specialty Chemicals | +21.0% | 26.8% | 0.85 | −40.7% | +165% | 0.17 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |

## JCI against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against JCI, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do JCI's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only TT was both more rewarding and calmer than JCI over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, JCI returned 17.4% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (29.1% against 17.1%).

### Has JCI consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares JCI with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 21 popular alternatives outperformed JCI in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was FIX.
- PWR, TT and HUBB earned more for the risk they took than JCI (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in their worst decline of the past 10 years.
- PWR outperformed JCI over all three long-term periods but in only one of the five short-term ones, so JCI has had the better of it lately.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of JCI | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| JCI: Johnson Controls International plc (this page) | +35.4% | +220% | +123% | +426% |  |  | 0.70 |
| [FIX](https://easycompare.io/research/fix): Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | +67.3% | +819% | +1,636% | +5,305% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.46 |
| [PWR](https://easycompare.io/research/pwr): Quanta Services, Inc. | +35.3% | +263% | +425% | +2,045% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.08 |
| EME: EMCOR Group, Inc. | +0.5% | +267% | +499% | +1,202% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.20 |
| [TT](https://easycompare.io/research/tt): Trane Technologies plc | +11.3% | +154% | +178% | +955% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.88 |
| GFF: Griffon Corporation | +27.6% | +153% | +371% | +761% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.95 |
| [ETN](https://easycompare.io/research/etn): Eaton Corporation plc | +2.3% | +104% | +153% | +657% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.74 |
| HUBB: Hubbell Incorporated | +7.7% | +70.6% | +159% | +442% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.79 |
| WTS: Watts Water Technologies, Inc. | +28.1% | +113% | +104% | +539% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.65 |
| NVT: nVent Electric plc | +40.0% | +203% | +356% | — | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.99 |
| IBP: Installed Building Products, Inc. | −26.3% | +78.6% | +79.1% | +524% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.49 |
| [EMR](https://easycompare.io/research/emr): Emerson Electric Co. | +25.0% | +84.9% | +82.1% | +309% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.57 |
| ALLE: Allegion plc | −10.5% | +69.1% | +23.6% | +164% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.29 |
| MAS: Masco Corporation | +10.7% | +57.7% | +35.3% | +162% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.35 |
| CSL: Carlisle Companies Incorporated | +4.5% | +42.7% | +64.6% | +273% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| [HON](https://easycompare.io/research/hon): Honeywell International Inc. | +6.8% | +27.0% | +7.5% | +160% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.18 |
| AOS: A. O. Smith Corporation | −12.8% | −5.4% | −1.8% | +46.1% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.12 |
| FBIN: Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. | −17.9% | −25.1% | −47.3% | +2.4% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.15 |
| [CARR](https://easycompare.io/research/carr): Carrier Global Corporation | −1.1% | +21.2% | +11.6% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.23 |
| AAON: AAON, Inc. | −26.5% | +40.8% | +61.2% | +308% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.44 |
| LII: Lennox International Inc. | −31.2% | +7.5% | +24.2% | +175% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.30 |
| AYI: Acuity Brands, Inc. | −14.4% | +87.6% | +53.4% | +32.7% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.43 |

### How did JCI do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where JCI ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, JCI finished in the top quarter in 11 of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in five. In 2025, it ranked 2 of 22.
- JCI finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 17 of its 29 full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, IBP came out ahead of JCI most often, in six of the 11 years both traded.

| Year | JCI | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +54.0% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +39.8% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | −7.6% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −19.3% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +77.4% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +17.7% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +40.8% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −19.8% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | −6.3% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +64.3% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How JCI has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were JCI's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of JCI's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: JCI fell 46.6% from October to December 1999, while the S&P 500 rose 5.6%.
- The slowest recovery came after JCI fell 85.6% from January 2001 to July 2002; it did not regain that peak until July 2007, five years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −85.6% | January 30, 2001 | July 25, 2002 | July 2, 2007 | −37.9% | dot-com bust |
| −68.7% | July 2, 2007 | November 20, 2008 | January 7, 2011 | −49.0% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −46.6% | October 8, 1999 | December 9, 1999 | July 14, 2000 | +5.6% |  |
| −46.4% | November 4, 2019 | March 23, 2020 | October 8, 2020 | −26.7% | Covid crash |
| −42.3% | December 31, 2021 | July 14, 2022 | September 26, 2024 | −19.8% | 2022 bear market |

### How did JCI do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far JCI, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- JCI fell further than the S&P 500 in nine of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when JCI fell 85.6% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.
- Among its popular alternatives, CARR held up best, falling less than JCI in all two crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | JCI fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −85.6% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −66.2% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −1.9% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −19.8% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −20.8% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −8.2% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −22.2% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −44.2% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −41.6% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −6.9% | −3.4% |

### How closely does JCI move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, JCI captured 102% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 90% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.17. Its share of the market's gains was larger than its share of the losses.
- PWR took just 61% of the S&P 500's losses, against 90% for JCI, while still keeping 141% of its gains.
- Seven of the 19 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than JCI's 1.13, led by FIX, PWR and EME.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| JCI: Johnson Controls International plc (this page) | 102% | 90.0% | 1.17 |
| [FIX](https://easycompare.io/research/fix): Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 180% | 71.0% | 1.38 |
| [PWR](https://easycompare.io/research/pwr): Quanta Services, Inc. | 141% | 61.0% | 1.22 |
| EME: EMCOR Group, Inc. | 128% | 75.0% | 1.16 |
| [TT](https://easycompare.io/research/tt): Trane Technologies plc | 115% | 69.0% | 1.10 |
| GFF: Griffon Corporation | 151% | 148% | 1.73 |
| [ETN](https://easycompare.io/research/etn): Eaton Corporation plc | 114% | 80.0% | 1.16 |
| HUBB: Hubbell Incorporated | 108% | 101% | 1.03 |
| WTS: Watts Water Technologies, Inc. | 102% | 80.0% | 1.02 |
| IBP: Installed Building Products, Inc. | 166% | 198% | 1.78 |
| [EMR](https://easycompare.io/research/emr): Emerson Electric Co. | 124% | 153% | 1.39 |
| ALLE: Allegion plc | 95.0% | 122% | 1.00 |
| MAS: Masco Corporation | 111% | 158% | 1.30 |
| CSL: Carlisle Companies Incorporated | 94.0% | 98.0% | 0.94 |
| [HON](https://easycompare.io/research/hon): Honeywell International Inc. | 90.0% | 118% | 1.00 |
| AOS: A. O. Smith Corporation | 82.0% | 139% | 1.12 |
| FBIN: Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. | 96.0% | 193% | 1.47 |
| AAON: AAON, Inc. | 90.0% | 74.0% | 0.99 |
| LII: Lennox International Inc. | 81.0% | 96.0% | 1.02 |
| AYI: Acuity Brands, Inc. | 97.0% | 174% | 1.45 |

### What diversifies JCI?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in JCI into GLD would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+19.2% for JCI alone, +20.0% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, MLPX and SMH have moved largely independently of JCI over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.48 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- PBR made money in five of the eight calendar years in which JCI lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with JCI | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in JCI's 8 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.40 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 4 of 8 |
| MLPX: Global X - MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF | 0.43 | +135% | 19.7% | 0.97 | 2 of 8 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.48 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 3 of 8 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.13 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 4 of 8 |
| [XLE](https://easycompare.io/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.22 | +177% | 25.5% | 0.93 | 2 of 8 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.49 | +153% | 24.2% | 0.89 | 3 of 8 |
| AMLP: Alerian MLP ETF | 0.27 | +111% | 18.9% | 0.89 | 2 of 8 |
| EDIV: State Street SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | 0.49 | +69.9% | 13.8% | 0.84 | 2 of 8 |

## Common questions

### What was JCI's worst drawdown?

JCI's deepest decline since it began trading in 1986 was 85.6%, from January 2001 to July 2002. It took about five years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were JCI's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, JCI's best year was 1997, when it returned 89.2%. Its worst was 2002, with a return of -66.9%.

### Is there a better investment than JCI?

Among JCI's popular alternatives, TT earned more for the risk it took than JCI over the past 5 years, and its worst fall in 10 years was 40.5%, against 46.4% for JCI. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, TJX (specialty retail) and WAB (industrial machinery) earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years. TJX returned 19.9% a year at 22.3% volatility, against 17.4% a year at 29.1%.

### Is JCI more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. JCI's volatility over the past 5 years was 29.1%, 1.7 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, JCI's return lands within 29.1% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is JCI's Sharpe ratio?

JCI's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.70, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so JCI earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is JCI with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, JCI's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.66 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against JCI instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a JCI holding.

### What are the best alternatives to JCI?

None of the 21 popular alternatives we compared outperformed JCI in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about JCI's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did JCI outperform the S&P 500?

JCI finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 17 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +54.0%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did JCI do in stock market crashes?

JCI fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in none of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in nine. The clearest case was the dot-com bust, when JCI fell 85.6% and the S&P 500 fell 47.5%.

### What diversifies JCI?

These had a low correlation with JCI over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.40), MLPX (correlation 0.43) and SMH (correlation 0.48); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.36), CLS (correlation 0.37) and MCK (correlation 0.30). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

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## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/jci
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against JCI live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=JCI&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research