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

> Source: BetterThanSPY research, https://betterthanspy.com/research/jci
> Data as of October 22, 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 22, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 6 months, ALLE (Allegion) rose 22.7% and CARR (Carrier Global) fell 6.2%. Over the past 6 months, JCI rose 2.8% against 8.0% for the S&P 500 and 7.8% for the Nasdaq 100.
- **Stock or market?:** JCI held up far better than its industry: it rose 0.6% over the past 3 months while the building products ETF XHB (State Street SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF) fell 6.7%. The S&P 500 rose 2.5%. Its building product peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: ALLE (Allegion) rose 26.6%, while CARR (Carrier Global) fell 17.1%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** JCI has run far ahead of the market, rising 33.3% over the past year against 15.6% for the S&P 500 and 16.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (211% against 88.4%). JCI lagged its building product peers in 2023, then moved up the pack in 2025.
- **Long term:** JCI turned $10,000 into $50,700 over the past decade, against $41,600 in the S&P 500. JCI's 10-year return of 407% puts it ahead of 82% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 316%.
- **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:** GWW (W.W. Grainger, industrial distribution) and TJX (TJX Companies, apparel retail) earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years. GWW returned 26.7% a year at 24.9% volatility, against 16.4% a year at 29.2%.
  - **Whole market:** 91 of the 3,641 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 9.9% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Materials (Construction Materials)
- Trading since: October 22, 1986
- Market value: $87B
- Volatility (5 years): 29.2%; Sharpe ratio: 0.67
- 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 | −2.3% |
| 3 months | +0.6% |
| 6 months | +2.8% |
| year to date | +17.9% |
| 1 year | +33.3% |
| 3 years | +211% |
| 5 years | +114% |
| 10 years | +407% |

## 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 3,016 stocks worth at least $300 million with 3 years of history.

| Measure | JCI | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +33.3% | 907 of 3,282 (top 28%) |
| 3-year return | +211% | 369 of 3,016 (top 13%) |
| 5-year return | +114% | 605 of 2,897 (top 21%) |
| 10-year return | +407% | 403 of 2,201 (top 19%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 29.2% | 650 of 2,897 (top 23%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.67 | 521 of 2,897 (top 18%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −46.4% | 330 of 2,184 (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).

- 60 stocks and 31 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 3,641 screened.
- Among those with at least half JCI's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 41.7% a year at 24.7% volatility, 15% less than JCI's 29.2%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.54 against 0.67 for JCI.
- None of JCI's popular alternatives made it, but GWW (industrial distribution) did: 26.7% a year at 24.9% volatility, 15% less than JCI's 29.2%.

### 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, GWW (industrial distribution) and TJX (apparel retail) earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years. GWW returned 26.7% a year at 24.9% volatility, against 16.4% a year at 29.2%.
- Across the whole market, 91 of the 3,641 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 91 investments that beat JCI over the past 5 years, out of 3,641 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) |  | +16.4% | 29.2% | 0.67 | −46.4% | +407% |  |  |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | International Equity | +19.8% | 24.3% | 0.87 | −38.9% | +448% | 0.49 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [MCK](https://betterthanspy.com/research/mck): McKesson Corporation | Health Care Distribution | +37.8% | 25.1% | 1.41 | −38.1% | +582% | 0.30 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [VGT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/vgt): Vanguard Information Technology ETF | Technology Equity | +18.1% | 26.1% | 0.77 | −35.1% | +753% | 0.49 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [PGR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pgr): The Progressive Corporation | Property & Casualty Insurance | +21.8% | 25.7% | 0.90 | −30.3% | +849% | 0.19 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| CBOE: Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | Capital Markets | +22.0% | 25.1% | 0.92 | −43.2% | +481% | 0.08 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [RY](https://betterthanspy.com/research/ry): Royal Bank of Canada | Banks | +17.5% | 18.2% | 0.98 | −40.0% | +361% | 0.55 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [ABBV](https://betterthanspy.com/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Specialty Pharmaceuticals | +25.5% | 23.4% | 1.09 | −45.1% | +600% | 0.15 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [WMT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +21.1% | 22.6% | 0.97 | −25.7% | +521% | 0.51 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [CM](https://betterthanspy.com/research/cm): Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Banks | +19.5% | 21.6% | 0.94 | −47.3% | +409% | 0.64 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [BNY](https://betterthanspy.com/research/bny): Bank of New York Mellon Corp | Banks | +22.8% | 24.4% | 0.97 | −50.5% | +332% | 0.48 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | Japan Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +415% | 0.40 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [HLT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hlt): Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. | Hotels & Resorts | +20.7% | 26.8% | 0.84 | −50.8% | +693% | 0.59 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [NVS](https://betterthanspy.com/research/nvs): Novartis AG | Pharmaceuticals | +17.4% | 20.7% | 0.89 | −26.8% | +234% | 0.35 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [AMGN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/amgn): Amgen Inc. | Biotechnology | +20.1% | 24.9% | 0.86 | −24.9% | +280% | 0.20 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [GILD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gild): Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Biotechnology | +22.8% | 24.9% | 0.95 | −30.5% | +202% | 0.25 | 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 16.4% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.5%, with higher volatility (29.2% against 17.2%).

### 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.

- Only one of the 21 popular alternatives, GFF, outperformed JCI in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- 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) | +33.3% | +211% | +114% | +407% |  |  | 0.67 |
| GFF: Griffon Corporation | +29.8% | +160% | +381% | +774% | 4/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term | consistent | 0.96 |
| [FIX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/fix): Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | +62.1% | +744% | +1,452% | +4,888% | 2/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.41 |
| [PWR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pwr): Quanta Services, Inc. | +34.1% | +235% | +371% | +1,878% | 1/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.02 |
| EME: EMCOR Group, Inc. | −0.2% | +245% | +454% | +1,116% | 0/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term |  | 1.15 |
| [TT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tt): Trane Technologies plc | +10.9% | +146% | +164% | +927% | 1/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.84 |
| [ETN](https://betterthanspy.com/research/etn): Eaton Corporation plc | +3.5% | +96.0% | +146% | +636% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.72 |
| HUBB: Hubbell Incorporated | +6.8% | +65.2% | +151% | +420% | 0/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 0.77 |
| WTS: Watts Water Technologies, Inc. | +27.7% | +115% | +99.2% | +533% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.63 |
| NVT: nVent Electric plc | +32.3% | +176% | +309% | — | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.93 |
| IBP: Installed Building Products, Inc. | −23.6% | +86.7% | +83.1% | +550% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.50 |
| [EMR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/emr): Emerson Electric Co. | +25.1% | +87.4% | +83.1% | +307% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| ALLE: Allegion plc | +2.1% | +90.3% | +42.4% | +195% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.40 |
| MAS: Masco Corporation | +15.3% | +65.2% | +40.5% | +171% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.37 |
| CSL: Carlisle Companies Incorporated | +7.7% | +51.0% | +63.5% | +279% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| AOS: A. O. Smith Corporation | −6.4% | −0.3% | +2.8% | +53.5% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.16 |
| AYI: Acuity Brands, Inc. | −11.0% | +93.8% | +57.1% | +36.7% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.44 |
| FBIN: Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. | −11.7% | −19.8% | −42.2% | +7.4% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.10 |
| LII: Lennox International Inc. | −22.3% | +11.5% | +28.9% | +185% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.32 |
| [HON](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hon): Honeywell International Inc. | +9.0% | +30.5% | +13.2% | +163% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.22 |
| [CARR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/carr): Carrier Global Corporation | +1.1% | +21.3% | +10.9% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.23 |
| AAON: AAON, Inc. | −28.4% | +31.7% | +51.4% | +272% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.41 |

### 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 |
| GFF: Griffon Corporation | 151% | 148% | 1.73 |
| [FIX](https://betterthanspy.com/research/fix): Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 180% | 71.0% | 1.38 |
| [PWR](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pwr): Quanta Services, Inc. | 141% | 61.0% | 1.22 |
| EME: EMCOR Group, Inc. | 128% | 75.0% | 1.16 |
| [TT](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tt): Trane Technologies plc | 115% | 69.0% | 1.10 |
| [ETN](https://betterthanspy.com/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://betterthanspy.com/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 |
| AOS: A. O. Smith Corporation | 82.0% | 139% | 1.12 |
| AYI: Acuity Brands, Inc. | 97.0% | 174% | 1.45 |
| FBIN: Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. | 96.0% | 193% | 1.47 |
| LII: Lennox International Inc. | 81.0% | 96.0% | 1.02 |
| [HON](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hon): Honeywell International Inc. | 90.0% | 118% | 1.00 |
| AAON: AAON, Inc. | 90.0% | 74.0% | 0.99 |

### 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 | +138% | 19.7% | 0.98 | 2 of 8 |
| [SMH](https://betterthanspy.com/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.48 | +304% | 37.0% | 0.94 | 3 of 8 |
| [XLE](https://betterthanspy.com/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.22 | +178% | 25.5% | 0.94 | 2 of 8 |
| [GLD](https://betterthanspy.com/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.13 | +120% | 19.0% | 0.93 | 4 of 8 |
| AMLP: Alerian MLP ETF | 0.27 | +114% | 18.9% | 0.90 | 2 of 8 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.49 | +147% | 24.3% | 0.87 | 3 of 8 |
| EDIV: State Street SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | 0.49 | +69.0% | 13.8% | 0.83 | 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, GWW (industrial distribution) and TJX (apparel retail) earned more than JCI with less volatility over the past 5 years. GWW returned 26.7% a year at 24.9% volatility, against 16.4% a year at 29.2%.

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

Yes. JCI's volatility over the past 5 years was 29.2%, 1.7 times the S&P 500's 17.2%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, JCI's return lands within 29.2% 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 0.67, against 0.78 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?

Of the 21 popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed JCI in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: GFF.

### 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.

## More research

- [Comfort Systems USA (FIX) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/fix)
- [Quanta Services (PWR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/pwr)
- [Trane Technologies (TT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/tt)
- [Eaton (ETN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/etn)
- [Emerson Electric (EMR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/emr)
- [Honeywell International (HON) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/hon)
- [Carrier Global (CARR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/carr)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/aapl)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/goog)
- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://betterthanspy.com/research/msft)

## Explore further

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