ACU vs BAX vs MCK Stock Comparison

Acme United, Baxter International and Mckesson Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ACU Acme United Corp
$65.77 +4.8% 1M +68.8% 1Y
Market cap
$254.41M
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
4 wins
BAX Baxter International Inc
$24.92 +6.6% 1M +7.6% 1Y
Market cap
$13.20B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.55B
Div. yield
0.01%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
2 wins
MCK Mckesson Corp
$967.03 +11.6% 1M +19.2% 1Y
Market cap
$113.87B
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$410.98B
Div. yield
0.00%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Mckesson leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Mckesson 6, Acme United 4, Baxter International 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACUBAXMCKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $254.41M $13.20B $113.87B MCK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.8x -12.4x 24.8x ACU
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.9x 12.6x 20.5x BAX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — -49.1% +8.8% MCK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -19.2% 1.1% MCK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 3.4% 107.9% MCK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.8x 0.6x MCK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% BAX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +68.8% +7.6% +19.2% ACU
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.8%/yr -20.5%/yr +36.4%/yr MCK
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.7% 44.3% 30.7% ACU
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 44/100 57/100 ACU

Percentile Scorecard

ACUBAXMCK

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisACUBAXMCK
Valuation 88 #28 of 227 83 #40 of 227 50 #13 of 25
Growth – 19 #177 of 219 65 #9 of 24
Profitability – 72 #58 of 206 61 #10 of 24
Financial Health 60 #97 of 238 19 #193 of 238 52 #13 of 26
Shareholder Returns 65 #48 of 134 26 #99 of 134 57 #7 of 15
Overall 71 44 57
  • ACU ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • BAX ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • MCK ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodACUBAXMCKSPY
1 month +4.8%+6.6%+11.6% -0.2%
3 months +10.5%+2.3%+8.7% +3.9%
6 months +57.9%+38.9%+15.8% +8.2%
Year to date +63.2%+30.4%+17.9% +12.9%
1 year +68.8%+7.6%+19.2% +12.3%
3 years +116.3%-22.5%+115.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +29.4%-8.2%+29.3% +23.3%
5 years +82.7%-68.3%+371.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year +12.8%-20.5%+36.4% +10.9%
10 years +215.0%-46.8%+502.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +12.2%-6.1%+19.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureACUBAXMCKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.7%44.3%30.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.2%48.0%27.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.231.16-0.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.240.170.62 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.5%-82.3%-27.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-12.1%-6.1% -1.2%
52-week high $65.77$28.35$1,030.18 $779.14
52-week low $35.50$15.80$725.17 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleACUBAXMCK
P/E now vs peer median 24.8xmedian 29.6x -12.1xmedian 29.6x 25.0xmedian 23.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 2.9x 2.3xmedian 2.9x 0.3xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.4x 13.4xmedian 17.4x 16.2xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.8xmedian 22.3x 15.4xmedian 22.3x 17.6xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 2.3x 2.1xmedian 2.3x -26.6xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.04 -0.42median 1.04 2.09median 1.34

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsACUBAXMCK
Revenue – $5.55B $410.98B
Gross profit – $3.78B $14.96B
Operating income – $532.00M $6.50B
Net income – -$1.06B $5.30B
Free cash flow – $839.00M $6.42B
R&D – $542.00M –
EPS (diluted) – $-2.05 $38.52
Cash & equivalents $7.94M $2.15B $5.16B
Total debt – $9.46B $9.73B
Shares (diluted) 4.14M 518.00M 119.20M
Enterprise value $254.41M $5.33B $97.77B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricACUBAXMCK
P/E 24.8x -12.1x 25.0x
P/FCF 15.8x 15.4x 17.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 9.6x 16.5x
P/S 1.2x 2.3x 0.3x
P/B 2.0x 2.1x -26.6x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 6.0x -13.7x
EV/EBITDA – 13.4x 16.2x
EV/EBIT – 38.0x 18.1x
EV/Revenue – 3.6x 0.3x
EV/FCF – 24.1x 18.3x
EV/Operating cash flow – 15.0x 17.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -0.42 2.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACUBAXMCK
Revenue growth (1Y) – -49.1% 8.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -23.5% 13.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -1.8% 11.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -5.2% 6.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -50.8% 46.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 29.5% 13.5%
Net income growth (1Y) – -604.0% 58.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 28.0% 10.7%
EPS growth (1Y) – -580.5% 52.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 28.6% 12.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 56.3% 4.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -4.8% 10.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 153.5% 6.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -9.5% 11.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACUBAXMCK
Gross margin – 68.1% 3.6%
EBITDA margin – 27.3% 1.8%
Operating margin – 9.6% 1.6%
Pretax margin – 5.1% 1.6%
Net margin – -19.2% 1.1%
FCF margin – 15.1% 1.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 24.2% 1.7%
Return on equity – -17.4% –
Return on assets – -5.4% 6.2%
Return on invested capital – 3.4% 107.9%
Return on capital employed – 3.3% 43.4%
Asset turnover – 0.3x 4.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -1.3x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 2.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACUBAXMCK
Debt / assets – 47.8% 11.0%
Debt / equity – 1.5x -2.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.8x 0.6x
Debt / FCF – 11.3x 1.5x
Liabilities / assets 39.9% 68.6% 104.8%
Equity / assets 60.1% 31.4% -4.8%
Interest coverage – – 23.6x
Current ratio 3.9x 1.9x 0.9x
Quick ratio – 1.1x 0.5x
Cash ratio – 0.6x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 2.12 5.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACUBAXMCK
Dividend yield 1.0% 0.2% 0.4%
Net buyback yield – -0.2% 5.9%
Shareholder yield 1.0% 0.0% 6.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -17.3% 7.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 21.9% 6.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – -60.8% 11.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -32.0% 10.0%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusACUBAXMCK
Forward P/E 23.9xFY2026 12.6xFY2026 20.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.75FY2026 $1.98FY2026 $47.15FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.4%FY2026 -10.4%FY2026 +20.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +4.0% -3.5% +11.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $217.65MFY2026 $11.05BFY2026 $444.47BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.7%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026 +10.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.7% +11.7% +1.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACUBAXMCK
Held by institutions 73.5% 100.0% 89.1%
Institutions holding 84 690 2,009
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +5.2% -0.7%
Institutions buying 47 359 881
Institutions selling 21 193 791
Buyers to sellers 2.24 1.86 1.11

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ACUBAXMCK
ACU 1.00 0.17 0.10
BAX 0.17 1.00 0.17
MCK 0.10 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACU, BAX and MCK?

Mckesson (MCK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Acme United (ACU) $254.41M, Baxter International (BAX) $13.20B, Mckesson (MCK) $113.87B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACU, BAX and MCK?

Acme United (ACU) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Acme United (ACU) 24.8x, Baxter International (BAX) -12.4x, Mckesson (MCK) 24.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Baxter International (BAX) is cheapest (Acme United (ACU) 23.9x, Baxter International (BAX) 12.6x, Mckesson (MCK) 20.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mckesson (MCK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Baxter International (BAX) -49.1%, Mckesson (MCK) +8.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Mckesson (MCK) has the highest net margin (Baxter International (BAX) -19.2%, Mckesson (MCK) 1.1%). On return on invested capital, Mckesson (MCK) leads (Baxter International (BAX) 3.4%, Mckesson (MCK) 107.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Acme United (ACU) returned the most: Acme United (ACU) +68.8%, Baxter International (BAX) +7.6%, Mckesson (MCK) +19.2%. Over five years, Mckesson (MCK) compounded fastest (Acme United (ACU) +12.8%/yr, Baxter International (BAX) -20.5%/yr, Mckesson (MCK) +36.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Baxter International (BAX) has the highest dividend yield: Acme United (ACU) 0.00%, Baxter International (BAX) 0.01%, Mckesson (MCK) 0.00%. Acme United (ACU) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Acme United (ACU) has been the steadiest (Acme United (ACU) 30.7%, Baxter International (BAX) 44.3%, Mckesson (MCK) 30.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACU, BAX and MCK?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mckesson (MCK) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.