ACU vs ISRG vs MDLN Stock Comparison

Acme United, Intuitive Surgical and Medline Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ACU Acme United Corp
$67.81 +6.5% 1M +76.6% 1Y
Market cap
$259.97M
P/E
24.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
0.94%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
4 wins
ISRG Intuitive Surgical Inc
$448.76 +8.9% 1M -16.5% 1Y
Market cap
$155.54B
P/E
53.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.58B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
3 wins
MDLN Medline Inc.
$32.00 -8.5% 1M
Market cap
$42.07B
P/E
32.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$28.57B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
1 win

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Acme United leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Acme United 4, Intuitive Surgical 3, Medline 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionACUISRGMDLNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $259.97M $155.54B $42.07B ISRG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.8x 53.0x 32.8x ACU
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 24.7x 39.1x 22.2x MDLN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +20.5% — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 25.5% 2.9% ISRG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 5.4% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 3.2x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.94% — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +76.6% -16.5% — ACU
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +12.9%/yr +4.4%/yr — ACU
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 30.7% 34.6% 44.4% ACU
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 80/100 68/100 ISRG

Percentile Scorecard

ACUISRGMDLN

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

AxisACUISRGMDLN
Valuation 87 #31 of 227 53 #107 of 227 85 #36 of 227
Growth – 80 #44 of 218 –
Profitability – 98 #6 of 202 74 #54 of 202
Financial Health 59 #96 of 233 77 #54 of 233 41 #137 of 233
Shareholder Returns 65 #46 of 130 91 #13 of 130 72 #37 of 130
Overall 70 80 68
  • ACU ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ISRG ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • MDLN ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodACUISRGMDLNSPY
1 month +6.5%+8.9%-8.5% +0.7%
3 months +20.5%+27.1%-18.2% +3.7%
6 months +66.4%-1.9%-28.0% +7.1%
Year to date +68.2%-20.8%-23.8% +12.8%
1 year +76.6%-16.5%— +11.9%
3 years +107.0%+73.6%— +85.2%
3 years, per year +27.5%+20.2%— +22.8%
5 years +83.3%+24.3%— +67.6%
5 years, per year +12.9%+4.4%— +10.9%
10 years +221.4%+505.9%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +12.4%+19.7%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureACUISRGMDLNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 30.7%34.6%44.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.3%37.5%48.3% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.230.890.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.50-0.48— 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -43.5%-49.9%-36.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-24.3%-36.0% -1.2%
52-week high $67.81$592.85$49.99 $779.14
52-week low $35.50$332.02$31.64 $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.

MultipleACUISRGMDLN
P/E now vs peer median 24.8xmedian 28.7x 53.0xmedian 28.7x 32.8xmedian 28.7x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 3.0x 13.4xmedian 3.0x 1.5xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.8x 37.0xmedian 17.8x 16.8xmedian 17.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.8xmedian 26.4x 43.2xmedian 26.4x 26.4xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 2.4x 9.7xmedian 2.4x 2.2xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.99 2.06median 0.99 —median 0.99

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 monthsACUISRGMDLN
Revenue – $11.58B $28.57B
Gross profit – $7.78B $7.79B
Operating income – $3.28B $2.03B
Net income – $2.97B $1.03B
Free cash flow – $3.60B $1.59B
R&D – $1.49B –
EPS (diluted) – $8.41 $0.97
Cash & equivalents $7.94M $2.98B $2.33B
Total debt – – $12.58B
Shares (diluted) 4.14M 351.60M 861.00M
Enterprise value $259.97M $135.96B $42.52B

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
MetricACUISRGMDLN
P/E 24.8x 53.0x 32.8x
P/FCF 15.8x 43.2x 26.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 38.0x 21.0x
P/S 1.2x 13.4x 1.5x
P/B 2.1x 9.7x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 2.8x 10.4x 7.6x
EV/EBITDA – 37.0x 16.8x
EV/EBIT – 46.1x 25.6x
EV/Revenue – 13.1x 1.8x
EV/FCF – 42.1x 32.7x
EV/Operating cash flow – 37.0x 25.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 2.06 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricACUISRGMDLN
Revenue growth (1Y) – 20.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 19.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 21.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 19.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) – 16.6% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 24.8% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 7.5% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 24.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) – 10.8% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 25.7% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 38.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 26.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 58.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 42.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricACUISRGMDLN
Gross margin – 67.2% 27.3%
EBITDA margin – 35.3% 10.8%
Operating margin – 28.4% 7.1%
Pretax margin – 31.3% 4.3%
Net margin – 25.5% 2.9%
FCF margin – 31.1% 5.6%
Operating cash flow margin – 35.3% 7.0%
Return on equity – 17.3% 5.4%
Return on assets – 14.8% 2.6%
Return on invested capital – – 5.4%
Return on capital employed – 18.7% 5.6%
Asset turnover – 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.4x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue – 7.2% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricACUISRGMDLN
Debt / assets – – 32.0%
Debt / equity – – 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 3.2x
Debt / FCF – – 7.9x
Liabilities / assets 39.9% 16.7% 51.5%
Equity / assets 60.1% 83.3% 48.5%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio 3.9x 3.3x 4.3x
Quick ratio – 2.3x 2.3x
Cash ratio – 1.6x 1.0x
Altman Z-score – 30.73 2.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricACUISRGMDLN
Dividend yield 0.9% – –
Net buyback yield – 2.7% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 0.9% 2.7% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusACUISRGMDLN
Forward P/E 24.7xFY2026 39.1xFY2026 22.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.75FY2026 $11.47FY2026 $1.44FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.4%FY2026 +28.4%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +4.0% +4.5% +13.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $217.65MFY2026 $11.60BFY2026 $32.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +10.7%FY2026 +15.3%FY2026 +14.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.7% +11.3% +8.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersACUISRGMDLN
Held by institutions 73.5% 86.2% 85.5%
Institutions holding 84 2,237 408
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.3% +4.6% +17.9%
Institutions buying 47 1,072 322
Institutions selling 21 877 69
Buyers to sellers 2.24 1.22 4.67

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.

ACUISRGMDLN
ACU 1.00 0.09 0.25
ISRG 0.09 1.00 0.23
MDLN 0.25 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ACU, ISRG and MDLN?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Acme United (ACU) $259.97M, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) $155.54B, Medline (MDLN) $42.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, ACU, ISRG and MDLN?

Acme United (ACU) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Acme United (ACU) 24.8x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 53.0x, Medline (MDLN) 32.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Medline (MDLN) is cheapest (Acme United (ACU) 24.7x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 39.1x, Medline (MDLN) 22.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is more profitable?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has the highest net margin (Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 25.5%, Medline (MDLN) 2.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Acme United (ACU) returned the most: Acme United (ACU) +76.6%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -16.5%. Over five years, Acme United (ACU) compounded fastest (Acme United (ACU) +12.9%/yr, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +4.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Acme United (ACU) 0.94%. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) and Medline (MDLN) 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%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 34.6%, Medline (MDLN) 44.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ACU, ISRG and MDLN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Acme United (ACU) leads on 4. 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.