ALC vs BAX vs DXCM Stock Comparison

Alcon, Baxter International and Dexcom Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ALC Alcon Inc
$72.37 +13.5% 1M -2.0% 1Y
Market cap
$38.12B
P/E
59.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
4 wins
BAX Baxter International Inc
$25.49 +8.5% 1M +40.0% 1Y
Market cap
$13.67B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.61B
Div. yield
0.01%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
2 wins
DXCM Dexcom Inc
$82.97 -2.8% 1M +37.3% 1Y
Market cap
$33.13B
P/E
33.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.10B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionALCBAXDXCMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $38.12B $13.67B $33.13B ALC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 59.3x -18.9x 33.4x DXCM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 12.9x 29.3x BAX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +5.3% +13.0% DXCM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% -6.2% 19.4% DXCM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% -1.4% — ALC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 9.0x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.0% +40.0% +37.3% BAX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.4%/yr -20.1%/yr -12.0%/yr ALC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.8% 42.7% 37.5% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 43/100 74/100 DXCM

Percentile Scorecard

ALCBAXDXCM

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

AxisALCBAXDXCM
Valuation 77 #53 of 229 86 #34 of 229 67 #76 of 229
Growth 48 #115 of 221 14 #191 of 221 83 #39 of 221
Profitability 76 #51 of 209 65 #73 of 209 99 #3 of 209
Financial Health 62 #93 of 240 18 #197 of 240 35 #157 of 240
Shareholder Returns 77 #34 of 147 34 #97 of 147 87 #20 of 147
Overall 68 43 74
  • ALC ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • BAX ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • DXCM ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodALCBAXDXCMSPY
1 month +13.5%+8.5%-2.8% -2.0%
3 months +1.9%-10.1%-4.6% -2.2%
6 months -2.8%+52.2%+39.5% +4.2%
Year to date -8.2%+33.4%+25.0% +10.6%
1 year -2.0%+40.0%+37.3% +10.4%
3 years -2.6%-24.9%-14.9% +73.6%
3 years, per year -0.9%-9.1%-5.2% +20.2%
5 years -15.7%-67.4%-47.3% +61.6%
5 years, per year -3.4%-20.1%-12.0% +10.1%
10 years —-45.6%+452.4% +261.3%
10 years, per year —-5.9%+18.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureALCBAXDXCMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.8%42.7%37.5% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.0%44.1%33.6% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.361.080.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.070.941.00 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-82.3%-66.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.0%-10.1%-10.1% -3.2%
52-week high $87.18$28.35$92.34 $779.14
52-week low $62.02$15.80$54.84 $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.

MultipleALCBAXDXCM
P/E now vs peer median 55.5xmedian 28.1x -18.2xmedian 28.1x 31.4xmedian 28.1x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 2.9x 1.1xmedian 2.9x 6.1xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 18.0x 27.0xmedian 18.0x 19.4xmedian 18.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.3xmedian 24.8x 11.4xmedian 24.8x 28.2xmedian 24.8x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 2.3x 2.0xmedian 2.3x 12.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.65median 0.95 0.58median 0.95 0.73median 0.95

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 monthsALCBAXDXCM
Revenue $10.80B $11.61B $5.10B
Gross profit $6.17B $3.49B $3.24B
Operating income $948.00M -$221.00M $1.22B
Net income $643.00M -$723.00M $991.00M
Free cash flow $1.74B $1.16B $1.10B
R&D $1.43B $519.00M $608.10M
EPS (diluted) $1.30 $-1.39 $2.58
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $1.98B $961.40M
Total debt $4.72B $8.60B –
Shares (diluted) 496.20M 520.00M 383.50M
Enterprise value $29.08B $5.55B $24.95B

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
MetricALCBAXDXCM
P/E 55.5x -18.2x 31.4x
P/FCF 20.3x 11.4x 28.2x
P/Operating cash flow 15.3x 7.9x 21.9x
P/S 3.3x 1.1x 6.1x
P/B 1.6x 2.0x 12.2x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 5.1x 12.7x
EV/EBITDA – 27.0x 19.4x
EV/EBIT 39.9x -89.6x 23.8x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 1.7x 5.7x
EV/FCF 21.8x 17.1x 26.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.4x 11.9x 20.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.65 0.58 0.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALCBAXDXCM
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 5.3% 13.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 0.7% 14.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% -7.1% 21.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.3% -7.7% 14.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -34.3% -136.3% 57.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 4.2% 34.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.1% -112.0% 37.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 21.1% -31.6% 38.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -40.7% -109.6% 46.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 21.0% -31.5% 43.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.3% 97.4% -2.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 0.6% 23.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 7.5% 243.5% 3.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 48.0% -5.0% 30.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALCBAXDXCM
Gross margin 57.2% 30.1% 63.4%
EBITDA margin – 6.3% 29.4%
Operating margin 8.8% -1.9% 24.0%
Pretax margin 6.9% -1.6% 24.7%
Net margin 6.0% -6.2% 19.4%
FCF margin 16.1% 10.0% 21.5%
Operating cash flow margin 21.4% 14.3% 27.7%
Return on equity 2.9% -11.4% 38.4%
Return on assets 2.1% -3.7% 15.6%
Return on invested capital 3.6% -1.4% –
Return on capital employed 3.4% -1.4% 29.9%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.6x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.6x -2.3x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 0.9% 3.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALCBAXDXCM
Debt / assets 15.2% 44.3% –
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 9.0x –
Debt / FCF 2.7x 7.4x –
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 66.5% 59.4%
Equity / assets 69.4% 33.5% 40.6%
Interest coverage 9.2x – –
Current ratio 2.1x 1.8x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.0x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.5x 0.8x
Altman Z-score – 2.38 7.51

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALCBAXDXCM
Dividend yield 0.4% 0.2% –
Net buyback yield 2.6% -0.2% 2.2%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 0.0% 2.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -14.1% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 8.8% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -75.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -44.1% –

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.

ConsensusALCBAXDXCM
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2026 12.9xFY2026 29.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.22FY2026 $1.98FY2026 $2.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.7%FY2026 -10.4%FY2026 +35.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.5% -3.5% +4.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.50BFY2026 $11.05BFY2026 $5.08BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.3%FY2026 -1.7%FY2026 +9.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% +11.7% +16.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALCBAXDXCM
Held by institutions 48.8% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 631 692 977
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.3% +5.2% +6.3%
Institutions buying 227 359 522
Institutions selling 274 194 344
Buyers to sellers 0.83 1.85 1.52

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.

ALCBAXDXCM
ALC 1.00 0.40 0.30
BAX 0.40 1.00 0.32
DXCM 0.30 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALC, BAX and DXCM?

Alcon (ALC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alcon (ALC) $38.12B, Baxter International (BAX) $13.67B, Dexcom (DXCM) $33.13B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALC, BAX and DXCM?

Dexcom (DXCM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alcon (ALC) 59.3x, Baxter International (BAX) -18.9x, Dexcom (DXCM) 33.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Baxter International (BAX) is cheapest (Alcon (ALC) 22.5x, Baxter International (BAX) 12.9x, Dexcom (DXCM) 29.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Dexcom (DXCM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alcon (ALC) +8.5%, Baxter International (BAX) +5.3%, Dexcom (DXCM) +13.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Dexcom (DXCM) has the highest net margin (Alcon (ALC) 6.0%, Baxter International (BAX) -6.2%, Dexcom (DXCM) 19.4%). On return on invested capital, Alcon (ALC) leads (Alcon (ALC) 3.6%, Baxter International (BAX) -1.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Baxter International (BAX) returned the most: Alcon (ALC) -2.0%, Baxter International (BAX) +40.0%, Dexcom (DXCM) +37.3%. Over five years, Alcon (ALC) compounded fastest (Alcon (ALC) -3.4%/yr, Baxter International (BAX) -20.1%/yr, Dexcom (DXCM) -12.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Alcon (ALC) 0.00%, Baxter International (BAX) 0.01%, Dexcom (DXCM) 0.00%. Alcon (ALC) and Dexcom (DXCM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alcon (ALC) has been the steadiest (Alcon (ALC) 28.8%, Baxter International (BAX) 42.7%, Dexcom (DXCM) 37.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALC, BAX and DXCM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alcon (ALC) 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.