ALC vs BVS vs ISRG Stock Comparison

Alcon, Bioventus and Intuitive Surgical Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALC Alcon Inc
$69.42 +7.7% 1M -8.8% 1Y
Market cap
$33.84B
P/E
53.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
0.40%
Medical Devices Healthcare
1 win
BVS Bioventus Inc.
$14.42 +4.4% 1M +114.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.21B
P/E
18.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$581.85M
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
4 wins
ISRG Intuitive Surgical Inc
$445.88 +10.0% 1M -19.1% 1Y
Market cap
$154.54B
P/E
52.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.58B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Intuitive Surgical leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Intuitive Surgical 5, Bioventus 4, Alcon 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALCBVSISRGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $33.84B $1.21B $154.54B ISRG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 53.2x 18.0x 52.6x BVS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.6x 19.2x 38.9x BVS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +3.1% +20.5% ISRG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 9.4% 25.5% ISRG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 11.3% — BVS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.40% 0.00% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -8.8% +114.9% -19.1% BVS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.5%/yr -0.7%/yr +4.6%/yr ISRG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.6% 50.7% 34.6% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 72/100 80/100 ISRG

Percentile Scorecard

ALCBVSISRG

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

AxisALCBVSISRG
Valuation 79 #48 of 227 94 #14 of 227 54 #106 of 227
Growth 48 #114 of 219 93 #17 of 219 80 #45 of 219
Profitability 76 #50 of 206 90 #22 of 206 98 #6 of 206
Financial Health 60 #96 of 238 28 #171 of 238 78 #53 of 238
Shareholder Returns 74 #35 of 134 55 #61 of 134 92 #12 of 134
Overall 68 72 80
  • ALC ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • BVS ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ISRG 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

PeriodALCBVSISRGSPY
1 month +7.7%+4.4%+10.0% -0.2%
3 months +0.4%+9.2%+23.2% +3.9%
6 months -7.9%+44.8%-4.4% +8.2%
Year to date -11.9%+93.8%-21.3% +12.9%
1 year -8.8%+114.9%-19.1% +12.3%
3 years -0.9%+338.3%+72.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year -0.3%+63.7%+19.9% +23.3%
5 years -16.1%-3.7%+25.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -3.5%-0.7%+4.6% +10.9%
10 years ——+505.1% +261.1%
10 years, per year ——+19.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureALCBVSISRGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.6%50.7%34.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.8%47.4%37.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.380.620.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.312.27-0.55 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-94.5%-49.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.4%-5.5%-24.8% -1.2%
52-week high $87.18$15.26$592.85 $779.14
52-week low $62.02$6.53$332.02 $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.

MultipleALCBVSISRG
P/E now vs peer median 53.2xmedian 29.6x 18.0xmedian 29.6x 52.6xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 2.9x 2.1xmedian 2.9x 13.3xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.4x 13.8xmedian 17.4x 36.8xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.4xmedian 22.3x 12.8xmedian 22.3x 43.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 2.3x 4.4xmedian 2.3x 9.6xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.54median 1.04 0.61median 1.04 2.05median 1.04

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 monthsALCBVSISRG
Revenue $10.80B $581.85M $11.58B
Gross profit $6.17B $399.45M $7.78B
Operating income $948.00M $58.28M $3.28B
Net income $643.00M $61.48M $2.97B
Free cash flow $1.74B $94.29M $3.60B
R&D $1.43B $11.57M $1.49B
EPS (diluted) $1.30 $0.77 $8.41
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $29.46M $2.98B
Total debt $4.72B $248.45M –
Shares (diluted) 496.20M 70.84M 351.60M
Enterprise value $24.80B $1.10B $134.96B

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
MetricALCBVSISRG
P/E 53.2x 18.0x 52.6x
P/FCF 19.4x 12.8x 43.0x
P/Operating cash flow 14.6x 12.5x 37.8x
P/S 3.1x 2.1x 13.3x
P/B 1.6x 4.4x 9.6x
P/Tangible book 2.5x -16.4x 10.4x
EV/EBITDA – 13.8x 36.8x
EV/EBIT 38.4x 24.5x 45.8x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 2.5x 13.0x
EV/FCF 20.9x 15.2x 41.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.8x 14.8x 36.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.54 0.61 2.05

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALCBVSISRG
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 3.1% 20.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 4.4% 19.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 4.7% 21.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 7.5% 19.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -34.3% 68.5% 16.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 31.2% 24.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.1% 12,370% 7.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 21.1% 29.4% 24.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -40.7% 7,309% 10.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 29.5% 25.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.3% 167.3% 38.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 69.2% 26.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 7.5% 176.5% 58.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 48.0% 71.9% 42.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALCBVSISRG
Gross margin 57.2% 68.7% 67.2%
EBITDA margin – 17.8% 35.3%
Operating margin 8.8% 10.0% 28.4%
Pretax margin 6.9% 6.6% 31.3%
Net margin 6.0% 9.4% 25.5%
FCF margin 16.1% 16.2% 31.1%
Operating cash flow margin 21.4% 16.6% 35.3%
Return on equity 2.9% 24.0% 17.3%
Return on assets 2.1% 9.3% 14.8%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 11.3% –
Return on capital employed 3.4% 11.4% 18.7%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.6x 1.6x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 2.6% 7.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALCBVSISRG
Debt / assets 15.2% 36.9% –
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.9x –
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.1x –
Debt / FCF 2.7x 2.6x –
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 58.8% 16.7%
Equity / assets 69.4% 41.2% 83.3%
Interest coverage 9.2x – –
Current ratio 2.1x 1.7x 3.3x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.1x 2.3x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.2x 1.6x
Altman Z-score – 2.55 30.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALCBVSISRG
Dividend yield 0.4% – –
Net buyback yield 2.7% -0.1% 2.8%
Shareholder yield 3.1% -0.1% 2.8%
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.

ConsensusALCBVSISRG
Forward P/E 21.6xFY2026 19.2xFY2026 38.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.22FY2026 $0.75FY2026 $11.47FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.7%FY2026 +10.3%FY2026 +28.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.5% +30.7% +4.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.50BFY2026 $632.22MFY2026 $11.60BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.3%FY2026 +11.3%FY2026 +15.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% -2.6% +11.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALCBVSISRG
Held by institutions 48.8% 64.1% 86.2%
Institutions holding 629 156 2,235
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.3% +5.8% +4.6%
Institutions buying 225 101 1,070
Institutions selling 274 37 877
Buyers to sellers 0.82 2.73 1.22

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.

ALCBVSISRG
ALC 1.00 0.27 0.39
BVS 0.27 1.00 0.33
ISRG 0.39 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALC, BVS and ISRG?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alcon (ALC) $33.84B, Bioventus (BVS) $1.21B, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) $154.54B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALC, BVS and ISRG?

Bioventus (BVS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alcon (ALC) 53.2x, Bioventus (BVS) 18.0x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 52.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Bioventus (BVS) is cheapest (Alcon (ALC) 21.6x, Bioventus (BVS) 19.2x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 38.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alcon (ALC) +8.5%, Bioventus (BVS) +3.1%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +20.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has the highest net margin (Alcon (ALC) 6.0%, Bioventus (BVS) 9.4%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 25.5%). On return on invested capital, Bioventus (BVS) leads (Alcon (ALC) 3.6%, Bioventus (BVS) 11.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Bioventus (BVS) returned the most: Alcon (ALC) -8.8%, Bioventus (BVS) +114.9%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -19.1%. Over five years, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) compounded fastest (Alcon (ALC) -3.5%/yr, Bioventus (BVS) -0.7%/yr, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +4.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Alcon (ALC) 0.40%, Bioventus (BVS) 0.00%. Bioventus (BVS) and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alcon (ALC) has been the steadiest (Alcon (ALC) 28.6%, Bioventus (BVS) 50.7%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 34.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALC, BVS and ISRG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) leads on 5. 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.