ALC vs ISRG vs SOLV Stock Comparison

Alcon, Intuitive Surgical and Solventum Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ALC Alcon Inc
$71.18 +8.8% 1M -3.3% 1Y
Market cap
$34.70B
P/E
54.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
0.39%
Medical Devices Healthcare
1 win
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
5 wins
SOLV Solventum Corp
$83.56 -6.5% 1M +19.7% 1Y
Market cap
$14.21B
P/E
10.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.31B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionALCISRGSOLVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $34.70B $155.54B $14.21B ISRG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 54.6x 53.0x 10.1x SOLV
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.1x 39.1x 12.2x SOLV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +20.5% -0.9% ISRG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 25.5% 17.3% ISRG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% — 17.6% SOLV
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 1.8x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.39% — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.3% -16.5% +19.7% SOLV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.1%/yr +4.4%/yr — ISRG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.6% 34.6% 30.0% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 80/100 66/100 ISRG

Percentile Scorecard

ALCISRGSOLV

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

AxisALCISRGSOLV
Valuation 79 #48 of 227 53 #107 of 227 80 #47 of 227
Growth 48 #113 of 218 80 #44 of 218 55 #98 of 218
Profitability 78 #46 of 202 98 #6 of 202 85 #32 of 202
Financial Health 60 #95 of 233 77 #54 of 233 22 #183 of 233
Shareholder Returns 76 #32 of 130 91 #13 of 130 90 #14 of 130
Overall 68 80 66
  • ALC ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ISRG ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • SOLV 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

PeriodALCISRGSOLVSPY
1 month +8.8%+8.9%-6.5% +0.7%
3 months +2.3%+27.1%-3.8% +3.7%
6 months -4.9%-1.9%+24.0% +7.1%
Year to date -9.7%-20.8%+5.5% +12.8%
1 year -3.3%-16.5%+19.7% +11.9%
3 years +1.1%+73.6%— +85.2%
3 years, per year +0.4%+20.2%— +22.8%
5 years -14.6%+24.3%— +67.6%
5 years, per year -3.1%+4.4%— +10.9%
10 years —+505.9%— +262.0%
10 years, per year —+19.7%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureALCISRGSOLVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.6%34.6%30.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.8%37.5%28.8% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.380.890.56 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.12-0.480.66 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-49.9%-40.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.4%-24.3%-9.6% -1.2%
52-week high $87.18$592.85$92.45 $779.14
52-week low $62.02$332.02$62.49 $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.

MultipleALCISRGSOLV
P/E now vs peer median 54.6xmedian 28.7x 53.0xmedian 28.7x 10.1xmedian 28.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 3.0x 13.4xmedian 3.0x 1.7xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.8x 37.0xmedian 17.8x 7.3xmedian 17.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 26.4x 43.2xmedian 26.4x -120.5xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 2.4x 9.7xmedian 2.4x 3.0xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.60median 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 monthsALCISRGSOLV
Revenue $10.80B $11.58B $8.31B
Gross profit $6.17B $7.78B $4.55B
Operating income $948.00M $3.28B $2.08B
Net income $643.00M $2.97B $1.43B
Free cash flow $1.74B $3.60B -$118.00M
R&D $1.43B $1.49B $725.00M
EPS (diluted) $1.30 $8.41 $8.27
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $2.98B $403.00M
Total debt $4.72B – $5.08B
Shares (diluted) 496.20M 351.60M 173.30M
Enterprise value $25.66B $135.96B $10.73B

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
MetricALCISRGSOLV
P/E 54.6x 53.0x 10.1x
P/FCF 19.9x 43.2x -120.5x
P/Operating cash flow 15.0x 38.0x 68.0x
P/S 3.2x 13.4x 1.7x
P/B 1.6x 9.7x 3.0x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 10.4x 5.9x
EV/EBITDA – 37.0x 7.3x
EV/EBIT 39.3x 46.1x 9.1x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 13.1x 2.3x
EV/FCF 21.4x 42.1x -160.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.1x 37.0x 90.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.60 2.06 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALCISRGSOLV
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 20.5% -0.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 19.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 21.9% -0.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 19.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -34.3% 16.6% 167.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 24.8% –
Net income growth (1Y) -40.1% 7.5% 277.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 21.1% 24.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) -40.7% 10.8% 281.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 25.7% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.3% 38.1% -64.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 26.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 7.5% 58.4% -180.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 48.0% 42.0% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALCISRGSOLV
Gross margin 57.2% 67.2% 54.7%
EBITDA margin – 35.3% 31.1%
Operating margin 8.8% 28.4% 25.0%
Pretax margin 6.9% 31.3% 20.4%
Net margin 6.0% 25.5% 17.3%
FCF margin 16.1% 31.1% -1.4%
Operating cash flow margin 21.4% 35.3% 2.5%
Return on equity 2.9% 17.3% 29.4%
Return on assets 2.1% 14.8% 10.1%
Return on invested capital 3.6% – 17.6%
Return on capital employed 3.4% 18.7% 19.8%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.6x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.6x 1.4x 0.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 7.2% 2.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALCISRGSOLV
Debt / assets 15.2% – 35.7%
Debt / equity 0.2x – 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 1.8x
Debt / FCF 2.7x – -43.0x
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 16.7% 66.3%
Equity / assets 69.4% 83.3% 33.7%
Interest coverage 9.2x – –
Current ratio 2.1x 3.3x 1.0x
Quick ratio 1.3x 2.3x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.7x 1.6x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 30.73 2.16

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALCISRGSOLV
Dividend yield 0.4% – –
Net buyback yield 2.6% 2.7% 2.5%
Shareholder yield 3.0% 2.7% 2.5%
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.

ConsensusALCISRGSOLV
Forward P/E 22.1xFY2026 39.1xFY2026 12.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.22FY2026 $11.47FY2026 $6.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.7%FY2026 +28.4%FY2026 +11.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.5% +4.5% +12.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.50BFY2026 $11.60BFY2026 $7.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.3%FY2026 +15.3%FY2026 -7.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% +11.3% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALCISRGSOLV
Held by institutions 48.8% 86.2% 73.9%
Institutions holding 630 2,237 879
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.3% +4.6% -0.8%
Institutions buying 226 1,072 370
Institutions selling 274 877 284
Buyers to sellers 0.82 1.22 1.30

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.

ALCISRGSOLV
ALC 1.00 0.39 0.40
ISRG 0.39 1.00 0.31
SOLV 0.40 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALC, ISRG and SOLV?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alcon (ALC) $34.70B, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) $155.54B, Solventum (SOLV) $14.21B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALC, ISRG and SOLV?

Solventum (SOLV) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alcon (ALC) 54.6x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 53.0x, Solventum (SOLV) 10.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Solventum (SOLV) is cheapest (Alcon (ALC) 22.1x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 39.1x, Solventum (SOLV) 12.2x). 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%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +20.5%, Solventum (SOLV) -0.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has the highest net margin (Alcon (ALC) 6.0%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 25.5%, Solventum (SOLV) 17.3%). On return on invested capital, Solventum (SOLV) leads (Alcon (ALC) 3.6%, Solventum (SOLV) 17.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Solventum (SOLV) returned the most: Alcon (ALC) -3.3%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -16.5%, Solventum (SOLV) +19.7%. Over five years, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) compounded fastest (Alcon (ALC) -3.1%/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: Alcon (ALC) 0.39%. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) and Solventum (SOLV) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alcon (ALC) has been the steadiest (Alcon (ALC) 28.6%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 34.6%, Solventum (SOLV) 30.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.