ALC vs ISRG Stock Comparison

Alcon and Intuitive Surgical Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ALC Alcon Inc
$70.18 +7.3% 1M -8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$34.53B
P/E
53.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
3 wins
ISRG Intuitive Surgical Inc
$452.29 +13.6% 1M -18.0% 1Y
Market cap
$157.75B
P/E
53.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.58B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Intuitive Surgical leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Intuitive Surgical 6, Alcon 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALCISRGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $34.53B $157.75B ISRG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 53.7x 53.3x ISRG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.8x 40.9x ALC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +20.5% ISRG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 25.5% ISRG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -8.0% -18.0% ALC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.0%/yr +5.8%/yr ISRG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.6% 34.6% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 80/100 ISRG

Percentile Scorecard

ALCISRG

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

AxisALCISRG
Valuation 78 #50 of 228 52 #110 of 228
Growth 47 #118 of 222 80 #46 of 222
Profitability 76 #52 of 210 98 #6 of 210
Financial Health 60 #96 of 241 78 #53 of 241
Shareholder Returns 76 #34 of 138 92 #12 of 138
Overall 67 80
  • ALC ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ISRG 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

PeriodALCISRGSPY
1 month +7.3%+13.6% -1.0%
3 months +3.4%+34.0% +2.9%
6 months -7.4%-6.2% +6.4%
Year to date -11.0%-20.1% +11.4%
1 year -8.0%-18.0% +13.1%
3 years -4.0%+63.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year -1.3%+17.7% +21.5%
5 years -14.3%+32.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year -3.0%+5.8% +10.9%
10 years —+500.3% +255.2%
10 years, per year —+19.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureALCISRGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.6%34.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.9%37.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.380.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.28-0.52 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-49.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.5%-23.7% -2.5%
52-week high $87.18$592.85 $779.14
52-week low $62.02$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.

MultipleALCISRG
P/E now vs peer median 53.8xmedian 30.7x 53.4xmedian 30.7x
P/S now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 3.0x 13.5xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.7x 37.3xmedian 17.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.7xmedian 23.7x 43.6xmedian 23.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 2.4x 9.7xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 2.57median 0.96 2.08median 0.96

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 monthsALCISRG
Revenue $10.80B $11.58B
Gross profit $6.17B $7.78B
Operating income $948.00M $3.28B
Net income $643.00M $2.97B
Free cash flow $1.74B $3.60B
R&D $1.43B $1.49B
EPS (diluted) $1.30 $8.41
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $2.98B
Total debt $4.72B –
Shares (diluted) 496.20M 351.60M
Enterprise value $25.50B $138.04B

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
MetricALCISRG
P/E 53.8x 53.4x
P/FCF 19.7x 43.6x
P/Operating cash flow 14.8x 38.3x
P/S 3.2x 13.5x
P/B 1.6x 9.7x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 10.5x
EV/EBITDA – 37.3x
EV/EBIT 38.8x 46.5x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 13.2x
EV/FCF 21.2x 42.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.9x 37.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.57 2.08

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALCISRG
Debt / assets 15.2% –
Debt / equity 0.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA – –
Debt / FCF 2.7x –
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 16.7%
Equity / assets 69.4% 83.3%
Interest coverage 9.2x –
Current ratio 2.1x 3.3x
Quick ratio 1.3x 2.3x
Cash ratio 0.7x 1.6x
Altman Z-score – 30.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALCISRG
Dividend yield 0.4% –
Net buyback yield 2.7% 2.7%
Shareholder yield 3.1% 2.7%
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.

ConsensusALCISRG
Forward P/E 21.8xFY2026 40.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.22FY2026 $11.05FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.7%FY2026 +23.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.5% +5.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.51BFY2026 $11.45BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.4%FY2026 +13.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +12.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALCISRG
Held by institutions 48.8% 86.2%
Institutions holding 629 2,235
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.3% +4.6%
Institutions buying 225 1,070
Institutions selling 274 877
Buyers to sellers 0.82 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.

ALCISRG
ALC 1.00 0.39
ISRG 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALC and ISRG?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alcon (ALC) $34.53B, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) $157.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALC and ISRG?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alcon (ALC) 53.7x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 53.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alcon (ALC) is cheapest (Alcon (ALC) 21.8x, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 40.9x). 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%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +20.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has the highest net margin (Alcon (ALC) 6.0%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) 25.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Alcon (ALC) returned the most: Alcon (ALC) -8.0%, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -18.0%. Over five years, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) compounded fastest (Alcon (ALC) -3.0%/yr, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +5.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

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

Do ALC and ISRG move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.39, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ALC 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 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.