ALC vs RMD vs EW Stock Comparison

Alcon, Resmed and Edwards Lifesciences Prices as of Nov 2, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (ISRG) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
ALC Alcon Inc
$73.60 +15.5% 1M -0.4% 1Y
Market cap
$38.25B
P/E
59.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
RMD Resmed Inc
$232.88 +6.4% 1M -5.7% 1Y
Market cap
$34.83B
P/E
22.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.65B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
6 wins
EW Edwards Lifesciences Corp
$93.23 +9.5% 1M +13.1% 1Y
Market cap
$57.43B
P/E
57.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.51B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Resmed leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Resmed 6, Edwards Lifesciences 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALCRMDEWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $38.25B $34.83B $57.43B EW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 59.5x 22.9x 57.1x RMD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 17.7x 33.6x RMD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% +9.9% +14.6% EW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.0% 26.9% 15.4% RMD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.6% 20.8% 9.0% RMD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -0.4x -2.3x EW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.4% -5.7% +13.1% EW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.1%/yr -2.8%/yr -4.5%/yr RMD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.8% 30.5% 25.0% EW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 80/100 78/100 RMD

Percentile Scorecard

ALCRMDEW

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

AxisALCRMDEW
Valuation 77 #52 of 227 75 #58 of 227 63 #85 of 227
Growth 49 #113 of 220 64 #79 of 220 54 #101 of 220
Profitability 76 #51 of 209 100 #2 of 209 95 #11 of 209
Financial Health 61 #95 of 240 76 #58 of 240 88 #30 of 240
Shareholder Returns 76 #34 of 138 85 #22 of 138 88 #18 of 138
Overall 68 80 78
  • ALC ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • RMD ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • EW 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

PeriodALCRMDEWSPY
1 month +15.5%+6.4%+9.5% -2.3%
3 months +4.8%+8.2%+5.0% -0.7%
6 months +0.2%+11.2%+11.9% +4.8%
Year to date -6.6%-3.3%+9.4% +10.3%
1 year -0.4%-5.7%+13.1% +10.3%
3 years -1.0%+52.4%+39.0% +73.0%
3 years, per year -0.3%+15.1%+11.6% +20.1%
5 years -14.7%-13.1%-20.5% +61.9%
5 years, per year -3.1%-2.8%-4.5% +10.1%
10 years —+304.7%+215.3% +258.6%
10 years, per year —+15.0%+12.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureALCRMDEWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.8%30.5%25.0% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.1%33.7%24.7% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.370.490.60 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.01-0.190.52 0.80
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.4%-49.8%-54.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.6%-15.6%-2.0% -3.5%
52-week high $87.18$275.96$95.17 $779.14
52-week low $62.02$182.82$75.87 $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.

MultipleALCRMDEW
P/E now vs peer median 56.5xmedian 28.4x 22.2xmedian 28.4x 53.5xmedian 28.4x
P/S now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 3.0x 5.9xmedian 3.0x 8.3xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 18.0x 15.7xmedian 18.0x 31.0xmedian 18.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.6xmedian 25.0x 20.4xmedian 25.0x 37.5xmedian 25.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.3x 5.1xmedian 2.3x 5.0xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.69median 0.93 1.13median 0.93 -6.24median 0.93

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 monthsALCRMDEW
Revenue $10.80B $5.65B $6.51B
Gross profit $6.17B $3.45B $5.07B
Operating income $948.00M $1.89B $1.45B
Net income $643.00M $1.52B $1.00B
Free cash flow $1.74B $1.65B $1.43B
R&D $1.43B $378.28M $1.09B
EPS (diluted) $1.30 $10.43 $1.74
Cash & equivalents $1.36B $1.47B $2.91B
Total debt $4.72B $659.37M $598.70M
Shares (diluted) 496.20M 146.05M 577.60M
Enterprise value $29.22B $28.90B $41.43B

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
MetricALCRMDEW
P/E 56.5x 22.2x 53.5x
P/FCF 20.6x 20.4x 37.5x
P/Operating cash flow 15.5x 18.6x 31.2x
P/S 3.3x 5.9x 8.3x
P/B 1.7x 5.1x 5.0x
P/Tangible book 2.7x 5.5x 5.8x
EV/EBITDA – 15.7x 31.0x
EV/EBIT 40.6x 17.4x 34.6x
EV/Revenue 3.6x 5.8x 7.7x
EV/FCF 22.1x 19.9x 34.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.7x 18.2x 29.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.69 1.13 -6.24

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALCRMDEW
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% 9.9% 14.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 10.2% 15.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 11.7% 13.0% 13.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 7.3% 13.6% 11.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) -34.3% 11.9% -1.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 18.6% 5.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.1% 8.8% -75.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 21.1% 19.3% -10.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -40.7% 9.7% -75.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 21.0% 19.7% -8.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 10.3% 3.1% 116.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 25.9% 37.6% 22.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 7.5% -0.7% 143.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 48.0% 42.2% 26.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALCRMDEW
Gross margin 57.2% 61.1% 77.8%
EBITDA margin – 36.9% 24.8%
Operating margin 8.8% 33.4% 22.3%
Pretax margin 6.9% 34.0% 21.8%
Net margin 6.0% 26.9% 15.4%
FCF margin 16.1% 29.2% 22.0%
Operating cash flow margin 21.4% 31.9% 26.4%
Return on equity 2.9% 23.3% 9.5%
Return on assets 2.1% 17.2% 7.4%
Return on invested capital 3.6% 20.8% 9.0%
Return on capital employed 3.4% 25.2% 12.0%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.6x 1.2x 1.7x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 1.8% 2.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALCRMDEW
Debt / assets 15.2% 7.4% 4.3%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.1x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA – -0.4x -2.3x
Debt / FCF 2.7x 0.4x 0.4x
Liabilities / assets 30.6% 26.6% 22.7%
Equity / assets 69.4% 73.4% 77.3%
Interest coverage 9.2x – –
Current ratio 2.1x 3.1x 4.5x
Quick ratio 1.3x 1.8x 3.5x
Cash ratio 0.7x 1.1x 2.8x
Altman Z-score – 11.32 13.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALCRMDEW
Dividend yield 0.4% 1.1% –
Net buyback yield 2.5% 1.9% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.9% 2.9% 1.9%
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.

ConsensusALCRMDEW
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2026 17.7xFY2027 33.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.22FY2026 $12.86FY2027 $2.83FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.7%FY2026 +15.1%FY2027 +10.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.5% +9.8% +12.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.50BFY2026 $5.97BFY2027 $7.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.3%FY2026 +5.6%FY2027 +19.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% -3.4% -2.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALCRMDEW
Held by institutions 48.8% 68.7% 90.6%
Institutions holding 631 889 1,325
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.3% +3.2% +20.4%
Institutions buying 227 405 641
Institutions selling 274 359 455
Buyers to sellers 0.83 1.13 1.41

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.

ALCRMDEW
ALC 1.00 0.35 0.33
RMD 0.35 1.00 0.34
EW 0.33 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALC, RMD and EW?

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alcon (ALC) $38.25B, Resmed (RMD) $34.83B, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) $57.43B.

Which stock is cheaper, ALC, RMD and EW?

Resmed (RMD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alcon (ALC) 59.5x, Resmed (RMD) 22.9x, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 57.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Resmed (RMD) is cheapest (Alcon (ALC) 22.5x, Resmed (RMD) 17.7x, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 33.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alcon (ALC) +8.5%, Resmed (RMD) +9.9%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) +14.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Resmed (RMD) has the highest net margin (Alcon (ALC) 6.0%, Resmed (RMD) 26.9%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Resmed (RMD) leads (Alcon (ALC) 3.6%, Resmed (RMD) 20.8%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 9.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Edwards Lifesciences (EW) returned the most: Alcon (ALC) -0.4%, Resmed (RMD) -5.7%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) +13.1%. Over five years, Resmed (RMD) compounded fastest (Alcon (ALC) -3.1%/yr, Resmed (RMD) -2.8%/yr, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) -4.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) has been the steadiest (Alcon (ALC) 28.8%, Resmed (RMD) 30.5%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 25.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ALC, RMD and EW?

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