AZN vs ABBV vs NVS Stock Comparison

Astrazeneca, AbbVie and Novartis Ag Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
AZN Astrazeneca Plc
$172.00 +3.2% 1M +3.3% 1Y
Market cap
$265.65B
P/E
25.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$58.67B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
1 win
ABBV AbbVie Inc.
$286.86 +8.5% 1M +25.8% 1Y
Market cap
$506.58B
P/E
80.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$64.39B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
5 wins
NVS Novartis Ag
$153.75 +5.7% 1M +17.9% 1Y
Market cap
$301.17B
P/E
19.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$54.77B
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

AbbVie leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (AbbVie 5, Novartis Ag 5, Astrazeneca 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAZNABBVNVSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $265.65B $506.58B $301.17B ABBV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 25.4x 80.3x 19.1x NVS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.2x 21.4x 16.6x NVS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.4% +10.4% +2.8% ABBV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.8% 9.8% 28.8% NVS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 23.3% 18.7% 34.9% NVS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.4x 2.6x — AZN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.3% +25.8% +17.9% ABBV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +6.8%/yr +21.5%/yr +13.2%/yr ABBV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.4% 26.0% 27.8% ABBV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 68/100 71/100 NVS

Percentile Scorecard

AZNABBVNVS

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

AxisAZNABBVNVS
Valuation 85 #96 of 626 95 #31 of 626 90 #63 of 626
Growth 70 #185 of 604 54 #281 of 604 54 #276 of 604
Profitability 94 #35 of 555 95 #30 of 555 96 #26 of 555
Financial Health 36 #421 of 658 16 #554 of 658 43 #377 of 658
Shareholder Returns 70 #112 of 368 80 #74 of 368 73 #99 of 368
Overall 71 68 71
  • AZN ranked among 673 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • ABBV ranked among 673 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • NVS ranked among 673 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAZNABBVNVSSPY
1 month +3.2%+8.5%+5.7% -0.8%
3 months +1.4%+11.7%-1.5% +3.5%
6 months -8.3%+45.3%+6.6% +7.0%
Year to date -6.5%+25.5%+11.5% +12.2%
1 year +3.3%+25.8%+17.9% +13.0%
3 years +39.0%+106.5%+66.6% +86.3%
3 years, per year +11.6%+27.4%+18.6% +23.1%
5 years +39.2%+164.6%+85.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year +6.8%+21.5%+13.2% +11.0%
10 years +190.6%+370.1%+116.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year +11.3%+16.7%+8.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureAZNABBVNVSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.4%26.0%27.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.3%24.9%30.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.22-0.160.33 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.120.990.64 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.9%-24.3%-20.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.9%-0.7%-8.8% -1.8%
52-week high $209.48$288.96$168.62 $779.14
52-week low $155.60$197.38$121.80 $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.

MultipleAZNABBVNVS
P/E now vs peer median 25.5xmedian 17.1x 80.4xmedian 17.1x 18.9xmedian 17.1x
P/S now vs peer median 4.5xmedian 8.8x 7.9xmedian 8.8x 5.4xmedian 8.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 17.1x 23.0xmedian 17.1x —median 17.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 25.0xmedian 18.0x 27.8xmedian 18.0x 15.1xmedian 18.0x
P/B now vs peer median 5.3xmedian 2.1x -85.4xmedian 2.1x 7.0xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 1.33median 0.31 -7.96median 0.31 0.58median 0.31

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 monthsAZNABBVNVS
Revenue $58.67B $64.39B $54.77B
Gross profit $50.25B $46.02B $42.37B
Operating income $13.97B $16.87B $17.10B
Net income $10.45B $6.32B $12.75B
Free cash flow $10.67B $18.21B $19.38B
R&D $15.07B $9.71B $11.69B
EPS (diluted) $6.69 $3.56 $8.07
Cash & equivalents $4.90B $6.57B $7.62B
Total debt $106.76B $70.82B $31.01B
Shares (diluted) 1.56B 1.77B 1.96B
Enterprise value $239.34B $479.69B $265.16B

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
MetricAZNABBVNVS
P/E 25.5x 80.4x 18.9x
P/FCF 25.0x 27.8x 15.1x
P/Operating cash flow 19.5x 26.0x 16.0x
P/S 4.5x 7.9x 5.4x
P/B 5.3x -85.4x 7.0x
P/Tangible book 21.1x -9.2x -2,292x
EV/EBITDA 14.5x 23.0x –
EV/EBIT 21.0x 33.9x 17.3x
EV/Revenue 5.0x 8.9x 5.4x
EV/FCF 27.6x 31.4x 15.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.5x 29.3x 16.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.33 -7.96 0.58

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAZNABBVNVS
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.4% 10.4% 2.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 4.7% 8.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 9.3% 11.2% 0.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.1% 6.0% 9.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 23.4% 53.8% 2.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.9% -1.0% 23.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 25.9% 67.5% -6.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.2% -10.1% 21.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 26.0% 67.7% -9.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 19.2% -10.1% 32.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 2.3% 1.2% -11.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.7% -8.6% 6.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -4.5% -0.2% -10.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.5% -9.8% 7.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAZNABBVNVS
Gross margin 85.6% 71.5% 77.4%
EBITDA margin 34.6% 38.5% –
Operating margin 23.8% 26.2% 31.2%
Pretax margin 21.5% 13.5% 28.3%
Net margin 17.8% 9.8% 28.8%
FCF margin 18.2% 28.3% 35.4%
Operating cash flow margin 23.3% 30.3% 33.6%
Return on equity 21.4% – 31.5%
Return on assets 9.1% 4.7% 10.6%
Return on invested capital 23.3% 18.7% 34.9%
Return on capital employed 16.8% 17.9% 19.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 3.1x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAZNABBVNVS
Debt / assets 27.9% 52.4% 7.9%
Debt / equity 0.6x -11.9x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.4x 2.6x –
Debt / FCF 3.0x 3.9x 0.5x
Liabilities / assets 56.5% 104.4% 65.6%
Equity / assets 43.5% -4.4% 34.4%
Interest coverage 15.9x – 36.7x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.8x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.5x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.46 2.79 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAZNABBVNVS
Dividend yield 1.4% 2.4% 3.1%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 0.3% -1.5%
Shareholder yield 1.4% 2.7% 1.6%
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.

ConsensusAZNABBVNVS
Forward P/E 17.2xFY2026 21.4xFY2026 16.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.00FY2026 $13.38FY2026 $9.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.2%FY2026 +33.8%FY2026 +3.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +6.2% +25.8% +1.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $59.02BFY2026 $69.55BFY2026 $53.93BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 +13.7%FY2026 -1.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.9% -0.6% +19.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAZNABBVNVS
Held by institutions 52.1% 74.9% 7.0%
Institutions holding 1,496 4,173 1,607
Change in shares held, QoQ +7.8% +2.6% -5.9%
Institutions buying 808 2,201 662
Institutions selling 468 1,502 560
Buyers to sellers 1.73 1.47 1.18

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.

AZNABBVNVS
AZN 1.00 0.42 0.56
ABBV 0.42 1.00 0.50
NVS 0.56 0.50 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AZN, ABBV and NVS?

AbbVie (ABBV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Astrazeneca (AZN) $265.65B, AbbVie (ABBV) $506.58B, Novartis Ag (NVS) $301.17B.

Which stock is cheaper, AZN, ABBV and NVS?

Novartis Ag (NVS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Astrazeneca (AZN) 25.4x, AbbVie (ABBV) 80.3x, Novartis Ag (NVS) 19.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Novartis Ag (NVS) is cheapest (Astrazeneca (AZN) 17.2x, AbbVie (ABBV) 21.4x, Novartis Ag (NVS) 16.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

AbbVie (ABBV) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Astrazeneca (AZN) +9.4%, AbbVie (ABBV) +10.4%, Novartis Ag (NVS) +2.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Novartis Ag (NVS) has the highest net margin (Astrazeneca (AZN) 17.8%, AbbVie (ABBV) 9.8%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 28.8%). On return on invested capital, Novartis Ag (NVS) leads (Astrazeneca (AZN) 23.3%, AbbVie (ABBV) 18.7%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 34.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year AbbVie (ABBV) returned the most: Astrazeneca (AZN) +3.3%, AbbVie (ABBV) +25.8%, Novartis Ag (NVS) +17.9%. Over five years, AbbVie (ABBV) compounded fastest (Astrazeneca (AZN) +6.8%/yr, AbbVie (ABBV) +21.5%/yr, Novartis Ag (NVS) +13.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, AbbVie (ABBV) has been the steadiest (Astrazeneca (AZN) 27.4%, AbbVie (ABBV) 26.0%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 27.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AZN, ABBV and NVS?

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