BAX vs ALC vs RVP Stock Comparison

Baxter International, Alcon and Retractable Technologies Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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BAX Baxter International Inc
$25.63 +5.3% 1M +42.8% 1Y
Market cap
$13.26B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.61B
Div. yield
0.16%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
2 wins
ALC Alcon Inc
$76.55 +21.2% 1M +3.0% 1Y
Market cap
$37.31B
P/E
58.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
0.37%
Medical Devices Healthcare
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Alcon leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Alcon 8, Baxter International 2, Retractable Technologies 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBAXALCRVPLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.26B $37.31B $17.06M ALC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -18.3x 58.7x -4.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.6x 23.6x — BAX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.3% +8.5% -11.2% ALC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -6.2% 6.0% -10.6% ALC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.4% 3.6% -31.4% ALC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 9.0x — 2.6x RVP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.16% 0.37% — ALC
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +42.8% +3.0% -33.5% BAX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -20.0%/yr -2.2%/yr -42.5%/yr ALC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.9% 29.5% 39.9% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 43/100 67/100 53/100 ALC

Percentile Scorecard

BAXALCRVP

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

AxisBAXALCRVP
Valuation 86 #32 of 229 77 #54 of 229 73 #63 of 229
Growth 14 #191 of 221 46 #119 of 221 35 #145 of 221
Profitability 64 #77 of 210 76 #51 of 210 37 #132 of 210
Financial Health 17 #199 of 240 62 #93 of 240 66 #82 of 240
Shareholder Returns 34 #98 of 147 76 #36 of 147 –
Overall 43 67 53
  • BAX ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ALC ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • RVP 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

PeriodBAXALCRVPSPY
1 month +5.3%+21.2%-16.2% -5.9%
3 months -5.1%+10.1%-14.9% -4.6%
6 months +46.5%+19.8%-19.1% +0.2%
Year to date +34.1%-2.9%-26.2% +7.5%
1 year +42.8%+3.0%-33.5% +8.2%
3 years -25.7%+3.5%-47.2% +68.3%
3 years, per year -9.4%+1.2%-19.2% +19.0%
5 years -67.2%-10.6%-93.7% +56.5%
5 years, per year -20.0%-2.2%-42.5% +9.4%
10 years -45.5%—-77.6% +251.5%
10 years, per year -5.9%—-13.9% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureBAXALCRVPSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.9%29.5%39.9% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.3%29.0%44.3% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.050.400.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.000.10-0.84 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.3%-38.4%-94.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.6%-12.2%-33.5% -5.9%
52-week high $28.35$87.18$0.86 $779.14
52-week low $15.80$62.02$0.56 $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.

MultipleBAXALCRVP
P/E now vs peer median -18.3xmedian 26.9x 58.7xmedian 26.9x -4.7xmedian 26.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 2.9x 3.5xmedian 2.9x 0.5xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.1xmedian 17.5x —median 17.5x 1.5xmedian 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 26.4x 21.4xmedian 26.4x -3.3xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 2.3x 1.7xmedian 2.3x 0.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.58median 0.88 2.80median 0.88 0.22median 0.88

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 monthsBAXALCRVP
Revenue $11.61B $10.80B $33.90M
Gross profit $3.49B $6.17B -$491.51K
Operating income -$221.00M $948.00M -$22.68M
Net income -$723.00M $643.00M -$3.37M
Free cash flow $1.16B $1.74B -$5.11M
R&D $519.00M $1.43B $682.03K
EPS (diluted) $-1.39 $1.30 $-0.12
Cash & equivalents $1.98B $1.36B $2.64M
Total debt $8.60B $4.72B $715.92K
Shares (diluted) 520.00M 496.20M 29.94M
Enterprise value $5.11B $28.28B -$129.34M

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
MetricBAXALCRVP
P/E -18.3x 58.7x -4.7x
P/FCF 11.4x 21.4x -3.3x
P/Operating cash flow 8.0x 16.2x -3.4x
P/S 1.1x 3.5x 0.5x
P/B 2.0x 1.7x 0.2x
P/Tangible book 5.1x 2.8x 0.2x
EV/EBITDA 27.1x – 1.5x
EV/EBIT -90.0x 42.1x 1.0x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 3.7x -0.7x
EV/FCF 17.1x 22.9x 4.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.9x 17.3x 4.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.58 2.80 0.22

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBAXALCRVP
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.3% 8.5% -11.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.7% 5.9% -14.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -7.1% 11.7% 81.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -7.7% 7.3% -26.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -136.3% -34.3% -2.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.2% 7.5% -11.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -112.0% -40.1% 61.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -31.6% 21.1% -23.9%
EPS growth (1Y) -109.6% -40.7% 59.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -31.5% 21.0% -21.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 97.4% 10.3% 58.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.6% 25.9% -16.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 243.5% 7.5% 62.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.0% 48.0% 20.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBAXALCRVP
Gross margin 30.1% 57.2% -1.4%
EBITDA margin 6.3% – -43.9%
Operating margin -1.9% 8.8% -66.9%
Pretax margin -1.6% 6.9% -9.9%
Net margin -6.2% 6.0% -10.6%
FCF margin 10.0% 16.1% -15.1%
Operating cash flow margin 14.3% 21.4% -14.6%
Return on equity -11.4% 2.9% -4.7%
Return on assets -3.7% 2.1% -2.4%
Return on invested capital -1.4% 3.6% -31.4%
Return on capital employed -1.4% 3.4% -18.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.3x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.3x 3.6x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 1.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBAXALCRVP
Debt / assets 44.3% 15.2% 0.5%
Debt / equity 1.3x 0.2x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 9.0x – 2.6x
Debt / FCF 7.4x 2.7x -0.1x
Liabilities / assets 66.5% 30.6% 48.6%
Equity / assets 33.5% 69.4% 51.4%
Interest coverage – 9.2x -278.8x
Current ratio 1.8x 2.1x 4.9x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.3x 3.7x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.7x 3.0x
Altman Z-score 2.38 – 0.43

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBAXALCRVP
Dividend yield 0.2% 0.4% –
Net buyback yield -0.2% 2.4% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.8% –
Payout ratio (earnings) -14.1% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 8.8% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -75.0% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -44.1% – –

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.

ConsensusBAXALCRVP
Forward P/E 12.6xFY2026 23.6xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $2.03FY2026 $3.25FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY -8.1%FY2026 +8.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -5.9% +15.4% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.14BFY2026 $10.60BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY -0.9%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +11.6% +8.0% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBAXALCRVP
Held by institutions 100.0% 48.8% 8.8%
Institutions holding 692 631 32
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.2% +5.3% +5.9%
Institutions buying 358 226 10
Institutions selling 194 274 4
Buyers to sellers 1.85 0.82 2.50

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.

BAXALCRVP
BAX 1.00 0.40 0.03
ALC 0.40 1.00 0.15
RVP 0.03 0.15 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BAX, ALC and RVP?

Alcon (ALC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Baxter International (BAX) $13.26B, Alcon (ALC) $37.31B, Retractable Technologies (RVP) $17.06M.

Which company is growing faster?

Alcon (ALC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Baxter International (BAX) +5.3%, Alcon (ALC) +8.5%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -11.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alcon (ALC) has the highest net margin (Baxter International (BAX) -6.2%, Alcon (ALC) 6.0%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -10.6%). On return on invested capital, Alcon (ALC) leads (Baxter International (BAX) -1.4%, Alcon (ALC) 3.6%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -31.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Baxter International (BAX) returned the most: Baxter International (BAX) +42.8%, Alcon (ALC) +3.0%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -33.5%. Over five years, Alcon (ALC) compounded fastest (Baxter International (BAX) -20.0%/yr, Alcon (ALC) -2.2%/yr, Retractable Technologies (RVP) -42.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Alcon (ALC) has the highest dividend yield: Baxter International (BAX) 0.16%, Alcon (ALC) 0.37%. Retractable Technologies (RVP) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alcon (ALC) has been the steadiest (Baxter International (BAX) 42.9%, Alcon (ALC) 29.5%, Retractable Technologies (RVP) 39.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BAX, ALC and RVP?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alcon (ALC) leads on 8. 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.