BAX vs SKYA vs ALC Stock Comparison

Baxter International, SkyAI and Alcon Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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BAX Baxter International Inc
$25.49 +8.5% 1M +40.0% 1Y
Market cap
$13.67B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$11.61B
Div. yield
0.01%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
1 win
SKYA SkyAI, Inc.
$2.95 +60.3% 1M -31.1% 1Y
Market cap
$212.68M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$174.18K
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
2 wins
ALC Alcon Inc
$72.37 +13.5% 1M -2.0% 1Y
Market cap
$38.12B
P/E
59.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Alcon leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Alcon 6, SkyAI 2, Baxter International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBAXSKYAALCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $13.67B $212.68M $38.12B ALC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -18.9x -0.5x 59.3x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.9x 0.0x 22.5x SKYA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.3% +108.0% +8.5% SKYA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -6.2% -228,220.7% 6.0% ALC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.4% — 3.6% ALC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 9.0x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +40.0% -31.1% -2.0% BAX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -20.1%/yr — -3.4%/yr ALC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.7% 105.3% 28.8% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 43/100 27/100 68/100 ALC

Percentile Scorecard

BAXSKYAALC

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

AxisBAXSKYAALC
Valuation 86 #34 of 229 4 #220 of 229 77 #53 of 229
Growth 14 #191 of 221 4 #212 of 221 48 #115 of 221
Profitability 65 #73 of 209 1 #208 of 209 76 #51 of 209
Financial Health 18 #197 of 240 95 #13 of 240 62 #93 of 240
Shareholder Returns 34 #97 of 147 34 #98 of 147 77 #34 of 147
Overall 43 27 68
  • BAX ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • SKYA ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ALC 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

PeriodBAXSKYAALCSPY
1 month +8.5%+60.3%+13.5% -2.0%
3 months -10.1%+126.9%+1.9% -2.2%
6 months +52.2%+55.3%-2.8% +4.2%
Year to date +33.4%+45.3%-8.2% +10.6%
1 year +40.0%-31.1%-2.0% +10.4%
3 years -24.9%-99.9%-2.6% +73.6%
3 years, per year -9.1%-90.0%-0.9% +20.2%
5 years -67.4%—-15.7% +61.6%
5 years, per year -20.1%—-3.4% +10.1%
10 years -45.6%—— +261.3%
10 years, per year -5.9%—— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureBAXSKYAALCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.7%105.3%28.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.1%104.8%29.0% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.082.490.36 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.94-0.30-0.07 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.3%-100.0%-38.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.1%-31.1%-17.0% -3.2%
52-week high $28.35$4.28$87.18 $779.14
52-week low $15.80$0.95$62.02 $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.

MultipleBAXSKYAALC
P/E now vs peer median -18.2xmedian 28.1x -0.5xmedian 28.1x 55.5xmedian 28.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 2.9x 1,221xmedian 2.9x 3.3xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 27.0xmedian 18.0x -0.5xmedian 18.0x —median 18.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 24.8x -1.1xmedian 24.8x 20.3xmedian 24.8x
P/B now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 2.3x 1.4xmedian 2.3x 1.6xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.58median 0.95 0.01median 0.95 2.65median 0.95

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 monthsBAXSKYAALC
Revenue $11.61B $174.18K $10.80B
Gross profit $3.49B $324.68K $6.17B
Operating income -$221.00M -$374.36M $948.00M
Net income -$723.00M -$397.51M $643.00M
Free cash flow $1.16B -$201.93M $1.74B
R&D $519.00M $475.55K $1.43B
EPS (diluted) $-1.39 $-5.51 $1.30
Cash & equivalents $1.98B $12.07M $1.36B
Total debt $8.60B – $4.72B
Shares (diluted) 520.00M 72.09M 496.20M
Enterprise value $5.55B $167.38M $29.08B

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
MetricBAXSKYAALC
P/E -18.2x -0.5x 55.5x
P/FCF 11.4x -1.1x 20.3x
P/Operating cash flow 7.9x -14.8x 15.3x
P/S 1.1x 1,221x 3.3x
P/B 2.0x 1.4x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 5.1x 16.4x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 27.0x -0.5x –
EV/EBIT -89.6x -0.5x 39.9x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 1,152x 3.5x
EV/FCF 17.1x -1.0x 21.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.9x -13.9x 16.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.58 0.01 2.65

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBAXSKYAALC
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.3% 108.0% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.7% 19.4% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -7.1% – 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -7.7% – 7.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -136.3% -8,055% -34.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 4.2% -240.7% 7.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -112.0% -54,854% -40.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -31.6% -268.2% 21.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -109.6% -658.6% -40.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -31.5% -100.6% 21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 97.4% -356.8% 10.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.6% -24.4% 25.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 243.5% -6,031% 7.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.0% -196.9% 48.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBAXSKYAALC
Gross margin 30.1% 186.4% 57.2%
EBITDA margin 6.3% -214,892% –
Operating margin -1.9% -214,931% 8.8%
Pretax margin -1.6% -221,236% 6.9%
Net margin -6.2% -228,221% 6.0%
FCF margin 10.0% -115,934% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 14.3% -8,259% 21.4%
Return on equity -11.4% -280.7% 2.9%
Return on assets -3.7% -276.3% 2.1%
Return on invested capital -1.4% – 3.6%
Return on capital employed -1.4% -223.1% 3.4%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.0x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.3x 0.0x 3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 52,451% 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBAXSKYAALC
Debt / assets 44.3% – 15.2%
Debt / equity 1.3x – 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 9.0x – –
Debt / FCF 7.4x – 2.7x
Liabilities / assets 66.5% 1.9% 30.6%
Equity / assets 33.5% 98.1% 69.4%
Interest coverage – – 9.2x
Current ratio 1.8x 5.3x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.0x 4.4x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.5x 4.2x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 2.38 30.23 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBAXSKYAALC
Dividend yield 0.2% – 0.4%
Net buyback yield -0.2% -0.6% 2.6%
Shareholder yield 0.0% -0.6% 3.0%
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.

ConsensusBAXSKYAALC
Forward P/E 12.9xFY2026 0.0xFY2026 22.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.98FY2026 $2,362.06FY2026 $3.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.4%FY2026 – +7.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -3.5% – +15.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.05BFY2026 $70.01MFY2026 $10.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.7%FY2026 +34,200.1%FY2026 +4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +11.7% +17.5% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBAXSKYAALC
Held by institutions 100.0% – 48.8%
Institutions holding 692 – 631
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.2% – +5.3%
Institutions buying 359 – 227
Institutions selling 194 – 274
Buyers to sellers 1.85 – 0.83

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.

BAXSKYAALC
BAX 1.00 0.08 0.40
SKYA 0.08 1.00 0.09
ALC 0.40 0.09 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BAX, SKYA and ALC?

Alcon (ALC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Baxter International (BAX) $13.67B, SkyAI (SKYA) $212.68M, Alcon (ALC) $38.12B.

Which company is growing faster?

SkyAI (SKYA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Baxter International (BAX) +5.3%, SkyAI (SKYA) +108.0%, Alcon (ALC) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alcon (ALC) has the highest net margin (Baxter International (BAX) -6.2%, SkyAI (SKYA) -228,220.7%, Alcon (ALC) 6.0%). On return on invested capital, Alcon (ALC) leads (Baxter International (BAX) -1.4%, Alcon (ALC) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Baxter International (BAX) returned the most: Baxter International (BAX) +40.0%, SkyAI (SKYA) -31.1%, Alcon (ALC) -2.0%. Over five years, Alcon (ALC) compounded fastest (Baxter International (BAX) -20.1%/yr, Alcon (ALC) -3.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Baxter International (BAX) 0.01%, SkyAI (SKYA) 0.00%, Alcon (ALC) 0.00%. SkyAI (SKYA) and Alcon (ALC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alcon (ALC) has been the steadiest (Baxter International (BAX) 42.7%, SkyAI (SKYA) 105.3%, Alcon (ALC) 28.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 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.