BDX vs ALC vs UEEC Stock Comparison

Becton Dickinson, Alcon and United Health Products Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BDX Becton Dickinson & Co
$196.39 +6.8% 1M +5.7% 1Y
Market cap
$53.49B
P/E
57.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$23.25B
Div. yield
2.14%
Medical Supplies Healthcare
7 wins
ALC Alcon Inc
$70.00 +8.6% 1M -8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$34.12B
P/E
53.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
0.40%
Medical Devices Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Becton Dickinson leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Becton Dickinson 7, Alcon 4, United Health Products 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBDXALCUEECLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $53.49B $34.12B $7.34M BDX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 57.3x 53.7x -5.0x ALC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 15.1x 21.7x — BDX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +17.4% +8.5% — BDX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.0% 6.0% — ALC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.3% 3.6% — BDX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x — -1.9x UEEC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.14% 0.40% — BDX
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +5.7% -8.0% -57.1% BDX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.3%/yr -3.0%/yr -49.6%/yr ALC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 31.9% 28.7% 187.0% ALC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 66/100 39/100 BDX

Percentile Scorecard

BDXALCUEEC

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

AxisBDXALCUEEC
Valuation 90 #9 of 80 80 #17 of 80 38 #50 of 80
Growth 53 #35 of 74 48 #39 of 74 78 #17 of 74
Profitability 80 #14 of 67 79 #15 of 67 –
Financial Health 26 #68 of 91 51 #45 of 91 2 #89 of 91
Shareholder Returns 91 #4 of 35 71 #11 of 35 –
Overall 68 66 39
  • BDX ranked among 95 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ALC ranked among 95 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • UEEC ranked among 95 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodBDXALCUEECSPY
1 month +6.8%+8.6%-25.0% -0.8%
3 months +23.6%+4.1%-25.0% +3.5%
6 months +30.7%-7.9%-57.1% +7.0%
Year to date +1.2%-11.2%-40.0% +12.2%
1 year +5.7%-8.0%-57.1% +13.0%
3 years -21.9%0.0%-88.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.9%0.0%-51.3% +23.1%
5 years -19.8%-14.3%-96.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year -4.3%-3.0%-49.6% +11.0%
10 years +17.2%—-66.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year +1.6%—-10.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureBDXALCUEECSPY
Volatility, 1Y 31.9%28.7%187.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 33.1%28.9%332.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.340.38-0.73 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.18-0.28-0.31 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.4%-38.4%-96.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.5%-19.7%-70.0% -1.8%
52-week high $210.02$87.18$0.10 $779.14
52-week low $140.71$62.02$0.03 $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.

MultipleBDXALCUEEC
P/E now vs peer median 57.3xmedian 29.3x 53.7xmedian 29.3x -5.0xmedian 29.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 2.6x 3.2xmedian 2.6x —median 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.0xmedian 17.4x —median 17.4x -9.9xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.7xmedian 19.6x 19.6xmedian 19.6x -7.7xmedian 19.6x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.3x 1.6xmedian 1.3x -1.7xmedian 1.3x
PEG now vs peer median -3.93median 0.84 2.56median 0.84 -1.05median 0.84

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 monthsBDXALCUEEC
Revenue $23.25B $10.80B –
Gross profit $10.91B $6.17B –
Operating income $2.48B $948.00M -$930.33K
Net income $941.00M $643.00M $3.92M
Free cash flow $3.20B $1.74B -$950.64K
R&D $1.37B $1.43B $89.05K
EPS (diluted) $3.42 $1.30 $-0.01
Cash & equivalents $708.00M $1.36B $24.50K
Total debt $72.81B $4.72B $4.92M
Shares (diluted) 275.16M 496.20M 260.04M
Enterprise value $50.64B $25.09B $7.23M

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
MetricBDXALCUEEC
P/E 57.3x 53.7x -5.0x
P/FCF 16.7x 19.6x -7.7x
P/Operating cash flow 13.5x 14.8x -7.7x
P/S 2.3x 3.2x –
P/B 2.2x 1.6x -1.7x
P/Tangible book 2.2x 2.6x -1.6x
EV/EBITDA 14.0x – -9.9x
EV/EBIT 28.0x 38.7x -9.8x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 3.4x –
EV/FCF 21.7x 21.1x -9.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.6x 15.9x -9.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.93 2.56 -1.05

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBDXALCUEEC
Revenue growth (1Y) 17.4% 8.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.9% 5.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 23.7% 11.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.5% 7.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 13.0% -34.3% 68.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 7.5% 29.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -40.6% -40.1% 277.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -17.3% 21.1% 40.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -38.0% -40.7% 52.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -14.6% 21.0% 4.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 43.5% 10.3% 1.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.5% 25.9% 8.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 54.2% 7.5% 1.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.5% 48.0% 8.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBDXALCUEEC
Gross margin 46.9% 57.2% –
EBITDA margin 21.4% – –
Operating margin 10.7% 8.8% –
Pretax margin 8.4% 6.9% –
Net margin 4.0% 6.0% –
FCF margin 13.8% 16.1% –
Operating cash flow margin 17.0% 21.4% –
Return on equity 3.9% 2.9% –
Return on assets 1.9% 2.1% -407.2%
Return on invested capital 5.3% 3.6% –
Return on capital employed 6.0% 3.4% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.3x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 4.2x 3.6x -0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.2% 1.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBDXALCUEEC
Debt / assets 33.1% 15.2% 737.4%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.2x -0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x – -1.9x
Debt / FCF 5.2x 2.7x -1.9x
Liabilities / assets 51.9% 30.6% 1,892%
Equity / assets 48.1% 69.4% -1,792%
Interest coverage 4.2x 9.2x -8.2x
Current ratio 0.9x 2.1x 0.0x
Quick ratio 0.3x 1.3x 0.0x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.7x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 2.29 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBDXALCUEEC
Dividend yield 2.1% 0.4% –
Net buyback yield 4.7% 2.7% –
Shareholder yield 6.8% 3.1% –
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.

ConsensusBDXALCUEEC
Forward P/E 15.1xFY2026 21.7xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $12.99FY2026 $3.23FY2026 –
EPS growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +8.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after -2.9% +15.8% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.11BFY2026 $10.54BFY2026 –
Revenue growth, next FY -17.1%FY2026 +4.7%FY2026 –
Revenue growth, the year after +11.6% +8.1% –

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBDXALCUEEC
Held by institutions 96.1% 48.8% –
Institutions holding 1,442 629 –
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.6% +5.3% –
Institutions buying 688 225 –
Institutions selling 543 274 –
Buyers to sellers 1.27 0.82 –

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.

BDXALCUEEC
BDX 1.00 0.31 0.12
ALC 0.31 1.00 0.08
UEEC 0.12 0.08 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BDX, ALC and UEEC?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Becton Dickinson (BDX) $53.49B, Alcon (ALC) $34.12B, United Health Products (UEEC) $7.34M.

Which stock is cheaper, BDX, ALC and UEEC?

Alcon (ALC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Becton Dickinson (BDX) 57.3x, Alcon (ALC) 53.7x, United Health Products (UEEC) -5.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Becton Dickinson (BDX) is cheapest (Becton Dickinson (BDX) 15.1x, Alcon (ALC) 21.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Becton Dickinson (BDX) +17.4%, Alcon (ALC) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alcon (ALC) has the highest net margin (Becton Dickinson (BDX) 4.0%, Alcon (ALC) 6.0%). On return on invested capital, Becton Dickinson (BDX) leads (Becton Dickinson (BDX) 5.3%, Alcon (ALC) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Becton Dickinson (BDX) returned the most: Becton Dickinson (BDX) +5.7%, Alcon (ALC) -8.0%, United Health Products (UEEC) -57.1%. Over five years, Alcon (ALC) compounded fastest (Becton Dickinson (BDX) -4.3%/yr, Alcon (ALC) -3.0%/yr, United Health Products (UEEC) -49.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) has the highest dividend yield: Becton Dickinson (BDX) 2.14%, Alcon (ALC) 0.40%. United Health Products (UEEC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alcon (ALC) has been the steadiest (Becton Dickinson (BDX) 31.9%, Alcon (ALC) 28.7%, United Health Products (UEEC) 187.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BDX, ALC and UEEC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Becton Dickinson (BDX) leads on 7. 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.