BSX vs EW vs ALC Stock Comparison

Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences and Alcon Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BSX Boston Scientific Corp
$45.60 +3.8% 1M -54.9% 1Y
Market cap
$66.09B
P/E
18.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$21.00B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
6 wins
EW Edwards Lifesciences Corp
$90.57 +5.0% 1M +19.0% 1Y
Market cap
$52.33B
P/E
52.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.51B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
5 wins
ALC Alcon Inc
$70.00 +8.6% 1M -8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$34.24B
P/E
53.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionBSXEWALCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $66.09B $52.33B $34.24B BSX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.0x 52.1x 53.3x BSX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.6x 32.0x 21.7x BSX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.5% +14.6% +8.5% EW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 17.5% 15.4% 6.0% BSX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.5% 9.0% 3.6% BSX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.2x -2.3x — EW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -54.9% +19.0% -8.0% EW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.8%/yr -4.8%/yr -3.0%/yr BSX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.0% 24.8% 28.7% EW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 77/100 68/100 EW

Percentile Scorecard

BSXEWALC

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

AxisBSXEWALC
Valuation 89 #27 of 228 63 #84 of 228 79 #48 of 228
Growth 86 #33 of 221 54 #103 of 221 47 #118 of 221
Profitability 91 #19 of 208 95 #12 of 208 76 #50 of 208
Financial Health 42 #140 of 239 87 #32 of 239 61 #95 of 239
Shareholder Returns 39 #84 of 137 88 #17 of 137 75 #35 of 137
Overall 69 77 68
  • BSX ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • EW 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

PeriodBSXEWALCSPY
1 month +3.8%+5.0%+8.6% -0.8%
3 months +0.2%+9.0%+4.1% +3.5%
6 months -23.9%+8.5%-7.9% +7.0%
Year to date -52.2%+6.2%-11.2% +12.2%
1 year -54.9%+19.0%-8.0% +13.0%
3 years -7.9%+46.8%0.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year -2.7%+13.7%0.0% +23.1%
5 years +4.3%-22.0%-14.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year +0.8%-4.8%-3.0% +11.0%
10 years +106.4%+188.3%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +7.5%+11.2%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureBSXEWALCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.0%24.8%28.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.1%24.5%28.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.140.580.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.370.77-0.28 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.6%-54.3%-38.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -56.6%-4.8%-19.7% -1.8%
52-week high $104.98$95.17$87.18 $779.14
52-week low $41.57$75.87$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.

MultipleBSXEWALC
P/E now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 30.6x 51.9xmedian 30.6x 53.7xmedian 30.6x
P/S now vs peer median 3.1xmedian 3.0x 8.0xmedian 3.0x 3.2xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.0xmedian 17.5x 30.1xmedian 17.5x —median 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 23.3x 36.4xmedian 23.3x 19.6xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.4x 4.9xmedian 2.4x 1.6xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.30median 0.87 -6.06median 0.87 2.56median 0.87

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 monthsBSXEWALC
Revenue $21.00B $6.51B $10.80B
Gross profit $14.68B $5.07B $6.17B
Operating income $4.15B $1.45B $948.00M
Net income $3.67B $1.00B $643.00M
Free cash flow $3.63B $1.43B $1.74B
R&D $2.15B $1.09B $1.43B
EPS (diluted) $2.49 $1.74 $1.30
Cash & equivalents $539.00M $2.91B $1.36B
Total debt $12.62B $598.70M $4.72B
Shares (diluted) 1.47B 577.60M 496.20M
Enterprise value $60.86B $36.34B $25.21B

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
MetricBSXEWALC
P/E 18.2x 51.9x 53.7x
P/FCF 18.2x 36.4x 19.6x
P/Operating cash flow 14.6x 30.4x 14.8x
P/S 3.1x 8.0x 3.2x
P/B 2.6x 4.9x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 3.6x 5.6x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 14.0x 30.1x –
EV/EBIT 18.8x 33.5x 38.7x
EV/Revenue 3.7x 7.5x 3.4x
EV/FCF 21.6x 33.9x 21.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.3x 28.2x 15.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.30 -6.06 2.56

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBSXEWALC
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.5% 14.6% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 16.1% 15.3% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 16.3% 13.0% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 16.4% 11.9% 7.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 31.9% -1.4% -34.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 31.5% 5.0% 7.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 46.9% -75.8% -40.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 59.0% -10.2% 21.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 48.6% -75.3% -40.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 61.5% -8.6% 21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 5.7% 116.4% 10.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.7% 22.3% 25.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 4.0% 143.9% 7.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.9% 26.9% 48.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBSXEWALC
Gross margin 69.9% 77.8% 57.2%
EBITDA margin 26.5% 24.8% –
Operating margin 19.8% 22.3% 8.8%
Pretax margin 18.4% 21.8% 6.9%
Net margin 17.5% 15.4% 6.0%
FCF margin 17.3% 22.0% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 21.6% 26.4% 21.4%
Return on equity 14.3% 9.5% 2.9%
Return on assets 8.2% 7.4% 2.1%
Return on invested capital 10.5% 9.0% 3.6%
Return on capital employed 10.8% 12.0% 3.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.7x 3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 2.6% 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBSXEWALC
Debt / assets 27.9% 4.3% 15.2%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.1x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.2x -2.3x –
Debt / FCF 3.5x 0.4x 2.7x
Liabilities / assets 44.3% 22.7% 30.6%
Equity / assets 55.7% 77.3% 69.4%
Interest coverage 11.4x – 9.2x
Current ratio 1.2x 4.5x 2.1x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.5x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.1x 2.8x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 3.03 12.75 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBSXEWALC
Dividend yield – – 0.4%
Net buyback yield -0.3% 1.9% 2.7%
Shareholder yield -0.3% 1.9% 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.

ConsensusBSXEWALC
Forward P/E 14.6xFY2026 32.0xFY2026 21.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.12FY2026 $2.83FY2026 $3.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.0%FY2026 +10.5%FY2026 +7.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +14.7% +12.7% +15.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $20.67BFY2026 $7.24BFY2026 $10.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.0%FY2026 +19.2%FY2026 +4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.6% -2.6% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBSXEWALC
Held by institutions 90.5% 90.6% 48.8%
Institutions holding 1,481 1,323 629
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.7% +20.4% +5.3%
Institutions buying 738 641 225
Institutions selling 610 453 274
Buyers to sellers 1.21 1.42 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.

BSXEWALC
BSX 1.00 0.28 0.29
EW 0.28 1.00 0.33
ALC 0.29 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BSX, EW and ALC?

Boston Scientific (BSX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Boston Scientific (BSX) $66.09B, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) $52.33B, Alcon (ALC) $34.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, BSX, EW and ALC?

Boston Scientific (BSX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Boston Scientific (BSX) 18.0x, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 52.1x, Alcon (ALC) 53.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Boston Scientific (BSX) is cheapest (Boston Scientific (BSX) 14.6x, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 32.0x, 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?

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Boston Scientific (BSX) +13.5%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) +14.6%, Alcon (ALC) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Boston Scientific (BSX) has the highest net margin (Boston Scientific (BSX) 17.5%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 15.4%, Alcon (ALC) 6.0%). On return on invested capital, Boston Scientific (BSX) leads (Boston Scientific (BSX) 10.5%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 9.0%, Alcon (ALC) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Edwards Lifesciences (EW) returned the most: Boston Scientific (BSX) -54.9%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) +19.0%, Alcon (ALC) -8.0%. Over five years, Boston Scientific (BSX) compounded fastest (Boston Scientific (BSX) +0.8%/yr, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) -4.8%/yr, Alcon (ALC) -3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) has been the steadiest (Boston Scientific (BSX) 40.0%, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 24.8%, Alcon (ALC) 28.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BSX, EW 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, Boston Scientific (BSX) 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.