CAI vs GH vs ICLR Stock Comparison

Caris Life Sciences, Guardant Health and Icon Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GH Guardant Health, Inc.
$173.25 -2.3% 1M +140.1% 1Y
Market cap
$23.68B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.18B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
4 wins
ICLR Icon Plc
$183.78 +6.6% 1M +3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$14.35B
P/E
43.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.33B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Guardant Health leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Guardant Health 4, Caris Life Sciences 4, Icon 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCAIGHICLRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.52B $23.68B $14.35B GH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 90.5x -52.2x 43.6x ICLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 295.1x — 17.9x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +85.4% +42.7% +3.7% CAI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.6% -38.3% 3.9% CAI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.6% — 1.3% CAI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.2x — 3.5x CAI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.5% +140.1% +3.2% GH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +9.1%/yr -8.2%/yr GH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 69.6% 57.4% 73.8% GH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 28/100 69/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

CAIGHICLR

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

AxisCAIGHICLR
Valuation 23 #72 of 93 17 #77 of 93 90 #2 of 11
Growth 99 #2 of 88 48 #46 of 88 30 #8 of 11
Profitability 87 #12 of 87 7 #81 of 87 80 #3 of 11
Financial Health 82 #19 of 100 51 #50 of 100 75 #4 of 13
Shareholder Returns 53 #27 of 56 15 #48 of 56 –
Overall 69 28 69
  • CAI ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • GH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCAIGHICLRSPY
1 month +1.5%-2.3%+6.6% -0.8%
3 months +107.7%+19.1%+8.9% +3.5%
6 months +62.9%+95.8%+78.1% +7.0%
Year to date +20.3%+69.6%+0.9% +12.2%
1 year +4.5%+140.1%+3.2% +13.0%
3 years —+594.1%-21.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year —+90.8%-7.9% +23.1%
5 years —+54.3%-34.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+9.1%-8.2% +11.0%
10 years ——+125.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year ——+8.5% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCAIGHICLRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 69.6%57.4%73.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 69.3%48.7%87.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.381.021.45 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.062.440.04 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -63.0%-86.7%-76.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-7.5%-9.4% -1.8%
52-week high $32.46$187.22$202.92 $779.14
52-week low $14.55$69.58$80.08 $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.

MultipleCAIGHICLR
P/E now vs peer median 87.3xmedian 25.1x -50.8xmedian 25.1x 43.8xmedian 36.5x
P/S now vs peer median 9.3xmedian 1.6x 19.6xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 48.7xmedian 14.5x -51.2xmedian 14.5x 23.5xmedian 37.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 74.0xmedian 22.4x -96.2xmedian 22.4x 15.9xmedian 20.7x
P/B now vs peer median 15.5xmedian 3.1x -103.9xmedian 3.1x 1.5xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.66 -5.11median 0.66 -3.55median 2.04

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 monthsCAIGHICLR
Revenue $989.61M $1.18B $8.33B
Gross profit $689.36M $769.16M $2.01B
Operating income $153.26M -$470.26M $325.64M
Net income $105.14M -$453.44M $69.55M
Free cash flow $123.96M -$240.72M $883.82M
R&D $117.14M $375.79M –
EPS (diluted) $0.37 $-3.41 $4.16
Cash & equivalents $690.92M $1.05B $928.39M
Total debt $393.15M – $13.60B
Shares (diluted) 282.89M 132.87M 78.97M
Enterprise value $6.34B $19.74B $11.46B

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
MetricCAIGHICLR
P/E 87.3x -50.8x 43.8x
P/FCF 74.0x -96.2x 15.9x
P/Operating cash flow 54.4x -125.0x 13.2x
P/S 9.3x 19.6x 1.7x
P/B 15.5x -103.9x 1.5x
P/Tangible book 15.5x -93.3x 2.3x
EV/EBITDA 48.7x -51.2x 23.5x
EV/EBIT 57.2x -47.0x 50.8x
EV/Revenue 8.9x 18.7x 2.0x
EV/FCF 70.8x -91.8x 18.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 52.0x -119.3x 15.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -5.11 -3.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCAIGHICLR
Revenue growth (1Y) 85.4% 42.7% 3.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 32.4% 1.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 141.2% 47.7% -11.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – -4.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 188.2% -2.1% -66.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 4.8% -28.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 137.7% -9.6% -91.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 3.7% -48.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 103.0% -2.4% -59.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 9.9% -12.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 227.3% 22.4% -7.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 18.1% 26.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 188.2% 11.4% -10.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.4% 32.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCAIGHICLR
Gross margin 69.7% 65.0% 24.2%
EBITDA margin 18.2% -36.5% 8.4%
Operating margin 15.5% -39.7% 3.9%
Pretax margin 10.6% -38.4% 1.6%
Net margin 10.6% -38.3% 3.9%
FCF margin 12.5% -20.3% 10.6%
Operating cash flow margin 17.0% -15.7% 12.8%
Return on equity 17.7% – 6.4%
Return on assets 8.8% -23.7% 3.7%
Return on invested capital 15.6% – 1.3%
Return on capital employed 15.3% -29.9% 2.6%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 0.4x 15.4x
Stock comp / revenue 6.6% 16.2% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCAIGHICLR
Debt / assets 32.0% – 20.7%
Debt / equity 0.7x – 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.2x – 3.5x
Debt / FCF 3.2x – 3.8x
Liabilities / assets 51.9% 111.7% 42.8%
Equity / assets 48.1% -11.7% 57.2%
Interest coverage 3.3x -97.6x 1.7x
Current ratio 5.5x 4.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 4.8x 3.5x 0.6x
Cash ratio 4.1x 3.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 7.79 4.59 1.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCAIGHICLR
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 0.1% -1.7% 1.7%
Shareholder yield 0.1% -1.7% 1.7%
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.

ConsensusCAIGHICLR
Forward P/E 295.1xFY2026 – 17.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.11FY2026 $-3.33FY2026 $10.25FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – -18.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +236.4% – +22.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.06BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026 $8.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +30.1%FY2026 +44.5%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +21.6% +27.0% -3.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCAIGHICLR
Held by institutions 52.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 245 594 422
Change in shares held, QoQ -6.3% -2.6% +5.5%
Institutions buying 175 353 233
Institutions selling 47 180 138
Buyers to sellers 3.72 1.96 1.69

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.

CAIGHICLR
CAI 1.00 0.41 0.22
GH 0.41 1.00 0.20
ICLR 0.22 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAI, GH and ICLR?

Guardant Health (GH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caris Life Sciences (CAI) $9.52B, Guardant Health (GH) $23.68B, Icon (ICLR) $14.35B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAI, GH and ICLR?

Icon (ICLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 90.5x, Guardant Health (GH) -52.2x, Icon (ICLR) 43.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 295.1x, Icon (ICLR) 17.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Caris Life Sciences (CAI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +85.4%, Guardant Health (GH) +42.7%, Icon (ICLR) +3.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Caris Life Sciences (CAI) has the highest net margin (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 10.6%, Guardant Health (GH) -38.3%, Icon (ICLR) 3.9%). On return on invested capital, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) leads (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 15.6%, Icon (ICLR) 1.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardant Health (GH) returned the most: Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +4.5%, Guardant Health (GH) +140.1%, Icon (ICLR) +3.2%. Over five years, Guardant Health (GH) compounded fastest (Guardant Health (GH) +9.1%/yr, Icon (ICLR) -8.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Guardant Health (GH) has been the steadiest (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 69.6%, Guardant Health (GH) 57.4%, Icon (ICLR) 73.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CAI, GH and ICLR?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Guardant Health (GH) leads on 4. 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.