CAI vs ICLR vs SHC Stock Comparison

Caris Life Sciences, Icon and Sotera Health Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$182.98 +6.2% 1M +0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$14.01B
P/E
32.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
4 wins
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.49 +0.8% 1M +10.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.28B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionCAIICLRSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.51B $14.01B $5.28B ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 90.6x 32.0x 32.3x ICLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 306.1x 17.9x 20.1x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +85.4% +1.8% +8.1% CAI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.6% 5.4% 13.4% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.6% 4.7% 9.1% CAI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.2x 2.3x 3.3x CAI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +11.3% +0.5% +10.7% CAI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -8.6%/yr -5.8%/yr SHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 69.5% 73.7% 28.4% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 81/100 59/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

CAIICLRSHC

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

AxisCAIICLRSHC
Valuation 23 #71 of 92 100 #1 of 11 52 #45 of 92
Growth 99 #2 of 87 70 #4 of 11 66 #30 of 87
Profitability 89 #10 of 86 80 #3 of 11 82 #16 of 86
Financial Health 81 #19 of 97 75 #4 of 13 37 #62 of 97
Shareholder Returns 56 #25 of 56 – –
Overall 70 81 59
  • CAI ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • SHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCAIICLRSHCSPY
1 month +5.3%+6.2%+0.8% -0.2%
3 months +116.0%+1.5%+4.1% +3.9%
6 months +82.6%+78.5%+19.0% +8.2%
Year to date +24.8%+0.4%+4.8% +12.9%
1 year +11.3%+0.5%+10.7% +12.3%
3 years —-22.2%+47.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year —-8.0%+13.9% +23.3%
5 years —-36.1%-25.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year —-8.6%-5.8% +10.9%
10 years —+127.4%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+8.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCAIICLRSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 69.5%73.7%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 69.3%87.6%27.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.391.441.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.160.010.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -63.0%-76.9%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-9.8%-5.5% -1.2%
52-week high $33.67$202.92$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $14.55$80.08$13.13 $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.

MultipleCAIICLRSHC
P/E now vs peer median 90.6xmedian 24.6x 32.0xmedian 32.1x 32.3xmedian 24.6x
P/S now vs peer median 9.6xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 2.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 50.6xmedian 14.6x 15.2xmedian 38.1x 13.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 76.8xmedian 21.6x 16.3xmedian 21.5x 46.8xmedian 21.6x
P/B now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 3.2x 1.5xmedian 3.1x 7.9xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.66 -13.47median 2.03 0.86median 0.66

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 monthsCAIICLRSHC
Revenue $989.61M $8.23B $1.22B
Gross profit $689.36M $1.93B $668.51M
Operating income $153.26M $718.25M $411.34M
Net income $105.14M $448.66M $163.48M
Free cash flow $123.96M $857.06M $112.70M
R&D $117.14M – –
EPS (diluted) $0.37 $5.68 $0.57
Cash & equivalents $690.92M $808.98M $356.72M
Total debt $393.15M $3.38B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 282.89M 78.97M 288.15M
Enterprise value $6.34B $10.78B $3.96B

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
MetricCAIICLRSHC
P/E 90.6x 32.0x 32.3x
P/FCF 76.8x 16.3x 46.8x
P/Operating cash flow 56.4x 13.6x 18.1x
P/S 9.6x 1.7x 4.3x
P/B 16.1x 1.5x 7.9x
P/Tangible book 16.1x 2.3x 13.3x
EV/EBITDA 50.6x 15.2x 13.0x
EV/EBIT 59.5x 23.1x 17.2x
EV/Revenue 9.2x 2.0x 5.8x
EV/FCF 73.5x 19.3x 62.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 54.1x 16.1x 24.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -13.47 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCAIICLRSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 85.4% 1.8% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 0.9% 7.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 141.2% -13.4% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -6.5% 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 188.2% 53.9% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -7.0% 23.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 137.7% 55.9% 580.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -4.4% 37.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 103.0% 30.1% 574.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -2.4% 37.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 227.3% -9.9% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 15.8% 61.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 188.2% -11.1% 0.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 18.4% 32.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCAIICLRSHC
Gross margin 69.7% 23.4% 55.0%
EBITDA margin 18.2% 13.3% 44.6%
Operating margin 15.5% 8.7% 33.8%
Pretax margin 10.6% 6.3% 21.7%
Net margin 10.6% 5.4% 13.4%
FCF margin 12.5% 10.4% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 17.0% 12.5% 24.0%
Return on equity 17.7% 7.6% 25.4%
Return on assets 8.8% 4.3% 5.0%
Return on invested capital 15.6% 4.7% 9.1%
Return on capital employed 15.3% 5.3% 13.5%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 6.6% 1.1% 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCAIICLRSHC
Debt / assets 32.0% 20.8% 64.7%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.4x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.2x 2.3x 3.3x
Debt / FCF 3.2x 3.9x 19.0x
Liabilities / assets 51.9% 43.8% 79.9%
Equity / assets 48.1% 56.2% 20.1%
Interest coverage 3.3x 3.4x –
Current ratio 5.5x 1.3x 2.8x
Quick ratio 4.8x 0.9x 2.4x
Cash ratio 4.1x 0.3x 1.5x
Altman Z-score 8.11 2.07 1.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCAIICLRSHC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 0.1% 2.7% –
Shareholder yield 0.1% 2.7% –
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.

ConsensusCAIICLRSHC
Forward P/E 306.1xFY2026 17.9xFY2026 20.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.11FY2026 $10.25FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -18.2%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +236.4% +22.2% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.06BFY2026 $8.52BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +30.1%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +21.6% -3.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCAIICLRSHC
Held by institutions 52.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 245 422 316
Change in shares held, QoQ -6.3% +5.5% +5.9%
Institutions buying 175 233 220
Institutions selling 47 138 64
Buyers to sellers 3.72 1.69 3.44

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.

CAIICLRSHC
CAI 1.00 0.22 0.38
ICLR 0.22 1.00 0.32
SHC 0.38 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAI, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Caris Life Sciences (CAI) $9.51B, Icon (ICLR) $14.01B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAI, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 90.6x, Icon (ICLR) 32.0x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 306.1x, Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Sotera Health (SHC) 20.1x). 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%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 10.6%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) leads (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 15.6%, Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caris Life Sciences (CAI) returned the most: Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +11.3%, Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, Sotera Health (SHC) +10.7%. Over five years, Sotera Health (SHC) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.6%/yr, Sotera Health (SHC) -5.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sotera Health (SHC) has been the steadiest (Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 69.5%, Icon (ICLR) 73.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 28.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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