CRL vs GELS vs STE Stock Comparison

Charles River Laboratories International, Gelteq and Steris Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
GELS Gelteq Ltd
$0.45 -18.2% 1M -63.7% 1Y
Market cap
$4.08M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Contract Manufacturing Healthcare
STE STERIS plc
$230.10 +10.1% 1M -4.4% 1Y
Market cap
$22.29B
P/E
27.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.04B
Div. yield
0.01%
Medical Devices Healthcare
9 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Steris leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Steris 9, Charles River Laboratories International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRLGELSSTELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.24B $4.08M $22.29B STE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -72.3x — 27.7x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.8x — 19.9x STE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.7% — +8.4% STE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -6.0% — 13.3% STE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.6% — 9.3% STE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.3x — 0.9x STE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +81.4% -63.7% -4.4% CRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.6%/yr — -0.2%/yr STE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.0% 159.8% 26.3% STE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 — 76/100 STE

Percentile Scorecard

CRLGELSSTE

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

AxisCRLGELSSTE
Valuation 60 #5 of 11 – 84 #38 of 228
Growth 10 #10 of 11 – 71 #64 of 221
Profitability 70 #4 of 11 – 87 #27 of 208
Financial Health 42 #8 of 13 67 #5 of 13 63 #89 of 239
Shareholder Returns – – 73 #38 of 137
Overall 45 – 76
  • CRL ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • GELS ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • STE 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

PeriodCRLGELSSTESPY
1 month +21.9%-18.2%+10.1% -0.8%
3 months +59.4%-31.8%+5.3% +3.5%
6 months +108.7%-35.3%+3.6% +7.0%
Year to date +79.1%-43.8%-9.2% +12.2%
1 year +81.4%-63.7%-4.4% +13.0%
3 years +107.1%—+9.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +27.5%—+3.2% +23.1%
5 years -16.9%—-0.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.6%—-0.2% +11.0%
10 years +358.2%—+238.8% +258.0%
10 years, per year +16.4%—+13.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCRLGELSSTESPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.0%159.8%26.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.0%122.0%25.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.272.060.40 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.77-0.40-0.17 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.8%-91.9%-36.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-70.6%-14.3% -1.8%
52-week high $357.35$1.53$268.65 $779.14
52-week low $149.93$0.39$199.40 $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.

MultipleCRLGELSSTE
P/E now vs peer median -72.0xmedian 36.5x —median 36.5x 27.9xmedian 30.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.7x —median 2.7x 3.7xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 50.2xmedian 37.7x —median 37.7x 14.6xmedian 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 46.0xmedian 20.7x -6.8xmedian 20.7x 24.2xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 2.9x 0.5xmedian 2.9x 3.1xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.99median 2.04 —median 2.04 0.31median 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 monthsCRLGELSSTE
Revenue $4.00B – $6.04B
Gross profit $1.31B – $2.68B
Operating income $90.14M – $1.14B
Net income -$239.23M – $808.10M
Free cash flow $370.61M – $925.60M
R&D – – $115.10M
EPS (diluted) $-4.97 – $8.22
Cash & equivalents $192.03M $6.26K $482.30M
Total debt $2.62B $8.91M $1.89B
Shares (diluted) 48.02M 9.27M 97.90M
Enterprise value $16.43B $1.94M $20.63B

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
MetricCRLGELSSTE
P/E -72.0x – 27.9x
P/FCF 46.0x -6.8x 24.2x
P/Operating cash flow 29.3x – 17.4x
P/S 4.3x – 3.7x
P/B 6.0x 0.5x 3.1x
P/Tangible book 6.6x -1.4x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA 50.2x – 14.6x
EV/EBIT 216.1x – 20.9x
EV/Revenue 4.9x – 3.9x
EV/FCF 52.6x – 25.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 33.5x – 18.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.99 – 0.31

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRLGELSSTE
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.7% – 8.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.5% – 9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.1% – 9.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -5.5% – 9.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -27.6% – 23.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -48.2% – 11.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -268.7% – 24.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -35.5% – 89.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -253.8% – 25.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -36.2% – 89.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -26.1% – 1.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.3% – 16.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -35.9% – 1.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.6% – 23.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRLGELSSTE
Gross margin 32.7% – 44.4%
EBITDA margin 9.7% – 27.0%
Operating margin 2.3% – 18.9%
Pretax margin -4.6% – 18.0%
Net margin -6.0% – 13.3%
FCF margin 9.3% – 15.3%
Operating cash flow margin 14.6% – 21.3%
Return on equity -8.2% – 11.2%
Return on assets -3.1% – 7.5%
Return on invested capital 1.6% – 9.3%
Return on capital employed 1.4% – 12.1%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.4x – 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% – 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRLGELSSTE
Debt / assets 34.8% 0.1% 17.6%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.0x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.3x – 0.9x
Debt / FCF 7.1x – 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 62.2% 29.4% 32.7%
Equity / assets 37.8% 70.6% 67.3%
Interest coverage 0.8x – 18.8x
Current ratio 1.3x 0.1x 1.9x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.1x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 3.07 – 5.28

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRLGELSSTE
Dividend yield – – 1.1%
Net buyback yield 1.9% – 1.5%
Shareholder yield 1.9% – 2.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 30.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 26.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 9.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 9.7%

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.

ConsensusCRLGELSSTE
Forward P/E 32.8xFY2026 – 19.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.90FY2026 – $11.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.0%FY2026 – +13.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% – +13.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.82BFY2026 – $6.62BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.9%FY2026 – +11.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.7% – -0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRLGELSSTE
Held by institutions 100.0% – 97.1%
Institutions holding 570 – 829
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.7% – +1.1%
Institutions buying 270 – 405
Institutions selling 204 – 300
Buyers to sellers 1.32 – 1.35

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.

CRLGELSSTE
CRL 1.00 0.07 0.37
GELS 0.07 1.00 -0.01
STE 0.37 -0.01 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CRL, GELS and STE?

Steris (STE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) $17.24B, Gelteq (GELS) $4.08M, Steris (STE) $22.29B.

Which company is growing faster?

Steris (STE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -0.7%, Steris (STE) +8.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Steris (STE) has the highest net margin (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -6.0%, Steris (STE) 13.3%). On return on invested capital, Steris (STE) leads (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 1.6%, Steris (STE) 9.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) returned the most: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) +81.4%, Gelteq (GELS) -63.7%, Steris (STE) -4.4%. Over five years, Steris (STE) compounded fastest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -3.6%/yr, Steris (STE) -0.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 0.00%, Gelteq (GELS) 0.00%, Steris (STE) 0.01%. Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) and Gelteq (GELS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Steris (STE) has been the steadiest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 46.0%, Gelteq (GELS) 159.8%, Steris (STE) 26.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CRL, GELS and STE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Steris (STE) leads on 9. 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.