CRL vs ICLR vs SHC Stock Comparison

Charles River Laboratories International, 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
$16.14B
P/E
36.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
3 wins
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.49 +0.8% 1M +10.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.29B
P/E
32.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sotera Health leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Sotera Health 5, Charles River Laboratories International 3, Icon 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRLICLRSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.91B $16.14B $5.29B CRL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -75.1x 36.0x 32.4x SHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.9x 17.9x 20.1x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -0.7% +1.8% +8.1% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -6.0% 5.4% 13.4% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.6% 4.7% 9.1% SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.3x 2.3x 3.3x ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +83.9% +0.5% +10.7% CRL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.9%/yr -8.6%/yr -5.8%/yr CRL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 45.9% 73.7% 28.4% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 45/100 81/100 59/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

CRLICLRSHC

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

AxisCRLICLRSHC
Valuation 60 #5 of 11 100 #1 of 11 52 #45 of 92
Growth 10 #10 of 11 70 #4 of 11 66 #30 of 87
Profitability 70 #4 of 11 80 #3 of 11 82 #16 of 86
Financial Health 42 #8 of 13 75 #4 of 13 37 #62 of 97
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 45 81 59
  • CRL ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • 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

PeriodCRLICLRSHCSPY
1 month +22.5%+6.2%+0.8% -0.2%
3 months +49.4%+1.5%+4.1% +3.9%
6 months +115.3%+78.5%+19.0% +8.2%
Year to date +80.0%+0.4%+4.8% +12.9%
1 year +83.9%+0.5%+10.7% +12.3%
3 years +108.0%-22.2%+47.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year +27.7%-8.0%+13.9% +23.3%
5 years -18.2%-36.1%-25.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year -3.9%-8.6%-5.8% +10.9%
10 years +369.5%+127.4%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +16.7%+8.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCRLICLRSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 45.9%73.7%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.0%87.6%27.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.271.441.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.830.010.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.8%-76.9%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-9.8%-5.5% -1.2%
52-week high $359.04$202.92$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $149.93$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.

MultipleCRLICLRSHC
P/E now vs peer median -72.3xmedian 32.1x 32.0xmedian 32.1x 32.3xmedian 24.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 2.6x 1.7xmedian 2.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 50.4xmedian 38.1x 15.2xmedian 38.1x 13.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 46.2xmedian 21.5x 16.3xmedian 21.5x 46.8xmedian 21.6x
P/B now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 3.1x 1.5xmedian 3.1x 7.9xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 2.00median 2.03 -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 monthsCRLICLRSHC
Revenue $4.00B $8.23B $1.22B
Gross profit $1.31B $1.93B $668.51M
Operating income $90.14M $718.25M $411.34M
Net income -$239.23M $448.66M $163.48M
Free cash flow $370.61M $857.06M $112.70M
EPS (diluted) $-4.97 $5.68 $0.57
Cash & equivalents $192.03M $808.98M $356.72M
Total debt $2.62B $3.38B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 48.02M 78.97M 288.15M
Enterprise value $17.10B $12.91B $3.98B

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
MetricCRLICLRSHC
P/E -72.3x 32.0x 32.3x
P/FCF 46.2x 16.3x 46.8x
P/Operating cash flow 29.4x 13.6x 18.1x
P/S 4.3x 1.7x 4.3x
P/B 6.0x 1.5x 7.9x
P/Tangible book 6.6x 2.3x 13.3x
EV/EBITDA 50.4x 15.2x 13.0x
EV/EBIT 217.0x 23.1x 17.2x
EV/Revenue 4.9x 2.0x 5.8x
EV/FCF 52.8x 19.3x 62.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 33.6x 16.1x 24.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.00 -13.47 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRLICLRSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) -0.7% 1.8% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.5% 0.9% 7.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -0.1% -13.4% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -5.5% -6.5% 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -27.6% 53.9% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -48.2% -7.0% 23.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -268.7% 55.9% 580.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -35.5% -4.4% 37.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -253.8% 30.1% 574.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -36.2% -2.4% 37.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -26.1% -9.9% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -2.3% 15.8% 61.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -35.9% -11.1% 0.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 8.6% 18.4% 32.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRLICLRSHC
Gross margin 32.7% 23.4% 55.0%
EBITDA margin 9.7% 13.3% 44.6%
Operating margin 2.3% 8.7% 33.8%
Pretax margin -4.6% 6.3% 21.7%
Net margin -6.0% 5.4% 13.4%
FCF margin 9.3% 10.4% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 14.6% 12.5% 24.0%
Return on equity -8.2% 7.6% 25.4%
Return on assets -3.1% 4.3% 5.0%
Return on invested capital 1.6% 4.7% 9.1%
Return on capital employed 1.4% 5.3% 13.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.4x 2.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.1% 1.1% 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRLICLRSHC
Debt / assets 34.8% 20.8% 64.7%
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.4x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.3x 2.3x 3.3x
Debt / FCF 7.1x 3.9x 19.0x
Liabilities / assets 62.2% 43.8% 79.9%
Equity / assets 37.8% 56.2% 20.1%
Interest coverage 0.8x 3.4x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.3x 2.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.9x 2.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 1.5x
Altman Z-score 3.08 2.07 1.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRLICLRSHC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 1.9% 2.7% –
Shareholder yield 1.9% 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.

ConsensusCRLICLRSHC
Forward P/E 32.9xFY2026 17.9xFY2026 20.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.90FY2026 $10.25FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.0%FY2026 -18.2%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +20.5% +22.2% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.82BFY2026 $8.52BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -4.9%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.7% -3.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRLICLRSHC
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 570 422 316
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.7% +5.5% +5.9%
Institutions buying 270 233 220
Institutions selling 204 138 64
Buyers to sellers 1.32 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.

CRLICLRSHC
CRL 1.00 0.51 0.53
ICLR 0.51 1.00 0.33
SHC 0.53 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CRL, ICLR and SHC?

Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) $17.91B, Icon (ICLR) $16.14B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.29B.

Which stock is cheaper, CRL, ICLR and SHC?

Sotera Health (SHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -75.1x, Icon (ICLR) 36.0x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 32.9x, 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?

Sotera Health (SHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -0.7%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -6.0%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 1.6%, Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) returned the most: Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) +83.9%, Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, Sotera Health (SHC) +10.7%. Over five years, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) compounded fastest (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -3.9%/yr, 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 (Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 45.9%, 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, CRL, 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, Sotera Health (SHC) leads on 5. 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.