CSTL vs SHC vs GH Stock Comparison

Castle Biosciences, Sotera Health and Guardant Health Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.39 +0.3% 1M +9.1% 1Y
Market cap
$5.28B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins
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

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Sotera Health leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Sotera Health 5, Guardant Health 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCSTLSHCGHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.05B $5.28B $23.68B GH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -54.0x 32.3x -52.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 20.0x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.2% +8.1% +42.7% GH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -5.4% 13.4% -38.3% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -6.7% 9.1% — SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 15.5x 3.3x — SHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +35.9% +9.1% +140.1% GH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -11.3%/yr -6.0%/yr +9.1%/yr GH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 58.3% 28.5% 57.4% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 58/100 28/100 SHC

Percentile Scorecard

CSTLSHCGH

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

AxisCSTLSHCGH
Valuation 47 #50 of 93 50 #47 of 93 17 #77 of 93
Growth 51 #44 of 88 67 #30 of 88 48 #46 of 88
Profitability 38 #54 of 87 80 #18 of 87 7 #81 of 87
Financial Health 92 #9 of 100 35 #65 of 100 51 #50 of 100
Shareholder Returns 20 #45 of 56 – 15 #48 of 56
Overall 50 58 28
  • CSTL ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • SHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • GH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCSTLSHCGHSPY
1 month -7.0%+0.3%-2.3% -0.8%
3 months +36.3%+6.7%+19.1% +3.5%
6 months +33.3%+16.3%+95.8% +7.0%
Year to date -14.4%+4.3%+69.6% +12.2%
1 year +35.9%+9.1%+140.1% +13.0%
3 years +155.0%+47.0%+594.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +36.6%+13.7%+90.8% +23.1%
5 years -45.2%-26.6%+54.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year -11.3%-6.0%+9.1% +11.0%

Risk

MeasureCSTLSHCGHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 58.3%28.5%57.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 61.4%27.0%48.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.951.011.02 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.610.322.44 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.1%-78.2%-86.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -22.6%-6.0%-7.5% -1.8%
52-week high $43.04$19.57$187.22 $779.14
52-week low $18.15$13.13$69.58 $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.

MultipleCSTLSHCGH
P/E now vs peer median -52.1xmedian 25.1x 32.1xmedian 25.1x -50.8xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 1.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x 19.6xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -46.0xmedian 14.5x 13.0xmedian 14.5x -51.2xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median -2,078xmedian 22.4x 46.6xmedian 22.4x -96.2xmedian 22.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 3.1x 7.9xmedian 3.1x -103.9xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median -1.23median 0.66 0.86median 0.66 -5.11median 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 monthsCSTLSHCGH
Revenue $357.28M $1.22B $1.18B
Gross profit $276.03M $668.51M $769.16M
Operating income -$32.11M $411.34M -$470.26M
Net income -$19.42M $163.48M -$453.44M
Free cash flow -$489.00K $112.70M -$240.72M
R&D $55.45M – $375.79M
EPS (diluted) $-0.64 $0.57 $-3.41
Cash & equivalents $62.12M $356.72M $1.05B
Total debt $10.08M $2.14B –
Shares (diluted) 30.40M 288.15M 132.87M
Enterprise value -$66.57M $3.97B $19.74B

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
MetricCSTLSHCGH
P/E -52.1x 32.1x -50.8x
P/FCF -2,078x 46.6x -96.2x
P/Operating cash flow 23.8x 18.0x -125.0x
P/S 2.8x 4.3x 19.6x
P/B 2.2x 7.9x -103.9x
P/Tangible book 2.2x 13.3x -93.3x
EV/EBITDA -46.0x 13.0x -51.2x
EV/EBIT -23.6x 17.1x -47.0x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 5.8x 18.7x
EV/FCF -1,553x 62.4x -91.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.8x 24.1x -119.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.23 0.86 -5.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCSTLSHCGH
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.2% 8.1% 42.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 28.7% 7.6% 32.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.6% 7.1% 47.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 29.2% 8.1% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -39.3% 21.8% -2.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 30.8% 23.2% 4.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -105.1% 580.5% -9.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 39.8% 37.7% 3.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -99.3% 574.9% -2.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 42.3% 37.5% 9.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -31.8% 9.8% 22.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 45.1% 61.3% 18.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -101.4% 0.0% 11.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 78.8% 32.6% 14.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCSTLSHCGH
Gross margin 77.3% 55.0% 65.0%
EBITDA margin -4.6% 44.6% -36.5%
Operating margin -9.0% 33.8% -39.7%
Pretax margin -5.4% 21.7% -38.4%
Net margin -5.4% 13.4% -38.3%
FCF margin -0.1% 9.3% -20.3%
Operating cash flow margin 11.9% 24.0% -15.7%
Return on equity -4.2% 25.4% –
Return on assets -3.5% 5.0% -23.7%
Return on invested capital -6.7% 9.1% –
Return on capital employed -6.4% 13.5% -29.9%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.4x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.2x 1.8x 0.4x
Stock comp / revenue 12.6% 3.1% 16.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCSTLSHCGH
Debt / assets 1.8% 64.7% –
Debt / equity 0.0x 3.2x –
Net debt / EBITDA 15.5x 3.3x –
Debt / FCF -20.6x 19.0x –
Liabilities / assets 16.2% 79.9% 111.7%
Equity / assets 83.8% 20.1% -11.7%
Interest coverage -85.6x – -97.6x
Current ratio 6.0x 2.8x 4.0x
Quick ratio 5.6x 2.4x 3.5x
Cash ratio 4.7x 1.5x 3.1x
Altman Z-score 7.14 1.93 4.59

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCSTLSHCGH
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -0.6% – -1.7%
Shareholder yield -0.6% – -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.

ConsensusCSTLSHCGH
Forward P/E – 20.0xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-1.31FY2026 $0.92FY2026 $-3.33FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +7.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +21.7% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $385.85MFY2026 $1.33BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.1%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026 +44.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.3% -4.2% +27.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCSTLSHCGH
Held by institutions 89.6% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 177 316 594
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.0% +5.9% -2.6%
Institutions buying 104 220 353
Institutions selling 55 64 180
Buyers to sellers 1.89 3.44 1.96

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.

CSTLSHCGH
CSTL 1.00 0.32 0.44
SHC 0.32 1.00 0.28
GH 0.44 0.28 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CSTL, SHC and GH?

Guardant Health (GH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Castle Biosciences (CSTL) $1.05B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.28B, Guardant Health (GH) $23.68B.

Which company is growing faster?

Guardant Health (GH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Castle Biosciences (CSTL) +3.2%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%, Guardant Health (GH) +42.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Castle Biosciences (CSTL) -5.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%, Guardant Health (GH) -38.3%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Castle Biosciences (CSTL) -6.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardant Health (GH) returned the most: Castle Biosciences (CSTL) +35.9%, Sotera Health (SHC) +9.1%, Guardant Health (GH) +140.1%. Over five years, Guardant Health (GH) compounded fastest (Castle Biosciences (CSTL) -11.3%/yr, Sotera Health (SHC) -6.0%/yr, Guardant Health (GH) +9.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sotera Health (SHC) has been the steadiest (Castle Biosciences (CSTL) 58.3%, Sotera Health (SHC) 28.5%, Guardant Health (GH) 57.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CSTL, SHC and GH?

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.