DGX vs IDXX vs CAI Stock Comparison

Quest Diagnostics, Idexx Laboratories and Caris Life Sciences Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DGX Quest Diagnostics Inc
$253.03 +9.1% 1M +44.8% 1Y
Market cap
$27.68B
P/E
24.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Quest Diagnostics leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Quest Diagnostics 5, Idexx Laboratories 4, Caris Life Sciences 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDGXIDXXCAILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.68B $43.52B $9.72B IDXX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.5x 38.2x 92.5x DGX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.1x 36.9x 328.5x DGX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.1% +12.8% +85.4% CAI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.5% 25.0% 10.6% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.9% 45.6% 15.6% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.1x 0.5x -2.2x CAI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +44.8% -8.2% +22.8% DGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.5%/yr -2.9%/yr — DGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.8% 32.1% 69.7% DGX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 77/100 71/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

DGXIDXXCAI

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

AxisDGXIDXXCAI
Valuation 68 #30 of 92 75 #155 of 624 25 #69 of 92
Growth 40 #53 of 87 76 #148 of 601 99 #2 of 87
Profitability 81 #17 of 86 97 #17 of 541 89 #10 of 86
Financial Health 54 #45 of 97 46 #350 of 647 81 #19 of 97
Shareholder Returns 78 #13 of 55 93 #26 of 359 61 #22 of 55
Overall 64 77 71
  • DGX ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • IDXX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • CAI ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodDGXIDXXCAISPY
1 month +9.1%+8.0%+14.5% +0.7%
3 months +7.9%+3.1%+124.6% +3.7%
6 months +30.3%+2.7%+90.2% +7.1%
Year to date +45.8%-14.9%+34.0% +12.8%
1 year +44.8%-8.2%+22.8% +11.9%
3 years +95.5%+45.3%— +85.2%
3 years, per year +25.1%+13.3%— +22.8%
5 years +72.4%-13.5%— +67.6%
5 years, per year +11.5%-2.9%— +10.9%
10 years +214.6%+448.3%— +262.0%
10 years, per year +12.1%+18.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureDGXIDXXCAISPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.8%32.1%69.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 18.6%31.3%69.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.090.791.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.88-0.260.33 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.3%-51.3%-63.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-24.9%0.0% -1.2%
52-week high $253.03$766.68$36.14 $779.14
52-week low $173.49$504.70$14.55 $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.

MultipleDGXIDXXCAI
P/E now vs peer median 24.7xmedian 26.0x 39.9xmedian 17.8x 97.2xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.6x 10.0xmedian 9.1x 10.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.1xmedian 15.4x 28.6xmedian 15.0x 54.5xmedian 15.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.2xmedian 21.5x 36.2xmedian 21.7x 82.4xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median 3.5xmedian 3.2x 28.2xmedian 2.2x 17.3xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.69median 0.87 2.64median 0.35 —median 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 monthsDGXIDXXCAI
Revenue $11.84B $4.55B $989.61M
Gross profit $3.92B $2.84B $689.36M
Operating income $1.72B $1.46B $153.26M
Net income $1.18B $1.14B $105.14M
Free cash flow $1.38B $1.25B $123.96M
R&D – $261.47M $117.14M
EPS (diluted) $10.08 $14.37 $0.37
Cash & equivalents $797.00M $196.93M $690.92M
Total debt $5.55B $968.86M $393.15M
Shares (diluted) 112.00M 79.31M 282.89M
Enterprise value $25.45B $42.73B $6.55B

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
MetricDGXIDXXCAI
P/E 24.7x 39.9x 97.2x
P/FCF 20.2x 36.2x 82.4x
P/Operating cash flow 14.3x 33.1x 60.6x
P/S 2.4x 10.0x 10.3x
P/B 3.5x 28.2x 17.3x
P/Tangible book 4.4x 30.0x 17.3x
EV/EBITDA 14.1x 28.6x 54.5x
EV/EBIT 18.9x 31.7x 64.0x
EV/Revenue 2.8x 10.1x 9.9x
EV/FCF 23.7x 36.8x 79.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.7x 33.7x 58.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.69 2.64 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDGXIDXXCAI
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.1% 12.8% 85.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.4% 9.0% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 8.5% 14.4% 141.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.4% 10.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.5% 16.2% 188.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 15.1% 11.7% –
Net income growth (1Y) 15.0% 15.6% 137.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.9% 12.9% –
EPS growth (1Y) 17.6% 18.1% 103.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 15.1% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 3.5% 51.4% 227.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 21.8% 22.5% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1.3% 59.9% 188.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.1% 28.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDGXIDXXCAI
Gross margin 33.1% 62.4% 69.7%
EBITDA margin 19.5% 35.4% 18.2%
Operating margin 14.6% 32.0% 15.5%
Pretax margin 12.6% 31.3% 10.6%
Net margin 9.5% 25.0% 10.6%
FCF margin 11.6% 27.5% 12.5%
Operating cash flow margin 16.5% 30.1% 17.0%
Return on equity 15.0% 71.9% 17.7%
Return on assets 6.9% 33.4% 8.8%
Return on invested capital 9.9% 45.6% 15.6%
Return on capital employed 11.3% 68.6% 15.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.3x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.2x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.4% 6.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDGXIDXXCAI
Debt / assets 32.2% 28.1% 32.0%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.6x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.1x 0.5x -2.2x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 0.8x 3.2x
Liabilities / assets 53.8% 53.2% 51.9%
Equity / assets 46.2% 46.8% 48.1%
Interest coverage 6.5x 38.6x 3.3x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.2x 5.5x
Quick ratio 1.4x 0.7x 4.8x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x 4.1x
Altman Z-score 3.77 20.55 8.76

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDGXIDXXCAI
Dividend yield 1.3% – –
Net buyback yield 1.2% 2.3% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.5% 2.3% 0.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) 31.3% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 26.8% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 6.3% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 6.1% – –

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.

ConsensusDGXIDXXCAI
Forward P/E 23.1xFY2026 36.9xFY2026 328.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.96FY2026 $15.63FY2026 $0.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.3%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +6.8% +12.9% +236.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.25BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026 $1.06BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.9%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026 +30.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.7% +0.6% +21.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDGXIDXXCAI
Held by institutions 94.4% 93.6% 52.0%
Institutions holding 1,097 1,290 246
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +4.1% -6.3%
Institutions buying 550 588 175
Institutions selling 341 496 47
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.19 3.72

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.

DGXIDXXCAI
DGX 1.00 0.27 0.23
IDXX 0.27 1.00 0.27
CAI 0.23 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DGX, IDXX and CAI?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $27.68B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $43.52B, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) $9.72B.

Which stock is cheaper, DGX, IDXX and CAI?

Quest Diagnostics (DGX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 24.5x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 38.2x, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 92.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) is cheapest (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 23.1x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 36.9x, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 328.5x). 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: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) +9.1%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +85.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 9.5%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.0%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 10.6%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 9.9%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.6%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 15.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Quest Diagnostics (DGX) returned the most: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) +44.8%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -8.2%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +22.8%. Over five years, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) compounded fastest (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) +11.5%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -2.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 0.01%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 0.00%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 0.00%. Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) and Caris Life Sciences (CAI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) has been the steadiest (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 23.8%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 32.1%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 69.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DGX, IDXX and CAI?

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