DGX vs IDXX Stock Comparison

Quest Diagnostics and Idexx Laboratories Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DGX Quest Diagnostics Inc
$241.90 +3.8% 1M +32.0% 1Y
Market cap
$26.69B
P/E
23.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Idexx Laboratories leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Idexx Laboratories 6, Quest Diagnostics 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDGXIDXXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $26.69B $45.01B IDXX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.6x 39.5x DGX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.3x 35.9x DGX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.1% +12.8% IDXX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.5% 25.0% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.9% 45.6% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.1x 0.5x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.0% -12.2% DGX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.6%/yr -3.0%/yr DGX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.8% 32.0% DGX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 77/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

DGXIDXX

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

AxisDGXIDXX
Valuation 72 #27 of 93 75 #159 of 624
Growth 40 #53 of 88 75 #149 of 603
Profitability 77 #21 of 87 97 #17 of 555
Financial Health 56 #45 of 100 46 #355 of 657
Shareholder Returns 76 #14 of 56 93 #27 of 370
Overall 64 77
  • DGX ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • IDXX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodDGXIDXXSPY
1 month +3.8%+7.3% -1.0%
3 months +6.1%+3.0% +2.9%
6 months +23.2%-1.0% +6.4%
Year to date +39.4%-17.2% +11.4%
1 year +32.0%-12.2% +13.1%
3 years +95.7%+30.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +25.1%+9.2% +21.5%
5 years +65.1%-14.0% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.6%-3.0% +10.9%
10 years +189.0%+407.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +11.2%+17.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureDGXIDXXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.8%32.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 18.8%31.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.100.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.35-0.38 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -30.3%-51.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.3%-26.9% -2.5%
52-week high $247.47$766.68 $779.14
52-week low $173.49$504.70 $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.

MultipleDGXIDXX
P/E now vs peer median 23.6xmedian 25.3x 38.8xmedian 17.2x
P/S now vs peer median 2.2xmedian 1.6x 9.7xmedian 8.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 14.6x 27.9xmedian 16.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 19.4xmedian 22.7x 35.2xmedian 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 3.3xmedian 3.3x 27.4xmedian 2.1x
PEG now vs peer median 1.61median 0.66 2.57median 0.32

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 monthsDGXIDXX
Revenue $11.84B $4.55B
Gross profit $3.92B $2.84B
Operating income $1.72B $1.46B
Net income $1.18B $1.14B
Free cash flow $1.38B $1.25B
R&D – $261.47M
EPS (diluted) $10.08 $14.37
Cash & equivalents $797.00M $196.93M
Total debt $5.55B $4.03B
Shares (diluted) 112.00M 79.31M
Enterprise value $24.45B $44.23B

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
MetricDGXIDXX
P/E 23.6x 38.8x
P/FCF 19.4x 35.2x
P/Operating cash flow 13.6x 32.2x
P/S 2.2x 9.7x
P/B 3.3x 27.4x
P/Tangible book 4.2x 29.2x
EV/EBITDA 13.6x 27.9x
EV/EBIT 18.2x 30.8x
EV/Revenue 2.6x 9.9x
EV/FCF 22.8x 35.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.1x 32.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.61 2.57

Growth

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

Profitability

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

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDGXIDXX
Debt / assets 32.2% 28.1%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.1x 0.5x
Debt / FCF 4.0x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 53.8% 53.2%
Equity / assets 46.2% 46.8%
Interest coverage 6.5x 38.6x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.2x
Quick ratio 1.4x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.69 20.14

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDGXIDXX
Dividend yield 1.4% –
Net buyback yield 1.2% 2.4%
Shareholder yield 2.6% 2.4%
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.

ConsensusDGXIDXX
Forward P/E 22.3xFY2026 35.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.86FY2026 $15.62FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.3%FY2026 +19.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +8.3% +13.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $11.19BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.3%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.8% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDGXIDXX
Held by institutions 94.4% 93.6%
Institutions holding 1,096 1,289
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.7% +4.1%
Institutions buying 549 587
Institutions selling 341 496
Buyers to sellers 1.61 1.18

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.

DGXIDXX
DGX 1.00 0.27
IDXX 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DGX and IDXX?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $26.69B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $45.01B.

Which stock is cheaper, DGX and IDXX?

Quest Diagnostics (DGX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 23.6x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 39.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) is cheapest (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) 22.3x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 35.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) +9.1%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

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

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Quest Diagnostics (DGX) returned the most: Quest Diagnostics (DGX) +32.0%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -12.2%. Over five years, Quest Diagnostics (DGX) compounded fastest (Quest Diagnostics (DGX) +10.6%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -3.0%/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%. Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 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) 32.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do DGX and IDXX move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.27, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, DGX and IDXX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads on 6. 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.