DNA vs ICLR vs SHC Stock Comparison

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, 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
$14.01B
P/E
32.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
5 wins
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.49 +0.8% 1M +10.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.28B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionDNAICLRSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $718.02M $14.01B $5.28B ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -2.4x 32.0x 32.3x ICLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 17.9x 20.1x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -46.8% +1.8% +8.1% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -260.0% 5.4% 13.4% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 4.7% 9.1% SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.3x 3.3x ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.8% +0.5% +10.7% SHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -54.4%/yr -8.6%/yr -5.8%/yr SHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 101.5% 73.7% 28.4% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 43/100 81/100 59/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

DNAICLRSHC

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

AxisDNAICLRSHC
Valuation 10 #10 of 11 100 #1 of 11 52 #45 of 92
Growth 50 #6 of 11 70 #4 of 11 66 #30 of 87
Profitability 10 #10 of 11 80 #3 of 11 82 #16 of 86
Financial Health 100 #1 of 13 75 #4 of 13 37 #62 of 97
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 43 81 59
  • DNA 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

PeriodDNAICLRSHCSPY
1 month +5.7%+6.2%+0.8% -0.2%
3 months +46.4%+1.5%+4.1% +3.9%
6 months +43.6%+78.5%+19.0% +8.2%
Year to date +35.6%+0.4%+4.8% +12.9%
1 year -15.8%+0.5%+10.7% +12.3%
3 years -79.1%-22.2%+47.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year -40.7%-8.0%+13.9% +23.3%
5 years -98.0%-36.1%-25.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year -54.4%-8.6%-5.8% +10.9%
10 years —+127.4%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+8.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureDNAICLRSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 101.5%73.7%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 103.1%87.6%27.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.031.441.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.160.010.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.1%-76.9%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.8%-9.8%-5.5% -1.2%
52-week high $14.98$202.92$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $5.48$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.

MultipleDNAICLRSHC
P/E now vs peer median -2.4xmedian 32.1x 32.0xmedian 32.1x 32.3xmedian 24.6x
P/S now vs peer median 6.4xmedian 2.6x 1.7xmedian 2.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -2.7xmedian 38.1x 15.2xmedian 38.1x 13.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median -4.1xmedian 21.5x 16.3xmedian 21.5x 46.8xmedian 21.6x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 3.1x 1.5xmedian 3.1x 7.9xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.02median 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 monthsDNAICLRSHC
Revenue $111.86M $8.23B $1.22B
Gross profit $92.92M $1.93B $668.51M
Operating income -$290.69M $718.25M $411.34M
Net income -$290.80M $448.66M $163.48M
Free cash flow -$174.80M $857.06M $112.70M
R&D $215.61M – –
EPS (diluted) $-5.24 $5.68 $0.57
Cash & equivalents $84.54M $808.98M $356.72M
Total debt – $3.38B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 55.46M 78.97M 288.15M
Enterprise value -$44.06M $10.78B $3.96B

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
MetricDNAICLRSHC
P/E -2.4x 32.0x 32.3x
P/FCF -4.1x 16.3x 46.8x
P/Operating cash flow -4.2x 13.6x 18.1x
P/S 6.4x 1.7x 4.3x
P/B 1.7x 1.5x 7.9x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 2.3x 13.3x
EV/EBITDA -2.7x 15.2x 13.0x
EV/EBIT -2.2x 23.1x 17.2x
EV/Revenue 5.7x 2.0x 5.8x
EV/FCF -3.6x 19.3x 62.6x
EV/Operating cash flow -3.7x 16.1x 24.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.02 -13.47 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDNAICLRSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) -46.8% 1.8% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -30.0% 0.9% 7.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -49.3% -13.4% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -28.2% -6.5% 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2.4% 53.9% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 39.1% -7.0% 23.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 7.7% 55.9% 580.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 38.0% -4.4% 37.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.7% 30.1% 574.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -102.3% -2.4% 37.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 28.4% -9.9% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.9% 15.8% 61.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 36.2% -11.1% 0.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 18.4% 32.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDNAICLRSHC
Gross margin 83.1% 23.4% 55.0%
EBITDA margin -211.6% 13.3% 44.6%
Operating margin -259.9% 8.7% 33.8%
Pretax margin -264.1% 6.3% 21.7%
Net margin -260.0% 5.4% 13.4%
FCF margin -156.3% 10.4% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin -152.2% 12.5% 24.0%
Return on equity -67.4% 7.6% 25.4%
Return on assets -28.7% 4.3% 5.0%
Return on invested capital – 4.7% 9.1%
Return on capital employed -31.0% 5.3% 13.5%
Asset turnover 0.1x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.6x 2.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 61.5% 1.1% 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDNAICLRSHC
Debt / assets – 20.8% 64.7%
Debt / equity – 0.4x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.3x 3.3x
Debt / FCF – 3.9x 19.0x
Liabilities / assets 57.5% 43.8% 79.9%
Equity / assets 42.5% 56.2% 20.1%
Interest coverage – 3.4x –
Current ratio 4.6x 1.3x 2.8x
Quick ratio 1.4x 0.9x 2.4x
Cash ratio 1.2x 0.3x 1.5x
Altman Z-score -8.66 2.07 1.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDNAICLRSHC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – 2.7% –
Shareholder yield – 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.

ConsensusDNAICLRSHC
Forward P/E – 17.9xFY2026 20.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-4.06FY2026 $10.25FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -18.2%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +22.2% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $88.21MFY2026 $8.52BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -48.2%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +5.8% -3.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDNAICLRSHC
Held by institutions 55.2% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 182 422 316
Change in shares held, QoQ +12.3% +5.5% +5.9%
Institutions buying 100 233 220
Institutions selling 39 138 64
Buyers to sellers 2.56 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.

DNAICLRSHC
DNA 1.00 0.22 0.34
ICLR 0.22 1.00 0.32
SHC 0.34 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DNA, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) $718.02M, Icon (ICLR) $14.01B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, DNA, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -2.4x, Icon (ICLR) 32.0x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (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: Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -46.8%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -260.0%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sotera Health (SHC) returned the most: Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -15.8%, Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, Sotera Health (SHC) +10.7%. Over five years, Sotera Health (SHC) compounded fastest (Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -54.4%/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 (Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) 101.5%, 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, DNA, 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 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.