DXCM vs MDT vs ALC Stock Comparison

Dexcom, Medtronic and Alcon Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DXCM Dexcom Inc
$78.62 -9.3% 1M +13.6% 1Y
Market cap
$29.67B
P/E
30.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.97B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
4 wins
MDT Medtronic plc
$94.82 +6.0% 1M +1.7% 1Y
Market cap
$121.37B
P/E
23.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$37.54B
Div. yield
3.02%
Medical Devices Healthcare
6 wins
ALC Alcon Inc
$69.81 +7.0% 1M -6.7% 1Y
Market cap
$34.03B
P/E
53.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
0.40%
Medical Devices Healthcare
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Medtronic leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Medtronic 6, Dexcom 4, Alcon 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDXCMMDTALCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $29.67B $121.37B $34.03B MDT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.1x 23.2x 53.5x MDT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.8x 17.0x 21.7x MDT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +15.5% +9.8% +8.5% DXCM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 20.1% 13.9% 6.0% DXCM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 6.9% 3.6% MDT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.0x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 3.02% 0.40% MDT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +13.6% +1.7% -6.7% DXCM
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -12.8%/yr -4.6%/yr -3.5%/yr ALC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.7% 24.7% 28.6% MDT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 66/100 68/100 DXCM

Percentile Scorecard

DXCMMDTALC

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

AxisDXCMMDTALC
Valuation 71 #67 of 227 84 #38 of 227 79 #48 of 227
Growth 97 #8 of 219 51 #109 of 219 48 #114 of 219
Profitability 100 #1 of 205 87 #27 of 205 78 #47 of 205
Financial Health 33 #159 of 237 50 #119 of 237 60 #95 of 237
Shareholder Returns 87 #19 of 135 58 #58 of 135 75 #35 of 135
Overall 77 66 68
  • DXCM ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • MDT ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ALC ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodDXCMMDTALCSPY
1 month -9.3%+6.0%+7.0% +0.9%
3 months +4.6%+8.3%+0.2% +5.9%
6 months +36.6%+19.5%-4.1% +8.5%
Year to date +18.5%-1.3%-11.4% +13.3%
1 year +13.6%+1.7%-6.7% +12.4%
3 years -11.9%+36.6%-0.3% +88.1%
3 years, per year -4.2%+11.0%-0.1% +23.5%
5 years -49.5%-20.9%-16.3% +68.2%
5 years, per year -12.8%-4.6%-3.5% +11.0%
10 years +310.1%+15.7%— +263.4%
10 years, per year +15.2%+1.5%— +13.8%

Risk

MeasureDXCMMDTALCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.7%24.7%28.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 40.2%22.0%28.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.640.110.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.330.07-0.23 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -66.3%-43.6%-38.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.9%-10.0%-19.9% -0.9%
52-week high $92.34$105.35$87.18 $779.14
52-week low $54.84$73.75$62.02 $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.

MultipleDXCMMDTALC
P/E now vs peer median 30.1xmedian 28.8x 23.2xmedian 28.8x 53.5xmedian 28.8x
P/S now vs peer median 6.0xmedian 3.0x 3.2xmedian 3.0x 3.2xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 19.8xmedian 17.4x 14.5xmedian 17.4x —median 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.1xmedian 25.7x 19.8xmedian 25.7x 19.6xmedian 25.7x
P/B now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 2.4x 2.4xmedian 2.4x 1.6xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.66median 1.03 1.60median 1.03 2.55median 1.03

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 monthsDXCMMDTALC
Revenue $4.97B $37.54B $10.80B
Gross profit $3.10B $24.41B $6.17B
Operating income $1.14B $6.79B $948.00M
Net income $999.70M $5.27B $643.00M
Free cash flow $1.41B $6.13B $1.74B
R&D $604.00M $2.92B $1.43B
EPS (diluted) $2.56 $4.07 $1.30
Cash & equivalents $1.11B $1.69B $1.36B
Total debt – $113.29B $4.72B
Shares (diluted) 390.10M 1.29B 496.20M
Enterprise value $19.99B $87.24B $24.99B

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
MetricDXCMMDTALC
P/E 30.1x 23.2x 53.5x
P/FCF 21.1x 19.8x 19.6x
P/Operating cash flow 17.0x 15.1x 14.7x
P/S 6.0x 3.2x 3.2x
P/B 11.3x 2.4x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 11.8x 3.0x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 19.8x 14.5x –
EV/EBIT 24.3x 20.7x 38.6x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 3.7x 3.4x
EV/FCF 19.7x 22.9x 21.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.9x 17.5x 15.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.66 1.60 2.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDXCMMDTALC
Revenue growth (1Y) 15.5% 9.8% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.8% 6.0% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 22.8% 9.3% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.9% 5.6% 7.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 65.8% 10.9% -34.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 36.5% 6.4% 7.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 74.9% 12.4% -40.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 40.9% 13.0% 21.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 83.0% 12.4% -40.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 45.7% 14.5% 21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 77.0% 12.4% 10.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 31.4% 11.3% 25.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 146.1% 15.6% 7.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 44.5% 11.3% 48.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDXCMMDTALC
Gross margin 62.5% 65.0% 57.2%
EBITDA margin 28.2% 25.9% –
Operating margin 22.9% 18.1% 8.8%
Pretax margin 25.8% 17.6% 6.9%
Net margin 20.1% 13.9% 6.0%
FCF margin 28.3% 16.3% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 35.2% 21.4% 21.4%
Return on equity 35.8% 10.4% 2.9%
Return on assets 15.3% 5.7% 2.1%
Return on invested capital – 6.9% 3.6%
Return on capital employed 27.2% 8.3% 3.4%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.4x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.5x 3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 3.3% 1.3% 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDXCMMDTALC
Debt / assets – 30.2% 15.2%
Debt / equity – 0.6x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.0x –
Debt / FCF – 4.6x 2.7x
Liabilities / assets 59.4% 45.5% 30.6%
Equity / assets 40.6% 54.5% 69.4%
Interest coverage – 9.4x 9.2x
Current ratio 1.7x 2.1x 2.1x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.3x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.8x 0.7x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 6.94 3.02 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDXCMMDTALC
Dividend yield – 3.0% 0.4%
Net buyback yield 1.6% 0.2% 2.7%
Shareholder yield 1.6% 3.2% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 69.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 59.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.4% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 0.2% –

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.

ConsensusDXCMMDTALC
Forward P/E 27.8xFY2026 17.0xFY2026 21.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.83FY2026 $5.57FY2026 $3.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +35.4%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026 +7.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +4.9% +7.2% +15.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.08BFY2026 $39.92BFY2026 $10.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.0%FY2026 +9.8%FY2026 +4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +16.6% -4.7% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDXCMMDTALC
Held by institutions 100.0% 85.1% 48.8%
Institutions holding 975 2,125 629
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.3% -0.2% +5.3%
Institutions buying 520 1,014 225
Institutions selling 344 913 274
Buyers to sellers 1.51 1.11 0.82

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.

DXCMMDTALC
DXCM 1.00 0.32 0.27
MDT 0.32 1.00 0.47
ALC 0.27 0.47 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DXCM, MDT and ALC?

Medtronic (MDT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Dexcom (DXCM) $29.67B, Medtronic (MDT) $121.37B, Alcon (ALC) $34.03B.

Which stock is cheaper, DXCM, MDT and ALC?

Medtronic (MDT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Dexcom (DXCM) 30.1x, Medtronic (MDT) 23.2x, Alcon (ALC) 53.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Medtronic (MDT) is cheapest (Dexcom (DXCM) 27.8x, Medtronic (MDT) 17.0x, Alcon (ALC) 21.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Dexcom (DXCM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Dexcom (DXCM) +15.5%, Medtronic (MDT) +9.8%, Alcon (ALC) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Dexcom (DXCM) has the highest net margin (Dexcom (DXCM) 20.1%, Medtronic (MDT) 13.9%, Alcon (ALC) 6.0%). On return on invested capital, Medtronic (MDT) leads (Medtronic (MDT) 6.9%, Alcon (ALC) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Dexcom (DXCM) returned the most: Dexcom (DXCM) +13.6%, Medtronic (MDT) +1.7%, Alcon (ALC) -6.7%. Over five years, Alcon (ALC) compounded fastest (Dexcom (DXCM) -12.8%/yr, Medtronic (MDT) -4.6%/yr, Alcon (ALC) -3.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Medtronic (MDT) has the highest dividend yield: Medtronic (MDT) 3.02%, Alcon (ALC) 0.40%. Dexcom (DXCM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Medtronic (MDT) has been the steadiest (Dexcom (DXCM) 40.7%, Medtronic (MDT) 24.7%, Alcon (ALC) 28.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, DXCM, MDT and ALC?

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