ELAN vs FERG vs IDXX Stock Comparison

Elanco Animal Health, Ferguson Enterprises and Idexx Laboratories Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Idexx Laboratories leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idexx Laboratories 5, Ferguson Enterprises 3, Elanco Animal Health 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionELANFERGIDXXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.93B $45.47B $53.36B IDXX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -65.0x 22.4x 45.1x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.7x 21.9x 42.6x ELAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.0% +5.2% +11.9% ELAN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.0% 6.5% 25.4% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 6.1% 21.7% 45.4% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 1.0x 0.4x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +9.6% -5.7% -6.9% ELAN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.0%/yr +8.9%/yr +1.0%/yr FERG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.8% 30.7% 35.9% FERG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 64/100 76/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

ELANFERGIDXX

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

AxisELANFERGIDXX
Valuation 94 #42 of 634 36 #30 of 46 74 #164 of 634
Growth 55 #272 of 608 74 #11 of 39 70 #182 of 608
Profitability 84 #92 of 557 88 #6 of 41 97 #16 of 557
Financial Health 31 #455 of 654 50 #25 of 49 47 #349 of 654
Shareholder Returns – 73 #10 of 34 92 #32 of 403
Overall 66 64 76
  • ELAN ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • 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

PeriodELANFERGIDXXSPY
1 month +5.2%+5.1%+30.1% -5.9%
3 months -2.1%-7.3%+13.7% -4.6%
6 months -1.4%-4.8%+17.2% +0.2%
Year to date +4.6%+5.5%-0.9% +7.5%
1 year +9.6%-5.7%-6.9% +8.2%
3 years +152.9%+49.7%+58.6% +68.3%
3 years, per year +36.3%+14.4%+16.6% +19.0%
5 years -30.6%+53.4%+5.2% +56.5%
5 years, per year -7.0%+8.9%+1.0% +9.4%
10 years —+354.6%+531.5% +251.5%
10 years, per year —+16.4%+20.2% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureELANFERGIDXXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.8%30.7%35.9% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.7%31.9%32.5% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.311.120.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.22-0.19-0.19 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -75.7%-43.6%-50.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.8%-12.3%-12.5% -5.9%
52-week high $26.84$267.71$766.68 $779.14
52-week low $19.80$214.24$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.

MultipleELANFERGIDXX
P/E now vs peer median -59.4xmedian 17.8x 22.5xmedian 22.6x 44.7xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 8.1x 1.5xmedian 1.0x 11.3xmedian 8.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.4xmedian 15.7x 15.3xmedian 12.6x 32.1xmedian 15.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.2xmedian 21.0x 20.1xmedian 20.2x 40.5xmedian 21.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 2.0x 7.8xmedian 2.4x 28.3xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 3.02median 0.36 —median 2.13 2.95median 0.36

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 monthsELANFERGIDXX
Revenue $5.02B $31.35B $4.66B
Gross profit $2.78B $9.73B $2.92B
Operating income $637.00M $2.82B $1.51B
Net income -$199.00M $2.03B $1.18B
Free cash flow $379.00M $2.26B $1.30B
R&D $371.00M – $266.87M
EPS (diluted) $-0.39 $10.42 $14.96
Cash & equivalents $530.00M $820.00M $197.54M
Total debt $3.92B $4.13B $848.88M
Shares (diluted) 505.90M 194.80M 79.05M
Enterprise value $10.92B $42.69B $52.58B

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
MetricELANFERGIDXX
P/E -59.4x 22.5x 44.7x
P/FCF 31.2x 20.1x 40.5x
P/Operating cash flow 19.2x 17.4x 37.2x
P/S 2.4x 1.5x 11.3x
P/B 1.8x 7.8x 28.3x
P/Tangible book 3.5x 8.7x 30.2x
EV/EBITDA 11.4x 15.3x 32.1x
EV/EBIT 23.9x 17.4x 35.5x
EV/Revenue 3.0x 1.6x 11.5x
EV/FCF 40.1x 21.6x 41.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.7x 18.7x 37.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.02 – 2.95

Growth

14 metrics
MetricELANFERGIDXX
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.0% 5.2% 11.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% – 9.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.2% 7.5% 13.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.9% – 10.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) 22.0% 17.6% 15.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 59.8% – 11.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -145.9% 31.6% 15.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -20.8% – 12.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -145.3% 34.4% 17.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -19.7% – 15.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.9% 35.9% 30.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 73.6% – 19.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.0% 42.8% 35.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 101.8% – 24.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricELANFERGIDXX
Gross margin 55.4% 31.0% 62.7%
EBITDA margin 26.5% 10.2% 35.7%
Operating margin 12.7% 9.0% 32.3%
Pretax margin -3.3% 8.3% 31.7%
Net margin -4.0% 6.5% 25.4%
FCF margin 7.5% 7.2% 28.0%
Operating cash flow margin 12.3% 8.3% 30.4%
Return on equity -3.0% 34.0% 67.9%
Return on assets -1.5% 11.4% 33.1%
Return on invested capital 6.1% 21.7% 45.4%
Return on capital employed 5.5% 23.4% 65.2%
Asset turnover 0.4x 1.8x 1.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -3.1x 1.3x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 0.3% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricELANFERGIDXX
Debt / assets 28.9% 23.2% 22.9%
Debt / equity 0.6x 0.7x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.5x 1.0x 0.4x
Debt / FCF 10.3x 1.8x 0.7x
Liabilities / assets 51.4% 67.0% 49.6%
Equity / assets 48.6% 33.0% 50.4%
Interest coverage 2.6x – 43.5x
Current ratio 2.1x 1.8x 1.2x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.8x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.50 5.46 22.69

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricELANFERGIDXX
Dividend yield – 1.5% –
Net buyback yield – 1.8% 1.8%
Shareholder yield – 3.4% 1.8%
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.

ConsensusELANFERGIDXX
Forward P/E 21.7xFY2026 21.9xFY2026 42.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.09FY2026 $10.70FY2026 $15.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.0%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026 +20.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.9% +20.3% +12.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.79BFY2026 $34.31BFY2026 $5.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.6%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026 +16.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.5% -0.6% +0.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersELANFERGIDXX
Held by institutions 100.0% 96.3% 93.6%
Institutions holding 526 940 1,291
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% +2.1% +4.1%
Institutions buying 246 479 589
Institutions selling 211 344 496
Buyers to sellers 1.17 1.39 1.19

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.

ELANFERGIDXX
ELAN 1.00 0.39 0.41
FERG 0.39 1.00 0.37
IDXX 0.41 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ELAN, FERG and IDXX?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) $12.93B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $45.47B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $53.36B.

Which stock is cheaper, ELAN, FERG and IDXX?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -65.0x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.4x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) is cheapest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 21.7x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.9x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 42.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +12.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +11.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -4.0%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.4%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 6.1%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) returned the most: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +9.6%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -5.7%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -6.9%. Over five years, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) compounded fastest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -7.0%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.9%/yr, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +1.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has been the steadiest (Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 42.8%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 30.7%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 35.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ELAN, FERG 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 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.