EW vs RMD vs ALC Stock Comparison

Edwards Lifesciences, Resmed and Alcon Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
EW Edwards Lifesciences Corp
$90.57 +5.0% 1M +19.0% 1Y
Market cap
$52.33B
P/E
52.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.51B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
5 wins
RMD Resmed Inc
$253.24 +14.1% 1M -2.4% 1Y
Market cap
$36.46B
P/E
23.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.65B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare
6 wins
ALC Alcon Inc
$70.00 +8.6% 1M -8.0% 1Y
Market cap
$34.24B
P/E
53.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$10.80B
Div. yield
–
Medical Devices Healthcare

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionEWRMDALCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $52.33B $36.46B $34.24B EW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 52.1x 23.9x 53.3x RMD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.0x 19.7x 21.7x RMD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.6% +9.9% +8.5% EW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.4% 26.9% 6.0% RMD
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.0% 20.8% 3.6% RMD
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -2.3x -0.4x — EW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +19.0% -2.4% -8.0% EW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -4.8%/yr -1.1%/yr -3.0%/yr RMD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 24.8% 29.1% 28.7% EW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 77/100 78/100 68/100 RMD

Percentile Scorecard

EWRMDALC

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

AxisEWRMDALC
Valuation 63 #84 of 228 72 #64 of 228 79 #48 of 228
Growth 54 #103 of 221 63 #82 of 221 47 #118 of 221
Profitability 95 #12 of 208 99 #3 of 208 76 #50 of 208
Financial Health 87 #32 of 239 75 #60 of 239 61 #95 of 239
Shareholder Returns 88 #17 of 137 78 #31 of 137 75 #35 of 137
Overall 77 78 68
  • EW ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • RMD ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • ALC ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodEWRMDALCSPY
1 month +5.0%+14.1%+8.6% -0.8%
3 months +9.0%+24.7%+4.1% +3.5%
6 months +8.5%+14.1%-7.9% +7.0%
Year to date +6.2%+5.1%-11.2% +12.2%
1 year +19.0%-2.4%-8.0% +13.0%
3 years +46.8%+88.1%0.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +13.7%+23.5%0.0% +23.1%
5 years -22.0%-5.5%-14.3% +68.6%
5 years, per year -4.8%-1.1%-3.0% +11.0%
10 years +188.3%+318.2%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +11.2%+15.4%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureEWRMDALCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 24.8%29.1%28.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.5%30.8%28.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.580.400.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.77-0.08-0.28 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.3%-49.9%-38.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.8%-8.2%-19.7% -1.8%
52-week high $95.17$275.96$87.18 $779.14
52-week low $75.87$182.82$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.

MultipleEWRMDALC
P/E now vs peer median 51.9xmedian 30.6x 24.2xmedian 30.6x 53.7xmedian 30.6x
P/S now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 3.0x 6.5xmedian 3.0x 3.2xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.1xmedian 17.5x 17.1xmedian 17.5x —median 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 36.4xmedian 23.3x 22.1xmedian 23.3x 19.6xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 2.4x 5.5xmedian 2.4x 1.6xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -6.06median 0.87 1.23median 0.87 2.56median 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 monthsEWRMDALC
Revenue $6.51B $5.65B $10.80B
Gross profit $5.07B $3.45B $6.17B
Operating income $1.45B $1.89B $948.00M
Net income $1.00B $1.52B $643.00M
Free cash flow $1.43B $1.65B $1.74B
R&D $1.09B $378.28M $1.43B
EPS (diluted) $1.74 $10.43 $1.30
Cash & equivalents $2.91B $1.47B $1.36B
Total debt $598.70M $659.37M $4.72B
Shares (diluted) 577.60M 146.05M 496.20M
Enterprise value $36.34B $30.53B $25.21B

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
MetricEWRMDALC
P/E 51.9x 24.2x 53.7x
P/FCF 36.4x 22.1x 19.6x
P/Operating cash flow 30.4x 20.2x 14.8x
P/S 8.0x 6.5x 3.2x
P/B 4.9x 5.5x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 5.6x 6.0x 2.6x
EV/EBITDA 30.1x 17.1x –
EV/EBIT 33.5x 18.9x 38.7x
EV/Revenue 7.5x 6.3x 3.4x
EV/FCF 33.9x 21.7x 21.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 28.2x 19.8x 15.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -6.06 1.23 2.56

Growth

14 metrics
MetricEWRMDALC
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.6% 9.9% 8.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.3% 10.2% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.0% 13.0% 11.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.9% 13.6% 7.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -1.4% 11.9% -34.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 18.6% 7.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -75.8% 8.8% -40.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -10.2% 19.3% 21.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -75.3% 9.7% -40.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -8.6% 19.7% 21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 116.4% 3.1% 10.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.3% 37.6% 25.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 143.9% -0.7% 7.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.9% 42.2% 48.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricEWRMDALC
Gross margin 77.8% 61.1% 57.2%
EBITDA margin 24.8% 36.9% –
Operating margin 22.3% 33.4% 8.8%
Pretax margin 21.8% 34.0% 6.9%
Net margin 15.4% 26.9% 6.0%
FCF margin 22.0% 29.2% 16.1%
Operating cash flow margin 26.4% 31.9% 21.4%
Return on equity 9.5% 23.3% 2.9%
Return on assets 7.4% 17.2% 2.1%
Return on invested capital 9.0% 20.8% 3.6%
Return on capital employed 12.0% 25.2% 3.4%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.7x 1.2x 3.6x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% 1.8% 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricEWRMDALC
Debt / assets 4.3% 7.4% 15.2%
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.1x 0.2x
Net debt / EBITDA -2.3x -0.4x –
Debt / FCF 0.4x 0.4x 2.7x
Liabilities / assets 22.7% 26.6% 30.6%
Equity / assets 77.3% 73.4% 69.4%
Interest coverage – – 9.2x
Current ratio 4.5x 3.1x 2.1x
Quick ratio 3.5x 1.8x 1.3x
Cash ratio 2.8x 1.1x 0.7x
Altman Z-score 12.75 12.06 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricEWRMDALC
Dividend yield – 1.0% 0.4%
Net buyback yield 1.9% 1.7% 2.7%
Shareholder yield 1.9% 2.7% 3.1%
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.

ConsensusEWRMDALC
Forward P/E 32.0xFY2026 19.7xFY2027 21.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.83FY2026 $12.86FY2027 $3.22FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.5%FY2026 +15.1%FY2027 +7.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.7% +9.8% +15.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.24BFY2026 $5.97BFY2027 $10.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.2%FY2026 +5.6%FY2027 +4.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.6% -3.4% +8.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersEWRMDALC
Held by institutions 90.6% 68.7% 48.8%
Institutions holding 1,323 887 629
Change in shares held, QoQ +20.4% +3.2% +5.3%
Institutions buying 641 404 225
Institutions selling 453 358 274
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.13 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.

EWRMDALC
EW 1.00 0.32 0.33
RMD 0.32 1.00 0.37
ALC 0.33 0.37 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, EW, RMD and ALC?

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Edwards Lifesciences (EW) $52.33B, Resmed (RMD) $36.46B, Alcon (ALC) $34.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, EW, RMD and ALC?

Resmed (RMD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 52.1x, Resmed (RMD) 23.9x, Alcon (ALC) 53.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Resmed (RMD) is cheapest (Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 32.0x, Resmed (RMD) 19.7x, 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?

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Edwards Lifesciences (EW) +14.6%, Resmed (RMD) +9.9%, Alcon (ALC) +8.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Resmed (RMD) has the highest net margin (Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 15.4%, Resmed (RMD) 26.9%, Alcon (ALC) 6.0%). On return on invested capital, Resmed (RMD) leads (Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 9.0%, Resmed (RMD) 20.8%, Alcon (ALC) 3.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Edwards Lifesciences (EW) returned the most: Edwards Lifesciences (EW) +19.0%, Resmed (RMD) -2.4%, Alcon (ALC) -8.0%. Over five years, Resmed (RMD) compounded fastest (Edwards Lifesciences (EW) -4.8%/yr, Resmed (RMD) -1.1%/yr, Alcon (ALC) -3.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Edwards Lifesciences (EW) has been the steadiest (Edwards Lifesciences (EW) 24.8%, Resmed (RMD) 29.1%, Alcon (ALC) 28.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, EW, RMD 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, Resmed (RMD) 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.