FTRE vs ICLR vs SHC Stock Comparison

Fortrea Holdings, Icon and Sotera Health Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
FTRE Fortrea Holdings Inc.
$24.43 +22.8% 1M +135.1% 1Y
Market cap
$2.32B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.68B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
1 win
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
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Icon leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Icon 5, Sotera Health 5, Fortrea Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionFTREICLRSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $2.32B $14.01B $5.28B ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -27.2x 32.0x 32.3x ICLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.2x 17.9x 20.1x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -2.1% +1.8% +8.1% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -3.2% 5.4% 13.4% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -0.7% 4.7% 9.1% SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 13.1x 2.3x 3.3x ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +135.1% +0.5% +10.7% FTRE
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -8.6%/yr -5.8%/yr SHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 70.3% 73.7% 28.4% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 81/100 59/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

FTREICLRSHC

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

AxisFTREICLRSHC
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 100 #1 of 11 52 #45 of 92
Growth 60 #5 of 11 70 #4 of 11 66 #30 of 87
Profitability 50 #6 of 11 80 #3 of 11 82 #16 of 86
Financial Health 0 #13 of 13 75 #4 of 13 37 #62 of 97
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 50 81 59
  • FTRE 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

PeriodFTREICLRSHCSPY
1 month +22.8%+6.2%+0.8% -0.2%
3 months +18.0%+1.5%+4.1% +3.9%
6 months +127.0%+78.5%+19.0% +8.2%
Year to date +41.6%+0.4%+4.8% +12.9%
1 year +135.1%+0.5%+10.7% +12.3%
3 years -11.3%-22.2%+47.8% +87.4%
3 years, per year -3.9%-8.0%+13.9% +23.3%
5 years —-36.1%-25.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year —-8.6%-5.8% +10.9%
10 years —+127.4%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+8.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureFTREICLRSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 70.3%73.7%28.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 63.6%87.6%27.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.011.441.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.920.010.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -89.9%-76.9%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-9.8%-5.5% -1.2%
52-week high $24.43$202.92$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $8.87$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.

MultipleFTREICLRSHC
P/E now vs peer median -27.2xmedian 32.1x 32.0xmedian 32.1x 32.3xmedian 24.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 2.6x 1.7xmedian 2.6x 4.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 47.5xmedian 38.1x 15.2xmedian 38.1x 13.0xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 21.5x 16.3xmedian 21.5x 46.8xmedian 21.6x
P/B now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 3.1x 1.5xmedian 3.1x 7.9xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.57median 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 monthsFTREICLRSHC
Revenue $2.68B $8.23B $1.22B
Gross profit $516.60M $1.93B $668.51M
Operating income -$10.80M $718.25M $411.34M
Net income -$85.20M $448.66M $163.48M
Free cash flow $196.00M $857.06M $112.70M
EPS (diluted) $-0.90 $5.68 $0.57
Cash & equivalents $168.60M $808.98M $356.72M
Total debt $1.05B $3.38B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 94.80M 78.97M 288.15M
Enterprise value $1.70B $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
MetricFTREICLRSHC
P/E -27.2x 32.0x 32.3x
P/FCF 11.9x 16.3x 46.8x
P/Operating cash flow 10.2x 13.6x 18.1x
P/S 0.9x 1.7x 4.3x
P/B 4.4x 1.5x 7.9x
P/Tangible book -37.1x 2.3x 13.3x
EV/EBITDA 47.5x 15.2x 13.0x
EV/EBIT -297.1x 23.1x 17.2x
EV/Revenue 1.2x 2.0x 5.8x
EV/FCF 16.4x 19.3x 62.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.1x 16.1x 24.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.57 -13.47 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricFTREICLRSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) -2.1% 1.8% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -0.1% 0.9% 7.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -4.2% -13.4% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -10.2% -6.5% 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 98.8% 53.9% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -27.7% -7.0% 23.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 91.7% 55.9% 580.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -38.4% -4.4% 37.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 92.1% 30.1% 574.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -47.7% -2.4% 37.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 359.7% -9.9% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.4% 15.8% 61.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 290.1% -11.1% 0.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.8% 18.4% 32.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricFTREICLRSHC
Gross margin 19.3% 23.4% 55.0%
EBITDA margin 2.5% 13.3% 44.6%
Operating margin -0.4% 8.7% 33.8%
Pretax margin -2.9% 6.3% 21.7%
Net margin -3.2% 5.4% 13.4%
FCF margin 7.3% 10.4% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 8.5% 12.5% 24.0%
Return on equity -16.2% 7.6% 25.4%
Return on assets -3.2% 4.3% 5.0%
Return on invested capital -0.7% 4.7% 9.1%
Return on capital employed -0.6% 5.3% 13.5%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.7x 2.3x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 2.3% 1.1% 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricFTREICLRSHC
Debt / assets 38.8% 20.8% 64.7%
Debt / equity 2.0x 0.4x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 13.1x 2.3x 3.3x
Debt / FCF 5.4x 3.9x 19.0x
Liabilities / assets 80.7% 43.8% 79.9%
Equity / assets 19.3% 56.2% 20.1%
Interest coverage – 3.4x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.3x 2.8x
Quick ratio 0.9x 0.9x 2.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 1.5x
Altman Z-score 0.86 2.07 1.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricFTREICLRSHC
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.

ConsensusFTREICLRSHC
Forward P/E 30.2xFY2026 17.9xFY2026 20.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.81FY2026 $10.25FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +88.4%FY2026 -18.2%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% +22.2% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.77BFY2026 $8.52BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.4% -3.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersFTREICLRSHC
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 329 422 316
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.2% +5.5% +5.9%
Institutions buying 139 233 220
Institutions selling 108 138 64
Buyers to sellers 1.29 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.

FTREICLRSHC
FTRE 1.00 0.47 0.32
ICLR 0.47 1.00 0.32
SHC 0.32 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, FTRE, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) $2.32B, Icon (ICLR) $14.01B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, FTRE, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -27.2x, Icon (ICLR) 32.0x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) 30.2x, 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: Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -2.1%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -3.2%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -0.7%, Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) returned the most: Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) +135.1%, Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, Sotera Health (SHC) +10.7%. Over five years, Sotera Health (SHC) compounded fastest (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 (Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) 70.3%, 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, FTRE, 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, Icon (ICLR) 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.