HSIC vs MDLN vs MLSS Stock Comparison

Henry Schein, Medline and Milestone Scientific Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HSIC Henry Schein Inc
$84.25 -2.5% 1M +32.6% 1Y
Market cap
$9.67B
P/E
24.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.60B
Div. yield
–
Drug Distribution Healthcare
8 wins
MDLN Medline Inc.
$32.38 -6.7% 1M
Market cap
$27.86B
P/E
33.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$28.57B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Henry Schein leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Henry Schein 8, Medline 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHSICMDLNMLSSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.67B $27.86B $29.20M MDLN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 24.0x 33.3x — HSIC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.7x 22.5x — HSIC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.5% — -27.5% HSIC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.0% 2.9% — HSIC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.1% 5.4% — HSIC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.3x 3.2x — MDLN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.6% — -31.9% HSIC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.2%/yr — -31.1%/yr HSIC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 25.6% 44.6% 81.4% HSIC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 67/100 — MDLN

Percentile Scorecard

HSICMDLNMLSS

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

AxisHSICMDLNMLSS
Valuation 38 #16 of 25 84 #37 of 227 –
Growth 39 #15 of 24 – –
Profitability 83 #5 of 24 73 #57 of 206 –
Financial Health 20 #21 of 26 41 #140 of 238 –
Shareholder Returns 100 #1 of 15 71 #39 of 134 –
Overall 56 67 –
  • HSIC ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • MDLN ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • MLSS 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

PeriodHSICMDLNMLSSSPY
1 month -2.5%-6.7%-24.4% -0.2%
3 months -1.7%-20.1%-27.9% +3.9%
6 months +10.7%-26.8%-4.9% +8.2%
Year to date +11.5%-22.9%+13.6% +12.9%
1 year +32.6%—-31.9% +12.3%
3 years +26.9%—-65.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year +8.3%—-29.6% +23.3%
5 years +11.6%—-84.5% +67.9%
5 years, per year +2.2%—-31.1% +10.9%
10 years +44.3%—-83.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year +3.7%—-16.4% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHSICMDLNMLSSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 25.6%44.6%81.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.0%48.7%83.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.460.611.29 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.27—-0.39 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.7%-36.7%-90.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -7.3%-35.2%-43.6% -1.2%
52-week high $90.86$49.99$0.55 $779.14
52-week low $62.32$31.64$0.25 $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.

MultipleHSICMDLNMLSS
P/E now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 23.9x 33.2xmedian 29.6x —median 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.3x 1.5xmedian 2.9x 4.2xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 13.4x 17.0xmedian 17.4x —median 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.6xmedian 15.5x 26.8xmedian 22.3x —median 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.5x 2.2xmedian 2.3x —median 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 49.67median 1.34 —median 1.04 —median 1.04

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 monthsHSICMDLNMLSS
Revenue $13.60B $28.57B $6.58M
Gross profit $4.26B $7.79B –
Operating income $680.00M $2.03B –
Net income $426.00M $1.03B –
Free cash flow $569.00M $1.59B –
EPS (diluted) $3.52 $0.97 –
Cash & equivalents – $2.33B –
Total debt $3.46B $12.58B –
Shares (diluted) 114.39M 861.00M 93.13M
Enterprise value $9.52B $20.81B $29.20M

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
MetricHSICMDLNMLSS
P/E 23.7x 33.2x –
P/FCF 16.6x 26.8x –
P/Operating cash flow 13.5x 21.2x –
P/S 0.7x 1.5x 4.2x
P/B 2.5x 2.2x –
P/Tangible book 3.3x 7.7x –
EV/EBITDA 12.6x 17.0x –
EV/EBIT 18.7x 25.8x –
EV/Revenue 0.9x 1.8x 4.2x
EV/FCF 22.4x 33.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 18.2x 26.2x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 49.67 – –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHSICMDLNMLSS
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.5% – -27.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 2.6% – -12.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.4% – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.4% – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 6.6% – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.1% – –
Net income growth (1Y) 6.0% – –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.5% – –
EPS growth (1Y) 11.1% – –
EPS CAGR (3Y) 0.5% – –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 36.7% – –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.3% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 50.1% – –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.3% – –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHSICMDLNMLSS
Gross margin 31.3% 27.3% –
EBITDA margin 7.4% 10.8% –
Operating margin 5.0% 7.1% –
Pretax margin 4.1% 4.3% –
Net margin 3.0% 2.9% –
FCF margin 4.2% 5.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 5.1% 7.0% –
Return on equity 11.0% 5.4% –
Return on assets 3.8% 2.6% –
Return on invested capital 7.1% 5.4% –
Return on capital employed 8.7% 5.6% –
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.7x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 2.0x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHSICMDLNMLSS
Debt / assets 30.4% 32.0% –
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA 3.3x 3.2x –
Debt / FCF 6.1x 7.9x –
Liabilities / assets 66.5% 51.5% –
Equity / assets 33.5% 48.5% –
Interest coverage 4.3x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 4.3x –
Quick ratio 0.6x 2.3x –
Cash ratio 0.0x 1.0x –
Altman Z-score 2.65 2.44 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHSICMDLNMLSS
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 7.7% 0.0% –
Shareholder yield 7.7% 0.0% –
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.

ConsensusHSICMDLNMLSS
Forward P/E 14.7xFY2026 22.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $5.75FY2026 $1.44FY2026 $-0.04FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +15.7%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +8.2% +13.9% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $13.38BFY2026 $32.52BFY2026 $9.29MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.5%FY2026 +14.4%FY2026 +3.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.8% +8.0% +27.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHSICMDLNMLSS
Held by institutions 100.0% 85.5% 5.8%
Institutions holding 564 407 31
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.1% +17.9% +18.9%
Institutions buying 245 322 11
Institutions selling 216 68 4
Buyers to sellers 1.13 4.74 2.75

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.

HSICMDLNMLSS
HSIC 1.00 0.33 0.03
MDLN 0.33 1.00 0.13
MLSS 0.03 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HSIC, MDLN and MLSS?

Medline (MDLN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Henry Schein (HSIC) $9.67B, Medline (MDLN) $27.86B, Milestone Scientific (MLSS) $29.20M.

Which stock is cheaper, HSIC, MDLN and MLSS?

Henry Schein (HSIC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Henry Schein (HSIC) 24.0x, Medline (MDLN) 33.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Henry Schein (HSIC) is cheapest (Henry Schein (HSIC) 14.7x, Medline (MDLN) 22.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Henry Schein (HSIC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Henry Schein (HSIC) +6.5%, Milestone Scientific (MLSS) -27.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Henry Schein (HSIC) has the highest net margin (Henry Schein (HSIC) 3.0%, Medline (MDLN) 2.9%). On return on invested capital, Henry Schein (HSIC) leads (Henry Schein (HSIC) 7.1%, Medline (MDLN) 5.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Henry Schein (HSIC) returned the most: Henry Schein (HSIC) +32.6%, Milestone Scientific (MLSS) -31.9%. Over five years, Henry Schein (HSIC) compounded fastest (Henry Schein (HSIC) +2.2%/yr, Milestone Scientific (MLSS) -31.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Henry Schein (HSIC) has been the steadiest (Henry Schein (HSIC) 25.6%, Medline (MDLN) 44.6%, Milestone Scientific (MLSS) 81.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HSIC, MDLN and MLSS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Henry Schein (HSIC) leads on 8. 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.