ICLR vs EVO vs IQV Stock Comparison

Icon, Evotec SE and Iqvia Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$183.78 +6.6% 1M +3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$14.35B
P/E
43.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.33B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
3 wins
EVO Evotec SE
$1.52 -1.9% 1M -62.9% 1Y
Market cap
$555.82M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
IQV Iqvia Holdings Inc.
$274.30 +1.7% 1M +24.4% 1Y
Market cap
$45.24B
P/E
32.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.98B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionICLREVOIQVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.35B $555.82M $45.24B IQV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.6x — 32.9x IQV
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.9x — 22.6x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% — +8.2% IQV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.9% — 8.1% IQV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.3% — 8.3% IQV
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.5x — 4.1x ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.2% -62.9% +24.4% IQV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.2%/yr — +1.5%/yr IQV
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.8% 58.0% 40.4% IQV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 — 65/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

ICLREVOIQV

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

AxisICLREVOIQV
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 – 80 #3 of 11
Growth 30 #8 of 11 – 80 #3 of 11
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 – 90 #2 of 11
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 92 #2 of 13 8 #12 of 13
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 69 – 65
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • EVO ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • IQV ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLREVOIQVSPY
1 month +6.6%-1.9%+1.7% -0.8%
3 months +8.9%-20.8%+28.5% +3.5%
6 months +78.1%-51.6%+67.4% +7.0%
Year to date +0.9%-50.6%+21.7% +12.2%
1 year +3.2%-62.9%+24.4% +13.0%
3 years -21.9%-81.8%+52.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.9%-43.4%+15.1% +23.1%
5 years -34.8%—+7.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.2%—+1.5% +11.0%
10 years +125.7%—+275.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.5%—+14.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureICLREVOIQVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.8%58.0%40.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.9%65.3%39.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.451.490.74 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.04-1.080.60 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-94.6%-51.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-63.4%-1.8% -1.8%
52-week high $202.92$4.15$279.38 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$1.35$156.66 $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.

MultipleICLREVOIQV
P/E now vs peer median 43.8xmedian 36.5x —median 36.5x 33.1xmedian 36.5x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.7x —median 2.7x 2.7xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 37.7x —median 37.7x 17.3xmedian 37.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 20.7x —median 20.7x 20.7xmedian 20.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 2.9x 0.7xmedian 2.9x 7.2xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median -3.55median 2.04 —median 2.04 2.79median 2.04

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 monthsICLREVOIQV
Revenue $8.33B – $16.98B
Gross profit $2.01B – $5.60B
Operating income $325.64M – $2.20B
Net income $69.55M – $1.38B
Free cash flow $883.82M – $2.18B
EPS (diluted) $4.16 – $8.22
Cash & equivalents $928.39M $397.89M $1.91B
Total debt $13.60B $1.96B $16.00B
Shares (diluted) 78.97M – 167.30M
Enterprise value $11.46B -$1.06B $36.95B

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
MetricICLREVOIQV
P/E 43.8x – 33.1x
P/FCF 15.9x – 20.7x
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x – 16.0x
P/S 1.7x – 2.7x
P/B 1.5x 0.7x 7.2x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 0.7x 29.1x
EV/EBITDA 23.5x – 17.3x
EV/EBIT 50.8x – 26.8x
EV/Revenue 2.0x – 3.5x
EV/FCF 18.7x – 27.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.5x – 21.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.55 – 2.79

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLREVOIQV
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% – 8.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.8% – 5.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -11.5% – 4.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.7% – 3.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% – 1.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -28.0% – 6.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -91.0% – 11.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -48.5% – 7.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -59.0% – 15.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.3% – 11.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.4% – 7.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.1% – 7.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% – 8.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.4% – 11.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLREVOIQV
Gross margin 24.2% – 33.0%
EBITDA margin 8.4% – 20.1%
Operating margin 3.9% – 13.0%
Pretax margin 1.6% – 9.3%
Net margin 3.9% – 8.1%
FCF margin 10.6% – 12.9%
Operating cash flow margin 12.8% – 16.6%
Return on equity 6.4% – 21.8%
Return on assets 3.7% – 4.6%
Return on invested capital 1.3% – 8.3%
Return on capital employed 2.6% – 10.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.4x – 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% – 1.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLREVOIQV
Debt / assets 20.7% 30.2% 53.5%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x 2.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.5x – 4.1x
Debt / FCF 3.8x – 7.3x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 57.7% 78.9%
Equity / assets 57.2% 42.3% 21.1%
Interest coverage 1.7x – 2.9x
Current ratio 1.0x 2.3x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.6x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.96 – 2.23

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLREVOIQV
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 1.7% – 2.6%
Shareholder yield 1.7% 0.0% 2.6%
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.

ConsensusICLREVOIQV
Forward P/E 17.9xFY2026 – 22.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 $-0.72FY2026 $12.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 – +1.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% – +13.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $682.51MFY2026 $18.58BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 -26.0%FY2026 +13.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% +23.4% -3.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLREVOIQV
Held by institutions 100.0% 0.9% 94.1%
Institutions holding 422 35 1,083
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% -60.2% +0.3%
Institutions buying 233 18 530
Institutions selling 138 7 424
Buyers to sellers 1.69 2.57 1.25

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.

ICLREVOIQV
ICLR 1.00 0.21 0.55
EVO 0.21 1.00 0.26
IQV 0.55 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, EVO and IQV?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $14.35B, Evotec SE (EVO) $555.82M, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) $45.24B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR, EVO and IQV?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 43.6x, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 32.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 22.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Icon (ICLR) +3.7%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +8.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 3.9%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.1%). On return on invested capital, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) leads (Icon (ICLR) 1.3%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Iqvia Holdings (IQV) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +3.2%, Evotec SE (EVO) -62.9%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +24.4%. Over five years, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.2%/yr, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +1.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.8%, Evotec SE (EVO) 58.0%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 40.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ICLR, EVO and IQV?

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