ICLR vs GH vs FTRE Stock Comparison

Icon, Guardant Health and Fortrea Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$185.27 +13.0% 1M +2.9% 1Y
Market cap
$14.43B
P/E
43.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.33B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
5 wins
GH Guardant Health, Inc.
$169.08 -4.1% 1M +143.8% 1Y
Market cap
$23.05B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.18B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins
FTRE Fortrea Holdings Inc.
$23.63 +21.1% 1M +118.8% 1Y
Market cap
$2.26B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$2.68B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionICLRGHFTRELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.43B $23.05B $2.26B GH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.9x -50.8x -26.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.1x — 29.2x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% +42.7% -2.1% GH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.9% -38.3% -3.2% ICLR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.3% — -0.7% ICLR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.5x — 13.1x ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.9% +143.8% +118.8% GH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.8%/yr +9.1%/yr — GH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.7% 57.4% 70.9% GH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 27/100 53/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRGHFTRE

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

AxisICLRGHFTRE
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 17 #77 of 93 100 #1 of 11
Growth 30 #8 of 11 48 #46 of 88 60 #5 of 11
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 7 #81 of 87 50 #6 of 11
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 50 #51 of 100 0 #13 of 13
Shareholder Returns – 15 #48 of 56 –
Overall 69 27 53
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • GH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • FTRE ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRGHFTRESPY
1 month +13.0%-4.1%+21.1% -1.0%
3 months +11.8%+14.8%+21.1% +2.9%
6 months +81.3%+90.2%+141.1% +6.4%
Year to date +1.7%+65.5%+37.0% +11.4%
1 year +2.9%+143.8%+118.8% +13.1%
3 years -21.7%+541.9%-16.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year -7.8%+85.9%-5.9% +21.5%
5 years -33.2%+54.6%— +67.7%
5 years, per year -7.8%+9.1%— +10.9%
10 years +119.2%—— +255.2%
10 years, per year +8.2%—— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureICLRGHFTRESPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.7%57.4%70.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 88.0%48.6%64.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.451.011.94 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.042.501.67 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-86.7%-89.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.7%-9.7%-1.8% -2.5%
52-week high $202.92$187.22$24.06 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$69.35$8.87 $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.

MultipleICLRGHFTRE
P/E now vs peer median 44.2xmedian 36.1x -49.5xmedian 25.3x -26.3xmedian 36.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.7x 19.1xmedian 1.6x 0.8xmedian 2.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 37.4x -49.9xmedian 14.6x 46.4xmedian 37.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 21.1x -93.8xmedian 22.7x 11.5xmedian 21.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 2.9x -101.4xmedian 3.3x 4.3xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median -3.58median 2.05 -4.99median 0.66 0.55median 2.05

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 monthsICLRGHFTRE
Revenue $8.33B $1.18B $2.68B
Gross profit $2.01B $769.16M $516.60M
Operating income $325.64M -$470.26M -$10.80M
Net income $69.55M -$453.44M -$85.20M
Free cash flow $883.82M -$240.72M $196.00M
R&D – $375.79M –
EPS (diluted) $4.16 $-3.41 $-0.90
Cash & equivalents $928.39M $1.05B $168.60M
Total debt $13.60B – $4.29B
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 132.87M 94.80M
Enterprise value $11.54B $19.11B $1.64B

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
MetricICLRGHFTRE
P/E 44.2x -49.5x -26.3x
P/FCF 16.1x -93.8x 11.5x
P/Operating cash flow 13.3x -122.0x 9.9x
P/S 1.7x 19.1x 0.8x
P/B 1.5x -101.4x 4.3x
P/Tangible book 2.3x -91.0x -35.9x
EV/EBITDA 23.7x -49.9x 46.4x
EV/EBIT 51.1x -45.8x -290.1x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 18.2x 1.2x
EV/FCF 18.8x -89.5x 16.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.6x -116.3x 13.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.58 -4.99 0.55

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRGHFTRE
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% 42.7% -2.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 32.4% -0.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -11.5% 47.7% -4.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.7% – -10.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% -2.1% 98.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -28.0% 4.8% -27.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -91.0% -9.6% 91.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -48.5% 3.7% -38.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -59.0% -2.4% 92.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 9.9% -47.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.4% 22.4% 359.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.1% 18.1% -3.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% 11.4% 290.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.4% 14.4% 0.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRGHFTRE
Gross margin 24.2% 65.0% 19.3%
EBITDA margin 8.4% -36.5% 2.5%
Operating margin 3.9% -39.7% -0.4%
Pretax margin 1.6% -38.4% -2.9%
Net margin 3.9% -38.3% -3.2%
FCF margin 10.6% -20.3% 7.3%
Operating cash flow margin 12.8% -15.7% 8.5%
Return on equity 6.4% – -16.2%
Return on assets 3.7% -23.7% -3.2%
Return on invested capital 1.3% – -0.7%
Return on capital employed 2.6% -29.9% -0.6%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.4x 0.4x -2.7x
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 16.2% 2.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRGHFTRE
Debt / assets 20.7% – 38.8%
Debt / equity 0.4x – 2.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.5x – 13.1x
Debt / FCF 3.8x – 5.4x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 111.7% 80.7%
Equity / assets 57.2% -11.7% 19.3%
Interest coverage 1.7x -97.6x –
Current ratio 1.0x 4.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.5x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.2x 3.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.97 4.44 0.84

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRGHFTRE
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 1.7% -1.8% –
Shareholder yield 1.7% -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.

ConsensusICLRGHFTRE
Forward P/E 18.1xFY2026 – 29.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.26FY2026 $-3.34FY2026 $0.81FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.1%FY2026 – +88.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.4% – +23.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026 $2.77BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +44.5%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.1% +27.0% -3.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRGHFTRE
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 422 594 329
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% -2.6% -0.2%
Institutions buying 233 353 139
Institutions selling 138 180 108
Buyers to sellers 1.69 1.96 1.29

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.

ICLRGHFTRE
ICLR 1.00 0.20 0.47
GH 0.20 1.00 0.22
FTRE 0.47 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, GH and FTRE?

Guardant Health (GH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $14.43B, Guardant Health (GH) $23.05B, Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) $2.26B.

Which company is growing faster?

Guardant Health (GH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Icon (ICLR) +3.7%, Guardant Health (GH) +42.7%, Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -2.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Icon (ICLR) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 3.9%, Guardant Health (GH) -38.3%, Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -3.2%). On return on invested capital, Icon (ICLR) leads (Icon (ICLR) 1.3%, Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) -0.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardant Health (GH) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +2.9%, Guardant Health (GH) +143.8%, Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) +118.8%. Over five years, Guardant Health (GH) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -7.8%/yr, Guardant Health (GH) +9.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Guardant Health (GH) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.7%, Guardant Health (GH) 57.4%, Fortrea Holdings (FTRE) 70.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ICLR, GH and FTRE?

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