ICLR vs GH vs LDOS Stock Comparison

Icon, Guardant Health and Leidos Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$183.78 +6.6% 1M +3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$14.38B
P/E
43.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.33B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
GH Guardant Health, Inc.
$173.25 -2.3% 1M +140.1% 1Y
Market cap
$23.72B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.18B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
4 wins
LDOS Leidos Holdings, Inc.
$139.91 +13.2% 1M -26.3% 1Y
Market cap
$17.54B
P/E
12.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.63B
Div. yield
0.01%
Defense Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Leidos Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Leidos Holdings 7, Guardant Health 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionICLRGHLDOSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.38B $23.72B $17.54B GH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.7x -52.3x 12.7x LDOS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.9x — 11.0x LDOS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% +42.7% +3.4% GH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.9% -38.3% 7.8% LDOS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.3% — 13.9% LDOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.5x — 2.3x LDOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.2% +140.1% -26.3% GH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.2%/yr +9.1%/yr +7.2%/yr GH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.8% 57.4% 35.6% LDOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 28/100 70/100 LDOS

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRGHLDOS

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

AxisICLRGHLDOS
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 17 #77 of 93 98 #3 of 100
Growth 30 #8 of 11 48 #46 of 88 57 #42 of 97
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 7 #81 of 87 85 #15 of 96
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 51 #50 of 100 34 #70 of 105
Shareholder Returns – 15 #48 of 56 75 #17 of 64
Overall 69 28 70
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • GH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • LDOS ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRGHLDOSSPY
1 month +6.6%-2.3%+13.2% -0.8%
3 months +8.9%+19.1%+21.6% +3.5%
6 months +78.1%+95.8%-3.0% +7.0%
Year to date +0.9%+69.6%-22.4% +12.2%
1 year +3.2%+140.1%-26.3% +13.0%
3 years -21.9%+594.1%+54.6% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.9%+90.8%+15.6% +23.1%
5 years -34.8%+54.3%+41.4% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.2%+9.1%+7.2% +11.0%
10 years +125.7%—+235.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.5%—+12.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureICLRGHLDOSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.8%57.4%35.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.9%48.7%37.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.451.020.26 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.042.44-0.74 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-86.7%-50.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-7.5%-29.9% -1.8%
52-week high $202.92$187.22$199.55 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$69.58$100.00 $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.

MultipleICLRGHLDOS
P/E now vs peer median 43.8xmedian 36.5x -50.8xmedian 25.1x 12.8xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.7x 19.6xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 37.7x -51.2xmedian 14.5x 9.8xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 20.7x -96.2xmedian 22.4x 8.1xmedian 25.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 2.9x -103.9xmedian 3.1x 3.3xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median -3.55median 2.04 -5.11median 0.66 0.45median 0.94

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 monthsICLRGHLDOS
Revenue $8.33B $1.18B $17.63B
Gross profit $2.01B $769.16M $3.14B
Operating income $325.64M -$470.26M $2.03B
Net income $69.55M -$453.44M $1.40B
Free cash flow $883.82M -$240.72M $2.16B
R&D – $375.79M –
EPS (diluted) $4.16 $-3.41 $10.92
Cash & equivalents $928.39M $1.05B $748.00M
Total debt $13.60B – $21.66B
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 132.87M 126.00M
Enterprise value $11.49B $19.78B $14.26B

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
MetricICLRGHLDOS
P/E 43.8x -50.8x 12.8x
P/FCF 15.9x -96.2x 8.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x -125.0x 7.6x
P/S 1.7x 19.6x 1.0x
P/B 1.5x -103.9x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 2.3x -93.3x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA 23.5x -51.2x 9.8x
EV/EBIT 50.8x -47.0x 11.3x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 18.7x 1.3x
EV/FCF 18.7x -91.8x 10.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.5x -119.3x 9.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.55 -5.11 0.45

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRGHLDOS
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% 42.7% 3.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 32.4% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -11.5% 47.7% 4.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.7% – 14.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% -2.1% -0.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -28.0% 4.8% 21.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -91.0% -9.6% -0.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -48.5% 3.7% 24.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -59.0% -2.4% 1.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 9.9% 28.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.4% 22.4% 54.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.1% 18.1% 35.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% 11.4% 63.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.4% 14.4% 41.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRGHLDOS
Gross margin 24.2% 65.0% 17.8%
EBITDA margin 8.4% -36.5% 13.2%
Operating margin 3.9% -39.7% 11.5%
Pretax margin 1.6% -38.4% 10.2%
Net margin 3.9% -38.3% 7.8%
FCF margin 10.6% -20.3% 12.3%
Operating cash flow margin 12.8% -15.7% 13.0%
Return on equity 6.4% – 26.8%
Return on assets 3.7% -23.7% 9.0%
Return on invested capital 1.3% – 13.9%
Return on capital employed 2.6% -29.9% 16.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.4x 0.4x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 16.2% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRGHLDOS
Debt / assets 20.7% – 38.6%
Debt / equity 0.4x – 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.5x – 2.3x
Debt / FCF 3.8x – 2.8x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 111.7% 65.9%
Equity / assets 57.2% -11.7% 34.1%
Interest coverage 1.7x -97.6x –
Current ratio 1.0x 4.0x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.6x 3.5x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 3.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.96 4.59 3.20

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRGHLDOS
Dividend yield – – 1.2%
Net buyback yield 1.7% -1.7% 3.7%
Shareholder yield 1.7% -1.7% 5.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 15.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 10.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 2.8%

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.

ConsensusICLRGHLDOS
Forward P/E 17.9xFY2026 – 11.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 $-3.33FY2026 $12.75FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 – +6.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% – -9.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026 $17.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +44.5%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% +27.0% +14.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRGHLDOS
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 79.3%
Institutions holding 422 594 773
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% -2.6% +4.1%
Institutions buying 233 353 380
Institutions selling 138 180 294
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.

ICLRGHLDOS
ICLR 1.00 0.20 0.17
GH 0.20 1.00 0.09
LDOS 0.17 0.09 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, GH and LDOS?

Guardant Health (GH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $14.38B, Guardant Health (GH) $23.72B, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) $17.54B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR, GH and LDOS?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 43.7x, Guardant Health (GH) -52.3x, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 12.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 11.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

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%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +3.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 3.9%, Guardant Health (GH) -38.3%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 7.8%). On return on invested capital, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) leads (Icon (ICLR) 1.3%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 13.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardant Health (GH) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +3.2%, Guardant Health (GH) +140.1%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) -26.3%. Over five years, Guardant Health (GH) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.2%/yr, Guardant Health (GH) +9.1%/yr, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +7.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Icon (ICLR) 0.00%, Guardant Health (GH) 0.00%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 0.01%. Icon (ICLR) and Guardant Health (GH) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.8%, Guardant Health (GH) 57.4%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 35.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) leads on 7. 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.