ICLR vs IQV vs LDOS Stock Comparison

Icon, Iqvia Holdings and Leidos 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
IQV Iqvia Holdings Inc.
$279.38 +4.2% 1M +27.0% 1Y
Market cap
$45.49B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.98B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
4 wins
LDOS Leidos Holdings, Inc.
$136.05 +9.1% 1M -28.9% 1Y
Market cap
$17.60B
P/E
12.8x
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, Iqvia Holdings 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionICLRIQVLDOSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.43B $45.49B $17.60B IQV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.9x 33.1x 12.8x LDOS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.1x 23.0x 10.7x LDOS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% +8.2% +3.4% IQV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.9% 8.1% 7.8% IQV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.3% 8.3% 13.9% LDOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.5x 4.1x 2.3x LDOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +2.9% +27.0% -28.9% IQV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.8%/yr +1.7%/yr +5.9%/yr LDOS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.7% 40.3% 35.5% LDOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 65/100 71/100 LDOS

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRIQVLDOS

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

AxisICLRIQVLDOS
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 80 #3 of 11 98 #3 of 100
Growth 30 #8 of 11 80 #3 of 11 58 #41 of 97
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 90 #2 of 11 84 #16 of 96
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 8 #12 of 13 36 #68 of 106
Shareholder Returns – – 77 #16 of 65
Overall 69 65 71
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • IQV ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • 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

PeriodICLRIQVLDOSSPY
1 month +13.0%+4.2%+9.1% -1.0%
3 months +11.8%+34.4%+21.3% +2.9%
6 months +81.3%+72.2%-6.9% +6.4%
Year to date +1.7%+23.9%-24.6% +11.4%
1 year +2.9%+27.0%-28.9% +13.1%
3 years -21.7%+49.6%+49.5% +79.4%
3 years, per year -7.8%+14.4%+14.4% +21.5%
5 years -33.2%+8.8%+33.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year -7.8%+1.7%+5.9% +10.9%
10 years +119.2%+277.4%+224.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +8.2%+14.2%+12.5% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureICLRIQVLDOSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.7%40.3%35.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 88.0%39.3%37.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.450.730.24 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.040.67-0.82 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-51.5%-50.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.7%0.0%-31.8% -2.5%
52-week high $202.92$279.38$199.55 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$156.66$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.

MultipleICLRIQVLDOS
P/E now vs peer median 44.2xmedian 36.1x 33.7xmedian 36.1x 12.5xmedian 26.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.7x 2.7xmedian 2.7x 1.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.7xmedian 37.4x 17.6xmedian 37.4x 9.6xmedian 14.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.1xmedian 21.1x 21.1xmedian 21.1x 7.9xmedian 24.9x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 2.9x 7.3xmedian 2.9x 3.2xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -3.58median 2.05 2.84median 2.05 0.44median 0.92

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 monthsICLRIQVLDOS
Revenue $8.33B $16.98B $17.63B
Gross profit $2.01B $5.60B $3.14B
Operating income $325.64M $2.20B $2.03B
Net income $69.55M $1.38B $1.40B
Free cash flow $883.82M $2.18B $2.16B
EPS (diluted) $4.16 $8.22 $10.92
Cash & equivalents $928.39M $1.91B $748.00M
Total debt $13.60B $16.00B $21.66B
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 167.30M 126.00M
Enterprise value $11.54B $37.19B $14.32B

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
MetricICLRIQVLDOS
P/E 44.2x 33.7x 12.5x
P/FCF 16.1x 21.1x 7.9x
P/Operating cash flow 13.3x 16.3x 7.4x
P/S 1.7x 2.7x 1.0x
P/B 1.5x 7.3x 3.2x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 29.6x 3.9x
EV/EBITDA 23.7x 17.6x 9.6x
EV/EBIT 51.1x 27.2x 11.0x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 3.5x 1.3x
EV/FCF 18.8x 27.4x 10.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.6x 21.3x 9.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.58 2.84 0.44

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRIQVLDOS
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% 8.2% 3.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 5.0% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -11.5% 4.1% 4.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.7% 3.1% 14.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% 1.0% -0.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -28.0% 6.0% 21.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -91.0% 11.5% -0.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -48.5% 7.8% 24.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -59.0% 15.1% 1.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 11.9% 28.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.4% 7.7% 54.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.1% 7.9% 35.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% 8.7% 63.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.4% 11.3% 41.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRIQVLDOS
Gross margin 24.2% 33.0% 17.8%
EBITDA margin 8.4% 20.1% 13.2%
Operating margin 3.9% 13.0% 11.5%
Pretax margin 1.6% 9.3% 10.2%
Net margin 3.9% 8.1% 7.8%
FCF margin 10.6% 12.9% 12.3%
Operating cash flow margin 12.8% 16.6% 13.0%
Return on equity 6.4% 21.8% 26.8%
Return on assets 3.7% 4.6% 9.0%
Return on invested capital 1.3% 8.3% 13.9%
Return on capital employed 2.6% 10.5% 16.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.4x 2.0x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 1.6% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRIQVLDOS
Debt / assets 20.7% 53.5% 38.6%
Debt / equity 0.4x 2.5x 1.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.5x 4.1x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 3.8x 7.3x 2.8x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 78.9% 65.9%
Equity / assets 57.2% 21.1% 34.1%
Interest coverage 1.7x 2.9x –
Current ratio 1.0x 0.7x 1.6x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.8x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 1.97 2.25 3.17

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRIQVLDOS
Dividend yield – – 1.3%
Net buyback yield 1.7% 2.5% 3.9%
Shareholder yield 1.7% 2.5% 5.1%
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.

ConsensusICLRIQVLDOS
Forward P/E 18.1xFY2026 23.0xFY2026 10.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.26FY2026 $12.14FY2026 $12.75FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.1%FY2026 +1.8%FY2026 +6.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.4% +13.4% -9.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $18.58BFY2026 $17.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +13.9%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.1% -3.5% +14.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRIQVLDOS
Held by institutions 100.0% 94.1% 79.3%
Institutions holding 422 1,083 773
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% +0.3% +4.1%
Institutions buying 233 530 380
Institutions selling 138 424 294
Buyers to sellers 1.69 1.25 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.

ICLRIQVLDOS
ICLR 1.00 0.55 0.17
IQV 0.55 1.00 0.17
LDOS 0.17 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, IQV and LDOS?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $14.43B, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) $45.49B, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) $17.60B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR, IQV and LDOS?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 43.9x, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 33.1x, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 12.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 18.1x, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 23.0x, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 10.7x). 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%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +3.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 3.9%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.1%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 7.8%). On return on invested capital, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) leads (Icon (ICLR) 1.3%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.3%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 13.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Iqvia Holdings (IQV) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +2.9%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +27.0%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) -28.9%. Over five years, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -7.8%/yr, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +1.7%/yr, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +5.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.7%, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 40.3%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 35.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ICLR, IQV 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.