ICLR vs LH vs SHC Stock Comparison

Icon, Labcorp Holdings and Sotera Health Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ICLR Icon Plc
$203.77 +25.7% 1M +20.7% 1Y
Market cap
$15.92B
P/E
35.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
2 wins
LH Labcorp Holdings Inc.
$353.95 +14.7% 1M +37.3% 1Y
Market cap
$30.03B
P/E
29.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.59B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
4 wins
SHC Sotera Health Co
$16.03 -12.0% 1M -3.5% 1Y
Market cap
$4.67B
P/E
26.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.23B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sotera Health leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Sotera Health 5, Labcorp Holdings 4, Icon 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionICLRLHSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $15.92B $30.03B $4.67B LH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 35.5x 29.9x 26.9x SHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.9x 20.7x 17.4x SHC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.8% +6.0% +6.9% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.4% 6.9% 14.1% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.7% 8.5% 9.2% SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 2.5x 3.1x ICLR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +20.7% +37.3% -3.5% LH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.2%/yr +7.7%/yr -9.7%/yr LH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 75.0% 24.4% 30.4% LH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 81/100 56/100 61/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRLHSHC

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

AxisICLRLHSHC
Valuation 100 #1 of 11 61 #38 of 95 54 #44 of 95
Growth 70 #4 of 11 31 #61 of 88 69 #28 of 88
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 71 #26 of 87 86 #13 of 87
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 44 #56 of 100 34 #66 of 100
Shareholder Returns – 74 #16 of 58 –
Overall 81 56 61
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • LH ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • SHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRLHSHCSPY
1 month +25.7%+14.7%-12.0% -2.0%
3 months +29.9%+13.3%-11.5% -2.2%
6 months +68.0%+37.6%+4.6% +4.2%
Year to date +11.8%+41.1%-9.1% +10.6%
1 year +20.7%+37.3%-3.5% +10.4%
3 years -21.1%+68.4%+21.3% +73.6%
3 years, per year -7.6%+19.0%+6.7% +20.2%
5 years -27.4%+44.9%-39.8% +61.6%
5 years, per year -6.2%+7.7%-9.7% +10.1%
10 years +165.7%+238.7%— +261.3%
10 years, per year +10.3%+13.0%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureICLRLHSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 75.0%24.4%30.4% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.4%21.8%31.1% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.480.391.02 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.281.53-0.11 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-35.0%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.4%-3.9%-18.1% -3.2%
52-week high $215.48$368.15$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$246.64$13.13 $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.

MultipleICLRLHSHC
P/E now vs peer median 35.6xmedian 35.6x 28.8xmedian 24.9x 26.4xmedian 24.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.5x 2.0xmedian 1.6x 3.7xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.6xmedian 29.7x 15.5xmedian 15.2x 11.5xmedian 15.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 20.8x 22.3xmedian 20.7x 33.8xmedian 20.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.8x 3.2xmedian 3.2x 6.2xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median -11.88median 1.97 1.67median 0.72 0.72median 0.72

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 monthsICLRLHSHC
Revenue $8.23B $14.59B $1.23B
Gross profit $1.93B $4.23B $671.74M
Operating income $718.25M $1.50B $413.72M
Net income $448.66M $1.00B $173.47M
Free cash flow $857.06M $1.29B $135.43M
EPS (diluted) $5.68 $12.24 $0.60
Cash & equivalents $808.98M $261.80M $412.38M
Total debt $3.38B $5.85B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 82.00M 289.22M
Enterprise value $12.69B $28.12B $3.24B

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
MetricICLRLHSHC
P/E 35.6x 28.8x 26.4x
P/FCF 18.2x 22.3x 33.8x
P/Operating cash flow 15.2x 15.8x 13.8x
P/S 1.9x 2.0x 3.7x
P/B 1.7x 3.2x 6.2x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 5.6x 9.8x
EV/EBITDA 16.6x 15.5x 11.5x
EV/EBIT 25.3x 22.9x 15.2x
EV/Revenue 2.2x 2.4x 5.1x
EV/FCF 21.2x 26.7x 46.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 17.7x 18.9x 19.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -11.88 1.67 0.72

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRLHSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.8% 6.0% 6.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.9% 6.6% 7.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -13.4% 8.0% 4.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -6.5% 8.2% 7.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 53.9% 12.6% 11.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -7.0% 19.7% 21.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 55.9% 17.4% 213.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.4% 14.9% 36.9%
EPS growth (1Y) 30.1% 19.8% 210.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -3.0% 17.2% 36.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -9.9% 0.6% 38.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.8% 9.0% 59.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -11.1% -6.8% 56.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 8.2% 33.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRLHSHC
Gross margin 23.4% 29.0% 54.6%
EBITDA margin 13.3% 15.1% 44.7%
Operating margin 8.7% 10.3% 33.6%
Pretax margin 6.3% 8.4% 22.4%
Net margin 5.4% 6.9% 14.1%
FCF margin 10.4% 8.8% 11.0%
Operating cash flow margin 12.5% 12.4% 27.0%
Return on equity 7.6% 11.5% 24.8%
Return on assets 4.3% 5.4% 5.2%
Return on invested capital 4.7% 8.5% 9.2%
Return on capital employed 5.3% 9.4% 13.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.8x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 1.8x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% 0.9% 3.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRLHSHC
Debt / assets 20.8% 30.9% 63.1%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.7x 2.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x 2.5x 3.1x
Debt / FCF 3.9x 4.5x 15.8x
Liabilities / assets 43.8% 53.2% 78.4%
Equity / assets 56.2% 46.8% 21.6%
Interest coverage 3.4x 6.5x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.4x 3.1x
Quick ratio 0.9x 1.0x 2.7x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.1x 1.8x
Altman Z-score 2.21 3.48 1.81

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRLHSHC
Dividend yield – 0.8% –
Net buyback yield 2.5% 2.1% –
Shareholder yield 2.5% 2.9% –
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.

ConsensusICLRLHSHC
Forward P/E 19.9xFY2026 20.7xFY2026 17.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 $17.07FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% +9.3% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $14.31BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% +11.9% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRLHSHC
Held by institutions 100.0% 97.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 424 1,053 316
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% +1.6% +5.9%
Institutions buying 234 466 220
Institutions selling 139 393 64
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.19 3.44

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.

ICLRLHSHC
ICLR 1.00 0.36 0.31
LH 0.36 1.00 0.39
SHC 0.31 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, LH and SHC?

Labcorp Holdings (LH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $15.92B, Labcorp Holdings (LH) $30.03B, Sotera Health (SHC) $4.67B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR, LH and SHC?

Sotera Health (SHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 35.5x, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 29.9x, Sotera Health (SHC) 26.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sotera Health (SHC) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 19.9x, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 20.7x, Sotera Health (SHC) 17.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sotera Health (SHC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +6.0%, Sotera Health (SHC) +6.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 6.9%, Sotera Health (SHC) 14.1%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 8.5%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Labcorp Holdings (LH) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +20.7%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +37.3%, Sotera Health (SHC) -3.5%. Over five years, Labcorp Holdings (LH) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -6.2%/yr, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +7.7%/yr, Sotera Health (SHC) -9.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Labcorp Holdings (LH) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 75.0%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 24.4%, Sotera Health (SHC) 30.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ICLR, LH and SHC?

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