ICLR vs SHC Stock Comparison

Icon and Sotera Health 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
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.39 +0.3% 1M +9.1% 1Y
Market cap
$5.28B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionICLRSHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.35B $5.28B ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.6x 32.3x SHC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.9x 20.0x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% +8.1% SHC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.9% 13.4% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.3% 9.1% SHC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.5x 3.3x SHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.2% +9.1% SHC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.2%/yr -6.0%/yr SHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.8% 28.5% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 58/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRSHC

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

AxisICLRSHC
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 50 #47 of 93
Growth 30 #8 of 11 67 #30 of 88
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 80 #18 of 87
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 35 #65 of 100
Shareholder Returns – –
Overall 69 58
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • SHC ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRSHCSPY
1 month +6.6%+0.3% -0.8%
3 months +8.9%+6.7% +3.5%
6 months +78.1%+16.3% +7.0%
Year to date +0.9%+4.3% +12.2%
1 year +3.2%+9.1% +13.0%
3 years -21.9%+47.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.9%+13.7% +23.1%
5 years -34.8%-26.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.2%-6.0% +11.0%
10 years +125.7%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.5%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureICLRSHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.8%28.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.9%27.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.451.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.040.32 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-78.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-6.0% -1.8%
52-week high $202.92$19.57 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$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.

MultipleICLRSHC
P/E now vs peer median 43.8xmedian 36.5x 32.1xmedian 25.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.7x 4.3xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 37.7x 13.0xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 20.7x 46.6xmedian 22.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 2.9x 7.9xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median -3.55median 2.04 0.86median 0.66

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 monthsICLRSHC
Revenue $8.33B $1.22B
Gross profit $2.01B $668.51M
Operating income $325.64M $411.34M
Net income $69.55M $163.48M
Free cash flow $883.82M $112.70M
EPS (diluted) $4.16 $0.57
Cash & equivalents $928.39M $356.72M
Total debt $13.60B $2.14B
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 288.15M
Enterprise value $11.46B $3.97B

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
MetricICLRSHC
P/E 43.8x 32.1x
P/FCF 15.9x 46.6x
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x 18.0x
P/S 1.7x 4.3x
P/B 1.5x 7.9x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 13.3x
EV/EBITDA 23.5x 13.0x
EV/EBIT 50.8x 17.1x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 5.8x
EV/FCF 18.7x 62.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.5x 24.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.55 0.86

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRSHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 7.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -11.5% 7.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.7% 8.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% 21.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -28.0% 23.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -91.0% 580.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -48.5% 37.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -59.0% 574.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 37.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.4% 9.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.1% 61.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% 0.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.4% 32.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRSHC
Gross margin 24.2% 55.0%
EBITDA margin 8.4% 44.6%
Operating margin 3.9% 33.8%
Pretax margin 1.6% 21.7%
Net margin 3.9% 13.4%
FCF margin 10.6% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 12.8% 24.0%
Return on equity 6.4% 25.4%
Return on assets 3.7% 5.0%
Return on invested capital 1.3% 9.1%
Return on capital employed 2.6% 13.5%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.4x 1.8x
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 3.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRSHC
Debt / assets 20.7% 64.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 3.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.5x 3.3x
Debt / FCF 3.8x 19.0x
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 79.9%
Equity / assets 57.2% 20.1%
Interest coverage 1.7x –
Current ratio 1.0x 2.8x
Quick ratio 0.6x 2.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.5x
Altman Z-score 1.96 1.93

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRSHC
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield 1.7% –
Shareholder yield 1.7% –
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.

ConsensusICLRSHC
Forward P/E 17.9xFY2026 20.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 $0.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 +7.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% +21.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $1.33BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% -4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRSHC
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 422 316
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% +5.9%
Institutions buying 233 220
Institutions selling 138 64
Buyers to sellers 1.69 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.

ICLRSHC
ICLR 1.00 0.33
SHC 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR and SHC?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $14.35B, Sotera Health (SHC) $5.28B.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR and SHC?

Sotera Health (SHC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 43.6x, Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Sotera Health (SHC) 20.0x). 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) +3.7%, Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 3.9%, Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Sotera Health (SHC) leads (Icon (ICLR) 1.3%, Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sotera Health (SHC) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +3.2%, Sotera Health (SHC) +9.1%. Over five years, Sotera Health (SHC) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.2%/yr, Sotera Health (SHC) -6.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sotera Health (SHC) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.8%, Sotera Health (SHC) 28.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ICLR and SHC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.33, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ICLR 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 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.