ICLR vs WDH Stock Comparison

Icon and Waterdrop Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$183.78 +6.6% 1M +3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$14.29B
P/E
43.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.33B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
3 wins
WDH Waterdrop Inc.
$1.00 -4.8% 1M -43.8% 1Y
Market cap
$363.34M
P/E
6.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$732.27M
Div. yield
–
Insurance Brokers Financial Services
7 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Waterdrop leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Waterdrop 7, Icon 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionICLRWDHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $14.29B $363.34M ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.4x 6.3x WDH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.9x 11.1x WDH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.7% +76.3% WDH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.9% 7.8% WDH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.3% 6.8% WDH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.5x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.2% -43.8% ICLR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.2%/yr -14.2%/yr ICLR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.8% 37.3% WDH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 78/100 WDH

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRWDH

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

AxisICLRWDH
Valuation 90 #2 of 11 93 #9 of 119
Growth 30 #8 of 11 71 #34 of 115
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 50 #57 of 113
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 84 #19 of 114
Shareholder Returns – 93 #8 of 107
Overall 69 78
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • WDH ranked among 126 companies in Insurance

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRWDHSPY
1 month +6.6%-4.8% -0.8%
3 months +8.9%-12.3% +3.5%
6 months +78.1%-40.5% +7.0%
Year to date +0.9%-47.4% +12.2%
1 year +3.2%-43.8% +13.0%
3 years -21.9%-4.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.9%-1.6% +23.1%
5 years -34.8%-53.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -8.2%-14.2% +11.0%
10 years +125.7%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.5%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureICLRWDHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.8%37.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.9%42.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.450.82 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.04-1.17 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-71.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.4%-48.7% -1.8%
52-week high $202.92$1.95 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$0.97 $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.

MultipleICLRWDH
P/E now vs peer median 43.8xmedian 36.5x 6.3xmedian 10.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.7x 0.5xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 23.5xmedian 37.7x —median 7.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.9xmedian 20.7x —median 8.6x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 2.9x 0.5xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median -3.55median 2.04 1.08median 0.52

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 monthsICLRWDH
Revenue $8.33B $732.27M
Gross profit $2.01B –
Operating income $325.64M $55.97M
Net income $69.55M $78.34M
Free cash flow $883.82M –
R&D – $36.89M
EPS (diluted) $4.16 $0.15
Cash & equivalents $928.39M $154.67M
Total debt $13.60B $125.58M
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 371.35M
Enterprise value $11.40B -$298.51M

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
MetricICLRWDH
P/E 43.8x 6.3x
P/FCF 15.9x –
P/Operating cash flow 13.2x –
P/S 1.7x 0.5x
P/B 1.5x 0.5x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 0.5x
EV/EBITDA 23.5x –
EV/EBIT 50.8x 4.4x
EV/Revenue 2.0x 0.3x
EV/FCF 18.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 15.5x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.55 1.08

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRWDH
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.7% 76.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 23.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -11.5% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -4.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -66.6% 59.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -28.0% 30.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -91.0% 30.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -48.5% 14.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -59.0% 14.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -12.3% 5.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -7.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRWDH
Gross margin 24.2% –
EBITDA margin 8.4% –
Operating margin 3.9% 7.6%
Pretax margin 1.6% 10.5%
Net margin 3.9% 7.8%
FCF margin 10.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 12.8% –
Return on equity 6.4% 10.2%
Return on assets 3.7% 6.9%
Return on invested capital 1.3% 6.8%
Return on capital employed 2.6% 7.2%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 15.4x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRWDH
Debt / assets 20.7% 6.0%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.5x –
Debt / FCF 3.8x –
Liabilities / assets 42.8% 32.6%
Equity / assets 57.2% 67.4%
Interest coverage 1.7x –
Current ratio 1.0x 2.2x
Quick ratio 0.6x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 1.96 1.55

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRWDH
Dividend yield – 6.0%
Net buyback yield 1.7% –
Shareholder yield 1.7% 6.0%
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.

ConsensusICLRWDH
Forward P/E 17.9xFY2026 11.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 $0.09FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 +350.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% +44.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 $798.56MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 +40.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% +32.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRWDH
Held by institutions 100.0% 6.9%
Institutions holding 422 40
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% +1.8%
Institutions buying 233 18
Institutions selling 138 8
Buyers to sellers 1.69 2.25

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.

ICLRWDH
ICLR 1.00 0.03
WDH 0.03 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR and WDH?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $14.29B, Waterdrop (WDH) $363.34M.

Which stock is cheaper, ICLR and WDH?

Waterdrop (WDH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Icon (ICLR) 43.4x, Waterdrop (WDH) 6.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Waterdrop (WDH) is cheapest (Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Waterdrop (WDH) 11.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Waterdrop (WDH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Icon (ICLR) +3.7%, Waterdrop (WDH) +76.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Waterdrop (WDH) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 3.9%, Waterdrop (WDH) 7.8%). On return on invested capital, Waterdrop (WDH) leads (Icon (ICLR) 1.3%, Waterdrop (WDH) 6.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Icon (ICLR) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +3.2%, Waterdrop (WDH) -43.8%. Over five years, Icon (ICLR) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.2%/yr, Waterdrop (WDH) -14.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Waterdrop (WDH) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.8%, Waterdrop (WDH) 37.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ICLR and WDH move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.03, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ICLR and WDH?

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