ICLR vs YDES vs DNA Stock Comparison

Icon, YD Bio and Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ICLR Icon Plc
$182.98 +6.2% 1M +0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$16.17B
P/E
36.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
7 wins
YDES YD Bio Ltd
$6.04 +5.4% 1M -64.7% 1Y
Market cap
$429.67M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Biotechnology Healthcare

Head to Head

7 decided of 12

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

QuestionICLRYDESDNALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $16.17B $429.67M $839.52M ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 36.0x — -2.9x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.9x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.8% — -46.8% ICLR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.4% — -260.0% ICLR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 4.7% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.3x — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +0.5% -64.7% -15.8% ICLR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.6%/yr -9.8%/yr -54.4%/yr ICLR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 73.7% 134.9% 101.5% ICLR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 81/100 — 43/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

ICLRYDESDNA

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

AxisICLRYDESDNA
Valuation 100 #1 of 11 – 10 #10 of 11
Growth 70 #4 of 11 – 50 #6 of 11
Profitability 80 #3 of 11 – 10 #10 of 11
Financial Health 75 #4 of 13 39 #403 of 656 100 #1 of 13
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 81 – 43
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • YDES ranked among 672 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • DNA ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodICLRYDESDNASPY
1 month +6.2%+5.4%+5.7% -0.2%
3 months +1.5%+162.6%+46.4% +3.9%
6 months +78.5%+16.2%+43.6% +8.2%
Year to date +0.4%-50.5%+35.6% +12.9%
1 year +0.5%-64.7%-15.8% +12.3%
3 years -22.2%-45.1%-79.1% +87.4%
3 years, per year -8.0%-18.1%-40.7% +23.3%
5 years -36.1%-40.4%-98.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year -8.6%-9.8%-54.4% +10.9%
10 years +127.4%—— +261.1%
10 years, per year +8.6%—— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureICLRYDESDNASPY
Volatility, 1Y 73.7%134.9%101.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 87.6%132.8%103.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.440.353.03 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.01-0.48-0.16 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -76.9%-91.8%-99.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.8%-64.7%-24.8% -1.2%
52-week high $202.92$17.11$14.98 $779.14
52-week low $80.08$1.90$5.48 $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.

MultipleICLRYDESDNA
P/E now vs peer median 32.0xmedian 32.1x —median 17.2x -2.4xmedian 32.1x
P/S now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 2.6x —median 9.0x 6.4xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 38.1x —median 16.3x -2.7xmedian 38.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 16.3xmedian 21.5x —median 18.7x -4.1xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 3.1x 95.6xmedian 2.2x 1.7xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median -13.47median 2.03 —median 0.33 0.02median 2.03

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 monthsICLRYDESDNA
Revenue $8.23B – $111.86M
Gross profit $1.93B – $92.92M
Operating income $718.25M – -$290.69M
Net income $448.66M – -$290.80M
Free cash flow $857.06M – -$174.80M
R&D – – $215.61M
EPS (diluted) $5.68 – $-5.24
Cash & equivalents $808.98M $2.66M $84.54M
Total debt $3.38B – –
Shares (diluted) 78.97M 66.72M 55.46M
Enterprise value $12.94B $417.40M $77.43M

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
MetricICLRYDESDNA
P/E 32.0x – -2.4x
P/FCF 16.3x – -4.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.6x – -4.2x
P/S 1.7x – 6.4x
P/B 1.5x 95.6x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 213.8x 1.9x
EV/EBITDA 15.2x – -2.7x
EV/EBIT 23.1x – -2.2x
EV/Revenue 2.0x – 5.7x
EV/FCF 19.3x – -3.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.1x – -3.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -13.47 – 0.02

Growth

14 metrics
MetricICLRYDESDNA
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.8% – -46.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.9% – -30.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -13.4% – -49.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -6.5% – -28.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) 53.9% – 2.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -7.0% – 39.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 55.9% – 7.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -4.4% – 38.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 30.1% – 8.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -2.4% – -102.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -9.9% – 28.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.8% – 16.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -11.1% – 36.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.4% – 22.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricICLRYDESDNA
Gross margin 23.4% – 83.1%
EBITDA margin 13.3% – -211.6%
Operating margin 8.7% – -259.9%
Pretax margin 6.3% – -264.1%
Net margin 5.4% – -260.0%
FCF margin 10.4% – -156.3%
Operating cash flow margin 12.5% – -152.2%
Return on equity 7.6% – -67.4%
Return on assets 4.3% – -28.7%
Return on invested capital 4.7% – –
Return on capital employed 5.3% – -31.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x – 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x – 0.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% – 61.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricICLRYDESDNA
Debt / assets 20.8% – –
Debt / equity 0.4x – –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.3x – –
Debt / FCF 3.9x – –
Liabilities / assets 43.8% 55.5% 57.5%
Equity / assets 56.2% 44.5% 42.5%
Interest coverage 3.4x – –
Current ratio 1.3x 5.2x 4.6x
Quick ratio 0.9x 2.7x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 2.5x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 2.07 – -8.66

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricICLRYDESDNA
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 2.7% – –
Shareholder yield 2.7% – –
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.

ConsensusICLRYDESDNA
Forward P/E 17.9xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $10.25FY2026 – $-4.06FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -18.2%FY2026 – –
EPS growth, the year after +22.2% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.52BFY2026 – $88.21MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.2%FY2026 – -48.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.2% – +5.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersICLRYDESDNA
Held by institutions 100.0% – 55.2%
Institutions holding 422 – 182
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.5% – +12.3%
Institutions buying 233 – 100
Institutions selling 138 – 39
Buyers to sellers 1.69 – 2.56

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.

ICLRYDESDNA
ICLR 1.00 0.09 0.22
YDES 0.09 1.00 0.11
DNA 0.22 0.11 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ICLR, YDES and DNA?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Icon (ICLR) $16.17B, YD Bio (YDES) $429.67M, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) $839.52M.

Which company is growing faster?

Icon (ICLR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -46.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Icon (ICLR) has the highest net margin (Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -260.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Icon (ICLR) returned the most: Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, YD Bio (YDES) -64.7%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -15.8%. Over five years, Icon (ICLR) compounded fastest (Icon (ICLR) -8.6%/yr, YD Bio (YDES) -9.8%/yr, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) -54.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Icon (ICLR) has been the steadiest (Icon (ICLR) 73.7%, YD Bio (YDES) 134.9%, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings (DNA) 101.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ICLR, YDES and DNA?

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