IDXX vs FERG vs ELAN Stock Comparison

Idexx Laboratories, Ferguson Enterprises and Elanco Animal Health Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Idexx Laboratories leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idexx Laboratories 5, Ferguson Enterprises 3, Elanco Animal Health 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIDXXFERGELANLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $53.36B $45.47B $12.93B IDXX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 45.1x 22.4x -65.0x FERG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 42.6x 21.9x 21.7x ELAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.9% +5.2% +12.0% ELAN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 25.4% 6.5% -4.0% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 45.4% 21.7% 6.1% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 1.0x 2.5x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.9% -5.7% +9.6% ELAN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.0%/yr +8.9%/yr -7.0%/yr FERG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 35.9% 30.7% 42.8% FERG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 76/100 64/100 66/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

IDXXFERGELAN

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

AxisIDXXFERGELAN
Valuation 74 #164 of 634 36 #30 of 46 94 #42 of 634
Growth 70 #182 of 608 74 #11 of 39 55 #272 of 608
Profitability 97 #16 of 557 88 #6 of 41 84 #92 of 557
Financial Health 47 #349 of 654 50 #25 of 49 31 #455 of 654
Shareholder Returns 92 #32 of 403 73 #10 of 34 –
Overall 76 64 66
  • IDXX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • FERG ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • ELAN ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIDXXFERGELANSPY
1 month +30.1%+5.1%+5.2% -5.9%
3 months +13.7%-7.3%-2.1% -4.6%
6 months +17.2%-4.8%-1.4% +0.2%
Year to date -0.9%+5.5%+4.6% +7.5%
1 year -6.9%-5.7%+9.6% +8.2%
3 years +58.6%+49.7%+152.9% +68.3%
3 years, per year +16.6%+14.4%+36.3% +19.0%
5 years +5.2%+53.4%-30.6% +56.5%
5 years, per year +1.0%+8.9%-7.0% +9.4%
10 years +531.5%+354.6%— +251.5%
10 years, per year +20.2%+16.4%— +13.4%

Risk

MeasureIDXXFERGELANSPY
Volatility, 1Y 35.9%30.7%42.8% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 32.5%31.9%43.7% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.801.121.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.19-0.190.22 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -50.9%-43.6%-75.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.5%-12.3%-11.8% -5.9%
52-week high $766.68$267.71$26.84 $779.14
52-week low $504.70$214.24$19.80 $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.

MultipleIDXXFERGELAN
P/E now vs peer median 44.7xmedian 17.8x 22.5xmedian 22.6x -59.4xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 8.1x 1.5xmedian 1.0x 2.4xmedian 8.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 32.1xmedian 15.7x 15.3xmedian 12.6x 11.4xmedian 15.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 40.5xmedian 21.0x 20.1xmedian 20.2x 31.2xmedian 21.0x
P/B now vs peer median 28.3xmedian 2.0x 7.8xmedian 2.4x 1.8xmedian 2.0x
PEG now vs peer median 2.95median 0.36 —median 2.13 3.02median 0.36

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 monthsIDXXFERGELAN
Revenue $4.66B $31.35B $5.02B
Gross profit $2.92B $9.73B $2.78B
Operating income $1.51B $2.82B $637.00M
Net income $1.18B $2.03B -$199.00M
Free cash flow $1.30B $2.26B $379.00M
R&D $266.87M – $371.00M
EPS (diluted) $14.96 $10.42 $-0.39
Cash & equivalents $197.54M $820.00M $530.00M
Total debt $848.88M $4.13B $3.92B
Shares (diluted) 79.05M 194.80M 505.90M
Enterprise value $52.58B $42.69B $10.92B

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
MetricIDXXFERGELAN
P/E 44.7x 22.5x -59.4x
P/FCF 40.5x 20.1x 31.2x
P/Operating cash flow 37.2x 17.4x 19.2x
P/S 11.3x 1.5x 2.4x
P/B 28.3x 7.8x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 30.2x 8.7x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 32.1x 15.3x 11.4x
EV/EBIT 35.5x 17.4x 23.9x
EV/Revenue 11.5x 1.6x 3.0x
EV/FCF 41.0x 21.6x 40.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 37.7x 18.7x 24.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.95 – 3.02

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIDXXFERGELAN
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.9% 5.2% 12.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.1% – 5.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 13.7% 7.5% 13.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 10.8% – 3.9%
Operating income growth (1Y) 15.3% 17.6% 22.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 11.8% – 59.8%
Net income growth (1Y) 15.1% 31.6% -145.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.8% – -20.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 17.4% 34.4% -145.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 15.1% – -19.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 30.4% 35.9% 7.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.6% – 73.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 35.3% 42.8% 5.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.2% – 101.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIDXXFERGELAN
Gross margin 62.7% 31.0% 55.4%
EBITDA margin 35.7% 10.2% 26.5%
Operating margin 32.3% 9.0% 12.7%
Pretax margin 31.7% 8.3% -3.3%
Net margin 25.4% 6.5% -4.0%
FCF margin 28.0% 7.2% 7.5%
Operating cash flow margin 30.4% 8.3% 12.3%
Return on equity 67.9% 34.0% -3.0%
Return on assets 33.1% 11.4% -1.5%
Return on invested capital 45.4% 21.7% 6.1%
Return on capital employed 65.2% 23.4% 5.5%
Asset turnover 1.3x 1.8x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.3x -3.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 0.3% 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIDXXFERGELAN
Debt / assets 22.9% 23.2% 28.9%
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.7x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.4x 1.0x 2.5x
Debt / FCF 0.7x 1.8x 10.3x
Liabilities / assets 49.6% 67.0% 51.4%
Equity / assets 50.4% 33.0% 48.6%
Interest coverage 43.5x – 2.6x
Current ratio 1.2x 1.8x 2.1x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.8x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 22.69 5.46 1.50

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIDXXFERGELAN
Dividend yield – 1.5% –
Net buyback yield 1.8% 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 1.8% 3.4% –
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.

ConsensusIDXXFERGELAN
Forward P/E 42.6xFY2026 21.9xFY2026 21.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $15.74FY2026 $10.70FY2026 $1.09FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.3%FY2026 +7.6%FY2026 +16.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +12.5% +20.3% +23.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.02BFY2026 $34.31BFY2026 $4.79BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.8%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026 +1.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.6% -0.6% +19.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIDXXFERGELAN
Held by institutions 93.6% 96.3% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,291 940 526
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.1% +2.1% +4.4%
Institutions buying 589 479 246
Institutions selling 496 344 211
Buyers to sellers 1.19 1.39 1.17

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.

IDXXFERGELAN
IDXX 1.00 0.37 0.41
FERG 0.37 1.00 0.39
ELAN 0.41 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IDXX, FERG and ELAN?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $53.36B, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) $45.47B, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) $12.93B.

Which stock is cheaper, IDXX, FERG and ELAN?

Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.1x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 22.4x, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -65.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) is cheapest (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 42.6x, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.9x, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 21.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +11.9%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +5.2%, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +12.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 6.5%, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -4.0%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.4%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 21.7%, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 6.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) returned the most: Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -6.9%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) -5.7%, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) +9.6%. Over five years, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) compounded fastest (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +1.0%/yr, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) +8.9%/yr, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) -7.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) has been the steadiest (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 35.9%, Ferguson Enterprises (FERG) 30.7%, Elanco Animal Health (ELAN) 42.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IDXX, FERG and ELAN?

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