IQV vs GH vs CRL Stock Comparison

Iqvia Holdings, Guardant Health and Charles River Laboratories International Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IQV Iqvia Holdings Inc.
$271.68 +0.7% 1M +25.0% 1Y
Market cap
$45.93B
P/E
33.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.31B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
7 wins
GH Guardant Health, Inc.
$178.06 +0.5% 1M +151.3% 1Y
Market cap
$24.31B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.18B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionIQVGHCRLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $45.93B $24.31B $17.99B IQV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.0x -53.6x -75.5x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.4x — 32.9x IQV
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.8% +42.7% -0.7% GH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.1% -38.3% -6.0% IQV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.2% — 1.6% IQV
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.9x — 6.3x IQV
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +25.0% +151.3% +83.9% GH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.1%/yr +8.5%/yr -3.9%/yr GH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.3% 57.4% 45.9% IQV
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 28/100 45/100 IQV

Percentile Scorecard

IQVGHCRL

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

AxisIQVGHCRL
Valuation 80 #3 of 11 18 #76 of 92 60 #5 of 11
Growth 80 #3 of 11 49 #45 of 87 10 #10 of 11
Profitability 90 #2 of 11 7 #80 of 86 70 #4 of 11
Financial Health 33 #9 of 13 52 #47 of 97 42 #8 of 13
Shareholder Returns – 15 #48 of 56 –
Overall 71 28 45
  • IQV ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • GH ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • CRL ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIQVGHCRLSPY
1 month +0.7%+0.5%+22.5% -0.2%
3 months +11.7%+24.0%+49.4% +3.9%
6 months +70.9%+114.3%+115.3% +8.2%
Year to date +20.5%+74.3%+80.0% +12.9%
1 year +25.0%+151.3%+83.9% +12.3%
3 years +51.0%+613.4%+108.0% +87.4%
3 years, per year +14.7%+92.6%+27.7% +23.3%
5 years +5.6%+50.7%-18.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year +1.1%+8.5%-3.9% +10.9%
10 years +276.8%—+369.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +14.2%—+16.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureIQVGHCRLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.3%57.4%45.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.2%48.7%43.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.741.031.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.622.641.83 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.5%-86.7%-77.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -2.8%-4.9%0.0% -1.2%
52-week high $279.38$187.22$359.04 $779.14
52-week low $156.66$69.58$149.93 $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.

MultipleIQVGHCRL
P/E now vs peer median 32.1xmedian 32.1x -52.2xmedian 24.6x -72.3xmedian 32.1x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 2.6x 20.1xmedian 1.6x 4.3xmedian 2.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.9xmedian 38.1x -52.7xmedian 14.6x 50.4xmedian 38.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 21.5x -98.8xmedian 21.6x 46.2xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median 6.6xmedian 3.1x -106.8xmedian 3.2x 6.0xmedian 3.1x
PEG now vs peer median 2.78median 2.03 -5.25median 0.66 2.00median 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 monthsIQVGHCRL
Revenue $17.31B $1.18B $4.00B
Gross profit $5.72B $769.16M $1.31B
Operating income $2.22B -$470.26M $90.14M
Net income $1.40B -$453.44M -$239.23M
Free cash flow $2.08B -$240.72M $370.61M
R&D – $375.79M –
EPS (diluted) $8.35 $-3.41 $-4.97
Cash & equivalents $2.25B $1.05B $192.03M
Total debt $16.07B – $2.62B
Shares (diluted) 167.00M 132.87M 48.02M
Enterprise value $37.19B $20.37B $17.19B

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
MetricIQVGHCRL
P/E 32.1x -52.2x -72.3x
P/FCF 21.5x -98.8x 46.2x
P/Operating cash flow 16.4x -128.5x 29.4x
P/S 2.6x 20.1x 4.3x
P/B 6.6x -106.8x 6.0x
P/Tangible book 21.8x -95.9x 6.6x
EV/EBITDA 16.9x -52.7x 50.4x
EV/EBIT 26.3x -48.4x 217.0x
EV/Revenue 3.4x 19.2x 4.9x
EV/FCF 28.1x -94.5x 52.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.4x -122.8x 33.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.78 -5.25 2.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIQVGHCRL
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.8% 42.7% -0.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 32.4% -1.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.6% 47.7% -0.1%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.4% – -5.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.7% -2.1% -27.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 4.8% -48.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.0% -9.6% -268.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 3.7% -35.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.7% -2.4% -253.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 11.5% 9.9% -36.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -2.4% 22.4% -26.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.7% 18.1% -2.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -6.0% 11.4% -35.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.3% 14.4% 8.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIQVGHCRL
Gross margin 33.1% 65.0% 32.7%
EBITDA margin 20.0% -36.5% 9.7%
Operating margin 12.8% -39.7% 2.3%
Pretax margin 9.0% -38.4% -4.6%
Net margin 8.1% -38.3% -6.0%
FCF margin 12.0% -20.3% 9.3%
Operating cash flow margin 15.8% -15.7% 14.6%
Return on equity 21.4% – -8.2%
Return on assets 4.6% -23.7% -3.1%
Return on invested capital 8.2% – 1.6%
Return on capital employed 9.9% -29.9% 1.4%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.6x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 0.4x -2.4x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 16.2% 2.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIQVGHCRL
Debt / assets 52.7% – 34.8%
Debt / equity 2.4x – 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.9x – 6.3x
Debt / FCF 7.7x – 7.1x
Liabilities / assets 77.7% 111.7% 62.2%
Equity / assets 22.3% -11.7% 37.8%
Interest coverage 2.8x -97.6x 0.8x
Current ratio 0.8x 4.0x 1.3x
Quick ratio 1.0x 3.5x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.3x 3.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.27 4.77 3.08

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIQVGHCRL
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield 2.6% -1.7% 1.9%
Shareholder yield 2.6% -1.7% 1.9%
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.

ConsensusIQVGHCRL
Forward P/E 22.4xFY2026 – 32.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.14FY2026 $-3.33FY2026 $10.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 – +6.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.3% – +20.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.58BFY2026 $1.42BFY2026 $3.82BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.9%FY2026 +44.5%FY2026 -4.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.5% +27.0% +0.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIQVGHCRL
Held by institutions 94.1% 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,083 594 570
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% -2.6% -0.7%
Institutions buying 530 353 270
Institutions selling 424 180 204
Buyers to sellers 1.25 1.96 1.32

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.

IQVGHCRL
IQV 1.00 0.26 0.71
GH 0.26 1.00 0.33
CRL 0.71 0.33 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IQV, GH and CRL?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) $45.93B, Guardant Health (GH) $24.31B, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) $17.99B.

Which company is growing faster?

Guardant Health (GH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +8.8%, Guardant Health (GH) +42.7%, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -0.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has the highest net margin (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.1%, Guardant Health (GH) -38.3%, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -6.0%). On return on invested capital, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) leads (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.2%, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 1.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardant Health (GH) returned the most: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +25.0%, Guardant Health (GH) +151.3%, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) +83.9%. Over five years, Guardant Health (GH) compounded fastest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +1.1%/yr, Guardant Health (GH) +8.5%/yr, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) -3.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has been the steadiest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 40.3%, Guardant Health (GH) 57.4%, Charles River Laboratories International (CRL) 45.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IQV, GH and CRL?

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