IQV vs ICLR vs LDOS Stock Comparison

Iqvia Holdings, Icon and Leidos Holdings Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IQV Iqvia Holdings Inc.
$262.56 +1.7% 1M +22.8% 1Y
Market cap
$43.52B
P/E
31.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.31B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
4 wins
ICLR Icon Plc
$203.77 +25.7% 1M +20.7% 1Y
Market cap
$15.92B
P/E
35.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
1 win
LDOS Leidos Holdings, Inc.
$134.68 +14.4% 1M -30.2% 1Y
Market cap
$16.90B
P/E
11.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.80B
Div. yield
0.01%
Defense Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Leidos Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Leidos Holdings 6, Iqvia Holdings 4, Icon 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIQVICLRLDOSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $43.52B $15.92B $16.90B IQV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 31.2x 35.5x 11.9x LDOS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.6x 19.9x 10.6x LDOS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.8% +1.8% +2.7% IQV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.1% 5.4% 8.0% IQV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.2% 4.7% 14.5% LDOS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.9x 2.3x 2.3x LDOS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.8% +20.7% -30.2% IQV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.7%/yr -6.2%/yr +7.3%/yr LDOS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.7% 75.0% 36.2% LDOS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 81/100 73/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

IQVICLRLDOS

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

AxisIQVICLRLDOS
Valuation 80 #3 of 11 100 #1 of 11 99 #2 of 101
Growth 80 #3 of 11 70 #4 of 11 72 #28 of 98
Profitability 90 #2 of 11 80 #3 of 11 84 #16 of 97
Financial Health 33 #9 of 13 75 #4 of 13 31 #74 of 107
Shareholder Returns – – 80 #14 of 65
Overall 71 81 73
  • IQV ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • LDOS ranked among 108 companies in Aerospace and Defense

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIQVICLRLDOSSPY
1 month +1.7%+25.7%+14.4% -2.0%
3 months +15.1%+29.9%+3.2% -2.2%
6 months +48.8%+68.0%-1.8% +4.2%
Year to date +16.5%+11.8%-25.3% +10.6%
1 year +22.8%+20.7%-30.2% +10.4%
3 years +33.1%-21.1%+29.6% +73.6%
3 years, per year +10.0%-7.6%+9.0% +20.2%
5 years +3.4%-27.4%+42.1% +61.6%
5 years, per year +0.7%-6.2%+7.3% +10.1%
10 years +263.6%+165.7%+203.4% +261.3%
10 years, per year +13.8%+10.3%+11.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureIQVICLRLDOSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.7%75.0%36.2% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%87.4%38.3% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.781.480.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.560.28-0.84 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.5%-76.9%-50.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.0%-5.4%-32.5% -3.2%
52-week high $279.38$215.48$199.55 $779.14
52-week low $156.66$80.08$100.00 $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.

MultipleIQVICLRLDOS
P/E now vs peer median 31.0xmedian 35.6x 35.6xmedian 35.6x 11.8xmedian 26.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 2.5x 1.9xmedian 2.5x 0.9xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 16.4xmedian 29.7x 16.6xmedian 29.7x 9.3xmedian 14.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.8xmedian 20.8x 18.2xmedian 20.8x 8.4xmedian 29.2x
P/B now vs peer median 6.4xmedian 2.8x 1.7xmedian 2.8x 3.1xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median 2.69median 1.97 -11.88median 1.97 0.10median 0.93

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 monthsIQVICLRLDOS
Revenue $17.31B $8.23B $17.80B
Gross profit $5.72B $1.93B $3.14B
Operating income $2.22B $718.25M $2.05B
Net income $1.40B $448.66M $1.44B
Free cash flow $2.08B $857.06M $1.96B
EPS (diluted) $8.35 $5.68 $11.35
Cash & equivalents $2.25B $808.98M $630.00M
Total debt $16.07B $3.38B $6.03B
Shares (diluted) 167.00M 78.97M 125.00M
Enterprise value $34.77B $12.69B $13.95B

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
MetricIQVICLRLDOS
P/E 31.0x 35.6x 11.8x
P/FCF 20.8x 18.2x 8.4x
P/Operating cash flow 15.8x 15.2x 7.8x
P/S 2.5x 1.9x 0.9x
P/B 6.4x 1.7x 3.1x
P/Tangible book 21.1x 2.6x 3.8x
EV/EBITDA 16.4x 16.6x 9.3x
EV/EBIT 25.6x 25.3x 10.7x
EV/Revenue 3.3x 2.2x 1.2x
EV/FCF 27.4x 21.2x 11.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.8x 17.7x 10.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.69 -11.88 0.10

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIQVICLRLDOS
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.8% 1.8% 2.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 0.9% 5.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.6% -13.4% 2.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.4% -6.5% 13.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.7% 53.9% -0.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% -7.0% 57.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.0% 55.9% 2.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.8% -4.4% 110.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.7% 30.1% 5.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 11.5% -3.0% 119.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -2.4% -9.9% 36.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.7% 15.8% 28.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -6.0% -11.1% 41.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.3% 18.4% 34.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIQVICLRLDOS
Gross margin 33.1% 23.4% 17.6%
EBITDA margin 20.0% 13.3% 13.2%
Operating margin 12.8% 8.7% 11.5%
Pretax margin 9.0% 6.3% 10.1%
Net margin 8.1% 5.4% 8.0%
FCF margin 12.0% 10.4% 11.0%
Operating cash flow margin 15.8% 12.5% 11.9%
Return on equity 21.4% 7.6% 27.3%
Return on assets 4.6% 4.3% 9.3%
Return on invested capital 8.2% 4.7% 14.5%
Return on capital employed 9.9% 5.3% 16.6%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.5x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 2.3x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 1.8% 1.1% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIQVICLRLDOS
Debt / assets 52.7% 20.8% 39.0%
Debt / equity 2.4x 0.4x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.9x 2.3x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 7.7x 3.9x 3.1x
Liabilities / assets 77.7% 43.8% 66.2%
Equity / assets 22.3% 56.2% 33.8%
Interest coverage 2.8x 3.4x –
Current ratio 0.8x 1.3x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.9x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.23 2.21 3.17

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIQVICLRLDOS
Dividend yield – – 1.3%
Net buyback yield 2.7% 2.5% 6.5%
Shareholder yield 2.7% 2.5% 7.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 15.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 11.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 3.8%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 2.8%

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.

ConsensusIQVICLRLDOS
Forward P/E 21.6xFY2026 19.9xFY2026 10.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.14FY2026 $10.25FY2026 $12.75FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 -18.2%FY2026 +6.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.3% +22.2% -9.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.58BFY2026 $8.52BFY2026 $17.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.9%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +2.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.5% -3.2% +14.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIQVICLRLDOS
Held by institutions 94.1% 100.0% 79.3%
Institutions holding 1,085 424 774
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% +5.5% +4.1%
Institutions buying 532 234 380
Institutions selling 424 139 295
Buyers to sellers 1.25 1.68 1.29

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.

IQVICLRLDOS
IQV 1.00 0.55 0.15
ICLR 0.55 1.00 0.17
LDOS 0.15 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IQV, ICLR and LDOS?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) $43.52B, Icon (ICLR) $15.92B, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) $16.90B.

Which stock is cheaper, IQV, ICLR and LDOS?

Leidos Holdings (LDOS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 31.2x, Icon (ICLR) 35.5x, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 11.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) is cheapest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 21.6x, Icon (ICLR) 19.9x, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 10.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +8.8%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +2.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has the highest net margin (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.1%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 8.0%). On return on invested capital, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) leads (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.2%, Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 14.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Iqvia Holdings (IQV) returned the most: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +22.8%, Icon (ICLR) +20.7%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) -30.2%. Over five years, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) compounded fastest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +0.7%/yr, Icon (ICLR) -6.2%/yr, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) +7.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 0.00%, Icon (ICLR) 0.00%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 0.01%. Iqvia Holdings (IQV) and Icon (ICLR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) has been the steadiest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 40.7%, Icon (ICLR) 75.0%, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) 36.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, IQV, ICLR and LDOS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Leidos Holdings (LDOS) leads on 6. 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.