IQV vs LH Stock Comparison

Iqvia Holdings and Labcorp Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
IQV Iqvia Holdings Inc.
$279.38 +4.2% 1M +27.0% 1Y
Market cap
$45.49B
P/E
33.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$16.98B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
6 wins
LH Labcorp Holdings Inc.
$329.04 +8.2% 1M +15.9% 1Y
Market cap
$26.92B
P/E
26.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.35B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Iqvia Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Iqvia Holdings 6, Labcorp Holdings 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionIQVLHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $45.49B $26.92B IQV
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.1x 26.9x LH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.0x 19.3x LH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.2% +6.4% IQV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.1% 7.0% IQV
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.3% 8.2% IQV
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 4.1x 2.6x LH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +27.0% +15.9% IQV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.7%/yr +6.3%/yr LH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.3% 24.1% LH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 65/100 57/100 IQV

Percentile Scorecard

IQVLH

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

AxisIQVLH
Valuation 80 #3 of 11 64 #34 of 93
Growth 80 #3 of 11 30 #62 of 88
Profitability 90 #2 of 11 69 #28 of 87
Financial Health 8 #12 of 13 49 #52 of 100
Shareholder Returns – 73 #16 of 56
Overall 65 57
  • IQV ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • LH ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodIQVLHSPY
1 month +4.2%+8.2% -1.0%
3 months +34.4%+10.9% +2.9%
6 months +72.2%+24.7% +6.4%
Year to date +23.9%+31.2% +11.4%
1 year +27.0%+15.9% +13.1%
3 years +49.6%+65.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +14.4%+18.3% +21.5%
5 years +8.8%+35.7% +67.7%
5 years, per year +1.7%+6.3% +10.9%
10 years +277.4%+176.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +14.2%+10.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureIQVLHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.3%24.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.3%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.730.32 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.670.66 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.5%-35.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-3.1% -2.5%
52-week high $279.38$339.40 $779.14
52-week low $156.66$246.64 $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.

MultipleIQVLH
P/E now vs peer median 33.7xmedian 36.1x 26.8xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 2.7x 1.9xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.6xmedian 37.4x 14.7xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.1xmedian 21.1x 23.0xmedian 22.7x
P/B now vs peer median 7.3xmedian 2.9x 3.1xmedian 3.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.84median 2.05 2.85median 0.66

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 monthsIQVLH
Revenue $16.98B $14.35B
Gross profit $5.60B $4.14B
Operating income $2.20B $1.50B
Net income $1.38B $1.00B
Free cash flow $2.18B $1.16B
EPS (diluted) $8.22 $12.22
Cash & equivalents $1.91B $141.80M
Total debt $16.00B $23.36B
Shares (diluted) 167.30M 82.00M
Enterprise value $37.19B $24.67B

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
MetricIQVLH
P/E 33.7x 26.8x
P/FCF 21.1x 23.0x
P/Operating cash flow 16.3x 16.2x
P/S 2.7x 1.9x
P/B 7.3x 3.1x
P/Tangible book 29.6x 5.4x
EV/EBITDA 17.6x 14.7x
EV/EBIT 27.2x 21.6x
EV/Revenue 3.5x 2.3x
EV/FCF 27.4x 28.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 21.3x 19.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.84 2.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricIQVLH
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.2% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.0% 6.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.1% 9.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.1% 7.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.0% 25.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.0% 14.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 11.5% 31.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.8% 6.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 15.1% 34.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 11.9% 9.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.7% -3.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.9% 3.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 8.7% -8.4%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.3% 0.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricIQVLH
Gross margin 33.0% 28.9%
EBITDA margin 20.1% 15.3%
Operating margin 13.0% 10.4%
Pretax margin 9.3% 8.6%
Net margin 8.1% 7.0%
FCF margin 12.9% 8.1%
Operating cash flow margin 16.6% 11.4%
Return on equity 21.8% 11.6%
Return on assets 4.6% 5.3%
Return on invested capital 8.3% 8.2%
Return on capital employed 10.5% 9.0%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 1.6% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricIQVLH
Debt / assets 53.5% 31.6%
Debt / equity 2.5x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 4.1x 2.6x
Debt / FCF 7.3x 5.1x
Liabilities / assets 78.9% 53.6%
Equity / assets 21.1% 46.4%
Interest coverage 2.9x 6.6x
Current ratio 0.7x 1.8x
Quick ratio 0.8x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.25 3.42

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricIQVLH
Dividend yield – 0.9%
Net buyback yield 2.5% 2.4%
Shareholder yield 2.5% 3.3%
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.

ConsensusIQVLH
Forward P/E 23.0xFY2026 19.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.14FY2026 $17.07FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 +3.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.4% +9.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.58BFY2026 $14.31BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.9%FY2026 +2.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.5% +11.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersIQVLH
Held by institutions 94.1% 97.0%
Institutions holding 1,083 1,051
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.3% +1.6%
Institutions buying 530 465
Institutions selling 424 393
Buyers to sellers 1.25 1.18

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.

IQVLH
IQV 1.00 0.36
LH 0.36 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, IQV and LH?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) is the largest by market capitalisation: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) $45.49B, Labcorp Holdings (LH) $26.92B.

Which stock is cheaper, IQV and LH?

Labcorp Holdings (LH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 33.1x, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 26.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Labcorp Holdings (LH) is cheapest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 23.0x, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 19.3x). 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) +8.2%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +6.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Iqvia Holdings (IQV) has the highest net margin (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.1%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 7.0%). On return on invested capital, Iqvia Holdings (IQV) leads (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 8.3%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 8.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Iqvia Holdings (IQV) returned the most: Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +27.0%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +15.9%. Over five years, Labcorp Holdings (LH) compounded fastest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) +1.7%/yr, Labcorp Holdings (LH) +6.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Labcorp Holdings (LH) has been the steadiest (Iqvia Holdings (IQV) 40.3%, Labcorp Holdings (LH) 24.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do IQV and LH move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.36, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, IQV and LH?

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 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.