JNJ vs ABT vs NVS Stock Comparison

Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories and Novartis Ag Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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JNJ Johnson & Johnson
$276.33 +9.3% 1M +47.9% 1Y
Market cap
$679.05B
P/E
42.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$99.34B
Div. yield
0.02%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
7 wins
ABT Abbott Laboratories
$115.57 +15.4% 1M -8.1% 1Y
Market cap
$203.15B
P/E
37.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$46.59B
Div. yield
0.02%
Medical Devices Healthcare
2 wins
NVS Novartis Ag
$164.95 +17.1% 1M +31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$321.36B
P/E
17.9x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Johnson & Johnson leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Johnson & Johnson 7, Novartis Ag 3, Abbott Laboratories 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionJNJABTNVSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $679.05B $203.15B $321.36B JNJ
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 42.2x 37.4x 17.9x NVS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.8x 20.3x 17.8x NVS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.8% +8.1% — ABT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 16.2% 11.6% — JNJ
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 17.6% 6.2% — JNJ
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 2.5x — JNJ
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.02% 0.02% 0.00% ABT
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +47.9% -8.1% +31.9% JNJ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.1%/yr -1.5%/yr +14.6%/yr NVS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 21.2% 28.3% 27.8% JNJ
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 57/100 — JNJ

Percentile Scorecard

JNJABTNVS

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

AxisJNJABTNVS
Valuation 86 #91 of 634 68 #74 of 229 97 #21 of 634
Growth 41 #357 of 607 29 #158 of 221 –
Profitability 94 #35 of 557 84 #34 of 209 –
Financial Health 41 #386 of 654 36 #153 of 240 –
Shareholder Returns 75 #99 of 400 66 #50 of 146 78 #88 of 400
Overall 67 57 –
  • JNJ ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • ABT ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • NVS 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

PeriodJNJABTNVSSPY
1 month +9.3%+15.4%+17.1% -1.0%
3 months +7.3%+9.4%+6.8% -0.4%
6 months +23.0%+33.9%+11.2% +4.5%
Year to date +33.5%-7.8%+19.6% +12.4%
1 year +47.9%-8.1%+31.9% +13.6%
3 years +82.6%+20.6%+77.8% +76.4%
3 years, per year +22.2%+6.4%+21.2% +20.8%
5 years +69.1%-7.1%+97.2% +63.7%
5 years, per year +11.1%-1.5%+14.6% +10.4%
10 years +140.1%+195.7%+134.8% +267.7%
10 years, per year +9.2%+11.5%+8.9% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureJNJABTNVSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 21.2%28.3%27.8% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 20.1%27.5%30.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.160.030.37 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 2.26-0.291.15 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -23.6%-41.6%-20.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.8%-11.5%-2.2% -1.6%
52-week high $278.47$130.59$168.62 $779.14
52-week low $186.00$82.56$124.36 $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.

MultipleJNJABTNVS
P/E now vs peer median 41.4xmedian 18.0x 37.1xmedian 28.5x 17.9xmedian 18.0x
P/S now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 9.1x 4.3xmedian 2.9x 5.1xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 20.8xmedian 16.2x 21.0xmedian 18.5x —median 16.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.3xmedian 21.7x 25.6xmedian 26.7x 14.3xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 8.2xmedian 2.2x 3.9xmedian 2.3x —median 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median -1.93median 0.38 20.39median 0.93 —median 0.38

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 monthsJNJABTNVS
Revenue $99.34B $46.59B –
Gross profit $67.11B $26.37B –
Operating income $25.19B $7.35B –
Net income $16.10B $5.43B –
Free cash flow $20.59B $7.82B –
R&D $16.08B $3.16B –
EPS (diluted) $6.57 $3.11 –
Cash & equivalents $16.91B $5.10B $400.00M
Total debt $44.65B $32.61B –
Shares (diluted) 2.45B 1.74B 1.96B
Enterprise value $598.91B $173.58B $294.60B

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
MetricJNJABTNVS
P/E 41.4x 37.1x 17.9x
P/FCF 32.3x 25.6x 14.3x
P/Operating cash flow 25.4x 20.2x –
P/S 6.7x 4.3x 5.1x
P/B 8.2x 3.9x –
P/Tangible book 19.1x 5.8x –
EV/EBITDA 20.8x 21.0x –
EV/EBIT 27.5x 30.9x –
EV/Revenue 7.0x 4.9x –
EV/FCF 33.6x 29.0x –
EV/Operating cash flow 26.5x 22.9x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.93 20.39 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricJNJABTNVS
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.8% 8.1% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 5.0% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.0% 9.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 5.9% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 7.4% -2.2% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 1.4% 6.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) -35.9% -61.2% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -22.5% 1.7% –
EPS growth (1Y) -36.4% -61.0% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -21.5% 1.8% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 8.1% 9.6% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 12.4% 9.9% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 5.1% 15.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.5% 12.5% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricJNJABTNVS
Gross margin 67.6% 56.6% –
EBITDA margin 33.5% 23.2% –
Operating margin 25.4% 15.8% –
Pretax margin 17.9% 16.1% –
Net margin 16.2% 11.6% –
FCF margin 20.7% 16.8% –
Operating cash flow margin 26.3% 21.3% –
Return on equity 19.3% 10.4% –
Return on assets 8.1% 4.9% –
Return on invested capital 17.6% 6.2% –
Return on capital employed 17.5% 8.0% –
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.6x 1.8x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.4% 1.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricJNJABTNVS
Debt / assets 22.6% 29.9% –
Debt / equity 0.5x 0.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 2.5x –
Debt / FCF 2.2x 4.2x –
Liabilities / assets 58.7% 52.6% –
Equity / assets 41.3% 47.4% –
Interest coverage 25.6x 9.6x –
Current ratio 1.0x 1.4x –
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.8x –
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.3x –
Altman Z-score 5.57 3.45 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricJNJABTNVS
Dividend yield 1.9% 2.2% 2.9%
Net buyback yield 0.6% 0.8% –
Shareholder yield 2.5% 3.0% 2.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) 79.0% 78.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 61.8% 54.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.9% 7.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.0% 7.5% –

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.

ConsensusJNJABTNVS
Forward P/E 25.8xFY2026 20.3xFY2026 17.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.72FY2026 $5.69FY2026 $9.26FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -0.6%FY2026 +10.5%FY2026 +3.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +5.9% +10.4% +1.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $106.54BFY2026 $53.00BFY2026 $53.95BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.1%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026 -1.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +7.0% -2.2% +19.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersJNJABTNVS
Held by institutions 74.7% 79.2% 7.0%
Institutions holding 4,697 2,983 1,609
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.8% +0.3% -5.9%
Institutions buying 2,296 1,261 662
Institutions selling 1,899 1,379 562
Buyers to sellers 1.21 0.91 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.

JNJABTNVS
JNJ 1.00 0.29 0.51
ABT 0.29 1.00 0.31
NVS 0.51 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, JNJ, ABT and NVS?

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is the largest by market capitalisation: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $679.05B, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $203.15B, Novartis Ag (NVS) $321.36B.

Which stock is cheaper, JNJ, ABT and NVS?

Novartis Ag (NVS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 42.2x, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) 37.4x, Novartis Ag (NVS) 17.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Novartis Ag (NVS) is cheapest (Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 25.8x, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) 20.3x, Novartis Ag (NVS) 17.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) +7.8%, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) has the highest net margin (Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 16.2%, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) 11.6%). On return on invested capital, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) leads (Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 17.6%, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) 6.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) returned the most: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) +47.9%, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) -8.1%, Novartis Ag (NVS) +31.9%. Over five years, Novartis Ag (NVS) compounded fastest (Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) +11.1%/yr, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) -1.5%/yr, Novartis Ag (NVS) +14.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) has the highest dividend yield: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 0.02%, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) 0.02%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 0.00%. Novartis Ag (NVS) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) has been the steadiest (Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 21.2%, Abbott Laboratories (ABT) 28.3%, Novartis Ag (NVS) 27.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, JNJ, ABT and NVS?

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