MDLN vs BDX Stock Comparison

Medline and Becton Dickinson Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MDLN Medline Inc.
$33.69 -2.9% 1M
Market cap
$27.76B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$28.57B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
3 wins
BDX Becton Dickinson & Co
$196.39 +6.8% 1M +5.7% 1Y
Market cap
$53.61B
P/E
57.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$23.25B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare
5 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Becton Dickinson leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Becton Dickinson 5, Medline 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMDLNBDXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.76B $53.61B BDX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.2x 57.0x MDLN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.4x 15.1x BDX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +17.4% –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.9% 4.0% BDX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.4% 5.3% MDLN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 3.2x MDLN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months — +5.7% –
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -4.3%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.5% 31.9% BDX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 67/100 BDX

Percentile Scorecard

MDLNBDX

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

AxisMDLNBDX
Valuation 82 #42 of 228 90 #24 of 228
Growth – 47 #117 of 221
Profitability 72 #59 of 208 78 #46 of 208
Financial Health 41 #142 of 239 27 #176 of 239
Shareholder Returns 72 #39 of 137 95 #8 of 137
Overall 67 67
  • MDLN ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • BDX ranked among 248 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMDLNBDXSPY
1 month -2.9%+6.8% -0.8%
3 months -15.1%+23.6% +3.5%
6 months -25.5%+30.7% +7.0%
Year to date -19.8%+1.2% +12.2%
1 year —+5.7% +13.0%
3 years —-21.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year —-7.9% +23.1%
5 years —-19.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year —-4.3% +11.0%
10 years —+17.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+1.6% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMDLNBDXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.5%31.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 48.6%33.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.620.34 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y —0.18 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -36.7%-50.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.6%-6.5% -1.8%
52-week high $49.99$210.02 $779.14
52-week low $31.64$140.71 $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.

MultipleMDLNBDX
P/E now vs peer median 34.5xmedian 30.6x 57.3xmedian 30.6x
P/S now vs peer median 1.6xmedian 3.0x 2.3xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.5xmedian 17.5x 14.0xmedian 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.8xmedian 23.3x 16.7xmedian 23.3x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 2.4x 2.2xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.87 -3.93median 0.87

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 monthsMDLNBDX
Revenue $28.57B $23.25B
Gross profit $7.79B $10.91B
Operating income $2.03B $2.48B
Net income $1.03B $941.00M
Free cash flow $1.59B $3.20B
R&D – $1.37B
EPS (diluted) $0.97 $3.42
Cash & equivalents $2.33B $708.00M
Total debt $12.58B $72.81B
Shares (diluted) 861.00M 275.16M
Enterprise value $20.71B $50.76B

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
MetricMDLNBDX
P/E 34.5x 57.3x
P/FCF 27.8x 16.7x
P/Operating cash flow 22.1x 13.5x
P/S 1.6x 2.3x
P/B 2.3x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 8.0x 2.2x
EV/EBITDA 17.5x 14.0x
EV/EBIT 26.7x 28.0x
EV/Revenue 1.9x 3.0x
EV/FCF 34.1x 21.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 27.0x 17.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -3.93

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMDLNBDX
Revenue growth (1Y) – 17.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 6.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 23.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 8.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) – 13.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 3.3%
Net income growth (1Y) – -40.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -17.3%
EPS growth (1Y) – -38.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -14.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 43.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 14.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 54.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 22.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMDLNBDX
Gross margin 27.3% 46.9%
EBITDA margin 10.8% 21.4%
Operating margin 7.1% 10.7%
Pretax margin 4.3% 8.4%
Net margin 2.9% 4.0%
FCF margin 5.6% 13.8%
Operating cash flow margin 7.0% 17.0%
Return on equity 5.4% 3.9%
Return on assets 2.6% 1.9%
Return on invested capital 5.4% 5.3%
Return on capital employed 5.6% 6.0%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 4.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMDLNBDX
Debt / assets 32.0% 33.1%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 3.2x
Debt / FCF 7.9x 5.2x
Liabilities / assets 51.5% 51.9%
Equity / assets 48.5% 48.1%
Interest coverage – 4.2x
Current ratio 4.3x 0.9x
Quick ratio 2.3x 0.3x
Cash ratio 1.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.49 2.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMDLNBDX
Dividend yield – 2.1%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 4.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 6.8%
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.

ConsensusMDLNBDX
Forward P/E 23.4xFY2026 15.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.44FY2026 $12.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +0.7%FY2026 +14.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.9% -2.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $32.52BFY2026 $18.11BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.4%FY2026 -17.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.0% +11.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMDLNBDX
Held by institutions 57.1% 96.1%
Institutions holding 407 1,442
Change in shares held, QoQ +17.9% +0.6%
Institutions buying 322 688
Institutions selling 68 543
Buyers to sellers 4.74 1.27

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.

MDLNBDX
MDLN 1.00 0.31
BDX 0.31 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MDLN and BDX?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Medline (MDLN) $27.76B, Becton Dickinson (BDX) $53.61B.

Which stock is cheaper, MDLN and BDX?

Medline (MDLN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Medline (MDLN) 33.2x, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 57.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Becton Dickinson (BDX) is cheapest (Medline (MDLN) 23.4x, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 15.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is more profitable?

Becton Dickinson (BDX) has the highest net margin (Medline (MDLN) 2.9%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 4.0%). On return on invested capital, Medline (MDLN) leads (Medline (MDLN) 5.4%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 5.3%).

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Becton Dickinson (BDX) has been the steadiest (Medline (MDLN) 44.5%, Becton Dickinson (BDX) 31.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do MDLN and BDX move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.31, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, MDLN and BDX?

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