NAII vs IFF vs STE Stock Comparison

Natural Alternatives International, International Flavors & Fragrances and Steris Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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STE STERIS plc
$254.37 +22.0% 1M +4.6% 1Y
Market cap
$24.70B
P/E
29.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.17B
Div. yield
1.01%
Medical Devices Healthcare
8 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Steris leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Steris 8, International Flavors & Fragrances 3, Natural Alternatives International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNAIIIFFSTELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.75M $21.62B $24.70B STE
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -0.3x 38.9x 29.9x STE
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 26.3x 22.0x STE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.7% +24.3% +8.1% IFF
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -14.5% 4.8% 13.4% STE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -24.9% -1.5% 9.5% STE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.8x 10.9x 0.8x NAII
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.85% 1.01% IFF
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -62.4% +34.9% +4.6% IFF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -39.1%/yr -9.7%/yr +2.5%/yr STE
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 67.4% 35.4% 27.5% STE
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 33/100 48/100 71/100 STE

Percentile Scorecard

NAIIIFFSTE

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

AxisNAIIIFFSTE
Valuation 40 #7 of 11 44 #54 of 95 76 #56 of 229
Growth 0 #11 of 11 88 #12 of 93 50 #111 of 221
Profitability 40 #7 of 11 49 #46 of 89 89 #24 of 210
Financial Health 50 #7 of 13 32 #66 of 96 65 #84 of 240
Shareholder Returns – 28 #54 of 75 73 #40 of 147
Overall 33 48 71
  • NAII ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • IFF ranked among 99 companies in Chemicals
  • STE ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNAIIIFFSTESPY
1 month -15.8%+2.8%+22.0% -5.9%
3 months -52.9%+2.1%+9.8% -4.6%
6 months -59.1%+10.3%+19.0% +0.2%
Year to date -68.7%+28.1%+0.3% +7.5%
1 year -62.4%+34.9%+4.6% +8.2%
3 years -81.8%+19.3%+17.0% +68.3%
3 years, per year -43.4%+6.1%+5.4% +19.0%
5 years -91.6%-39.9%+13.3% +56.5%
5 years, per year -39.1%-9.7%+2.5% +9.4%
10 years -90.5%-32.9%+289.3% +251.5%
10 years, per year -20.9%-3.9%+14.6% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureNAIIIFFSTESPY
Volatility, 1Y 67.4%35.4%27.5% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 76.7%29.9%25.8% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.740.540.37 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.930.990.17 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -92.7%-61.1%-36.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -76.8%-8.8%-5.3% -5.9%
52-week high $4.83$94.62$268.65 $779.14
52-week low $1.06$62.00$199.40 $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.

MultipleNAIIIFFSTE
P/E now vs peer median -0.3xmedian 34.8x 38.9xmedian 21.2x 29.9xmedian 26.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 2.5x 1.8xmedian 1.3x 4.0xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -1.3xmedian 28.8x 50.3xmedian 11.7x 15.7xmedian 17.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.5xmedian 21.0x 43.1xmedian 17.0x 26.4xmedian 26.4x
P/B now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 2.7x 1.6xmedian 1.5x 3.4xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 1.96 0.18median 1.76 1.96median 0.88

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 monthsNAIIIFFSTE
Revenue $142.52M $11.69B $6.17B
Gross profit $9.00M $4.16B $2.75B
Operating income -$18.75M -$302.00M $1.17B
Net income -$20.70M $186.00M $829.70M
Free cash flow -$12.62M $501.00M $937.20M
R&D – $713.00M $118.40M
EPS (diluted) $-3.43 $2.22 $8.47
Cash & equivalents $7.39M $272.00M $531.10M
Total debt $18.69M $6.27B $1.89B
Shares (diluted) 6.03M 253.00M 97.60M
Enterprise value -$21.33M $19.90B $22.84B

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
MetricNAIIIFFSTE
P/E -0.3x 38.9x 29.9x
P/FCF -0.5x 43.1x 26.4x
P/Operating cash flow -0.8x 19.0x 19.2x
P/S 0.0x 1.8x 4.0x
P/B 0.1x 1.6x 3.4x
P/Tangible book 0.1x 2.2x 4.3x
EV/EBITDA -1.3x 50.3x 15.7x
EV/EBIT -1.0x -91.5x 22.3x
EV/Revenue 0.1x 2.4x 4.2x
EV/FCF -1.4x 55.1x 27.8x
EV/Operating cash flow -2.0x 24.3x 20.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 0.18 1.96

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNAIIIFFSTE
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.7% 24.3% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -2.6% 0.2% 8.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.1% 14.3% 8.8%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -20.9% 4.1% 9.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) -116.5% 31.8% 20.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -81.5% -37.0% -4.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -52.4% 142.5% 20.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -116.9% 90.3% 14.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -50.4% 563.3% 21.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -115.5% 215.9% 15.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -250.3% 23.6% -0.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -48.4% 4.3% 15.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -644.3% 41.1% -2.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -24.7% 3.4% 20.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNAIIIFFSTE
Gross margin 6.3% 35.6% 44.6%
EBITDA margin -9.9% 4.7% 27.0%
Operating margin -13.2% -2.6% 19.0%
Pretax margin -14.2% -7.9% 18.2%
Net margin -14.5% 4.8% 13.4%
FCF margin -8.9% 4.3% 15.2%
Operating cash flow margin -6.3% 9.7% 20.9%
Return on equity -36.6% 1.3% 11.4%
Return on assets -14.7% 0.7% 7.7%
Return on invested capital -24.9% -1.5% 9.5%
Return on capital employed -18.2% -1.5% 12.3%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.5x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.4x 6.1x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.7% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNAIIIFFSTE
Debt / assets 14.8% 25.3% 17.7%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.5x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.8x 10.9x 0.8x
Debt / FCF -1.5x 12.5x 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 60.5% 46.5% 32.1%
Equity / assets 39.5% 53.5% 67.9%
Interest coverage – -1.6x 20.5x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.9x 2.1x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.3x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.1x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.38 1.56 5.82

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNAIIIFFSTE
Dividend yield – 1.9% 1.0%
Net buyback yield 1.3% 2.9% 1.4%
Shareholder yield 1.3% 4.7% 2.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 219.9% 30.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 81.6% 26.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 0.0% 9.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -20.9% 9.6%

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.

ConsensusNAIIIFFSTE
Forward P/E – 26.3xFY2026 22.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $3.28FY2026 $11.56FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -21.9%FY2026 +13.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +23.5% +13.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $8.11BFY2026 $6.62BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – -25.6%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – -8.3% -0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNAIIIFFSTE
Held by institutions 10.5% 100.0% 97.1%
Institutions holding 24 756 831
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.0% +6.0% +1.1%
Institutions buying 8 410 405
Institutions selling 7 227 302
Buyers to sellers 1.14 1.81 1.34

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.

NAIIIFFSTE
NAII 1.00 0.09 0.18
IFF 0.09 1.00 0.25
STE 0.18 0.25 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NAII, IFF and STE?

Steris (STE) is the largest by market capitalisation: Natural Alternatives International (NAII) $6.75M, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) $21.62B, Steris (STE) $24.70B.

Which stock is cheaper, NAII, IFF and STE?

Steris (STE) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Natural Alternatives International (NAII) -0.3x, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 38.9x, Steris (STE) 29.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Steris (STE) is cheapest (International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 26.3x, Steris (STE) 22.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Natural Alternatives International (NAII) +9.7%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +24.3%, Steris (STE) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Steris (STE) has the highest net margin (Natural Alternatives International (NAII) -14.5%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 4.8%, Steris (STE) 13.4%). On return on invested capital, Steris (STE) leads (Natural Alternatives International (NAII) -24.9%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -1.5%, Steris (STE) 9.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) returned the most: Natural Alternatives International (NAII) -62.4%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) +34.9%, Steris (STE) +4.6%. Over five years, Steris (STE) compounded fastest (Natural Alternatives International (NAII) -39.1%/yr, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) -9.7%/yr, Steris (STE) +2.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has the highest dividend yield: International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 1.85%, Steris (STE) 1.01%. Natural Alternatives International (NAII) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Steris (STE) has been the steadiest (Natural Alternatives International (NAII) 67.4%, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) 35.4%, Steris (STE) 27.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NAII, IFF and STE?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Steris (STE) leads on 8. 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.