NVS vs AZN Stock Comparison

Novartis Ag and Astrazeneca Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NVS Novartis Ag
$153.75 +5.7% 1M +17.9% 1Y
Market cap
$293.38B
P/E
18.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$54.77B
Div. yield
3.08%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
9 wins
AZN Astrazeneca Plc
$172.00 +3.2% 1M +3.3% 1Y
Market cap
$266.60B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$58.67B
Div. yield
1.39%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Novartis Ag leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Novartis Ag 9, Astrazeneca 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNVSAZNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $293.38B $266.60B NVS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.9x 25.5x NVS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.6x 17.2x NVS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +2.8% +9.4% AZN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 28.8% 17.8% NVS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 34.9% 23.3% NVS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.4x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 3.08% 1.39% NVS
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +17.9% +3.3% NVS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.2%/yr +6.8%/yr NVS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.8% 27.4% AZN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 71/100 71/100 NVS

Percentile Scorecard

NVSAZN

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

AxisNVSAZN
Valuation 87 #37 of 275 82 #51 of 275
Growth 53 #120 of 253 68 #83 of 253
Profitability 96 #9 of 224 95 #13 of 224
Financial Health 43 #170 of 296 41 #176 of 296
Shareholder Returns 78 #28 of 126 71 #37 of 126
Overall 71 71
  • NVS ranked among 305 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • AZN ranked among 305 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodNVSAZNSPY
1 month +5.7%+3.2% -0.8%
3 months -1.5%+1.4% +3.5%
6 months +6.6%-8.3% +7.0%
Year to date +11.5%-6.5% +12.2%
1 year +17.9%+3.3% +13.0%
3 years +66.6%+39.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +18.6%+11.6% +23.1%
5 years +85.8%+39.2% +68.6%
5 years, per year +13.2%+6.8% +11.0%
10 years +116.2%+190.6% +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.0%+11.3% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureNVSAZNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.8%27.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.7%27.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.330.22 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.640.12 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -20.4%-27.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -8.8%-17.9% -1.8%
52-week high $168.62$209.48 $779.14
52-week low $121.80$155.60 $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.

MultipleNVSAZN
P/E now vs peer median 18.9xmedian 10.4x 25.5xmedian 10.4x
P/S now vs peer median 5.4xmedian 6.4x 4.5xmedian 6.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 10.7x 14.5xmedian 10.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.1xmedian 12.5x 25.0xmedian 12.5x
P/B now vs peer median 7.0xmedian 1.6x 5.3xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.58median 0.29 1.33median 0.29

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 monthsNVSAZN
Revenue $54.77B $58.67B
Gross profit $42.37B $50.25B
Operating income $17.10B $13.97B
Net income $12.75B $10.45B
Free cash flow $19.38B $10.67B
R&D $11.69B $15.07B
EPS (diluted) $8.07 $6.69
Cash & equivalents $7.62B $4.90B
Total debt $31.01B $106.76B
Shares (diluted) 1.96B 1.56B
Enterprise value $257.77B $240.36B

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
MetricNVSAZN
P/E 18.9x 25.5x
P/FCF 15.1x 25.0x
P/Operating cash flow 16.0x 19.5x
P/S 5.4x 4.5x
P/B 7.0x 5.3x
P/Tangible book -2,292x 21.1x
EV/EBITDA – 14.5x
EV/EBIT 17.3x 21.0x
EV/Revenue 5.4x 5.0x
EV/FCF 15.2x 27.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.1x 21.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.58 1.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNVSAZN
Revenue growth (1Y) 2.8% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.1% 10.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.7% 9.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.5% 13.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2.5% 23.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.8% 23.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.5% 25.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 21.7% 19.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -9.6% 26.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 32.3% 19.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -11.5% 2.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 13.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -10.2% -4.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.0% 8.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNVSAZN
Gross margin 77.4% 85.6%
EBITDA margin – 34.6%
Operating margin 31.2% 23.8%
Pretax margin 28.3% 21.5%
Net margin 28.8% 17.8%
FCF margin 35.4% 18.2%
Operating cash flow margin 33.6% 23.3%
Return on equity 31.5% 21.4%
Return on assets 10.6% 9.1%
Return on invested capital 34.9% 23.3%
Return on capital employed 19.3% 16.8%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNVSAZN
Debt / assets 7.9% 27.9%
Debt / equity 0.2x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.4x
Debt / FCF 0.5x 3.0x
Liabilities / assets 65.6% 56.5%
Equity / assets 34.4% 43.5%
Interest coverage 36.7x 15.9x
Current ratio 0.9x 0.9x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 3.46

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNVSAZN
Dividend yield 3.1% 1.4%
Net buyback yield -1.5% 0.0%
Shareholder yield 1.6% 1.4%
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.

ConsensusNVSAZN
Forward P/E 16.6xFY2026 17.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.26FY2026 $10.00FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.1%FY2026 +9.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +1.2% +6.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $53.93BFY2026 $59.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2026 +0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.2% +7.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNVSAZN
Held by institutions 7.0% 52.1%
Institutions holding 1,607 1,496
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.9% +7.8%
Institutions buying 662 808
Institutions selling 560 468
Buyers to sellers 1.18 1.73

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.

NVSAZN
NVS 1.00 0.56
AZN 0.56 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NVS and AZN?

Novartis Ag (NVS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Novartis Ag (NVS) $293.38B, Astrazeneca (AZN) $266.60B.

Which stock is cheaper, NVS and AZN?

Novartis Ag (NVS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Novartis Ag (NVS) 18.9x, Astrazeneca (AZN) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Novartis Ag (NVS) is cheapest (Novartis Ag (NVS) 16.6x, Astrazeneca (AZN) 17.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Astrazeneca (AZN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Novartis Ag (NVS) +2.8%, Astrazeneca (AZN) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Novartis Ag (NVS) has the highest net margin (Novartis Ag (NVS) 28.8%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 17.8%). On return on invested capital, Novartis Ag (NVS) leads (Novartis Ag (NVS) 34.9%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 23.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Novartis Ag (NVS) returned the most: Novartis Ag (NVS) +17.9%, Astrazeneca (AZN) +3.3%. Over five years, Novartis Ag (NVS) compounded fastest (Novartis Ag (NVS) +13.2%/yr, Astrazeneca (AZN) +6.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Novartis Ag (NVS) has the highest dividend yield: Novartis Ag (NVS) 3.08%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 1.39%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Astrazeneca (AZN) has been the steadiest (Novartis Ag (NVS) 27.8%, Astrazeneca (AZN) 27.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do NVS and AZN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.56, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, NVS and AZN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Novartis Ag (NVS) leads on 9. 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.