NVS vs TAK vs PFE Stock Comparison

Novartis Ag, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Pfizer Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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NVS Novartis Ag
$161.05 +10.5% 1M +32.2% 1Y
Market cap
$311.97B
P/E
17.9x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
3 wins
PFE Pfizer Inc
$29.95 +4.2% 1M +23.3% 1Y
Market cap
$173.68B
P/E
40.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$63.70B
Div. yield
0.06%
Pharmaceuticals Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Pfizer leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Pfizer 6, Novartis Ag 3, Takeda Pharmaceutical 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNVSTAKPFELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $311.97B $65.88B $173.68B NVS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.9x 208.7x 40.1x NVS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.4x 50.1x 10.5x PFE
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — -35.4% -0.2% PFE
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 1.1% 6.8% PFE
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.0% 13.4% PFE
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 4.8x 1.9x PFE
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.06% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +32.2% +45.5% +23.3% TAK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +14.3%/yr +7.4%/yr -7.3%/yr NVS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.6% 21.4% 21.7% TAK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 60/100 65/100 PFE

Percentile Scorecard

NVSTAKPFE

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

AxisNVSTAKPFE
Valuation 97 #18 of 624 97 #22 of 624 95 #34 of 624
Growth – 12 #531 of 601 24 #458 of 601
Profitability – 86 #77 of 541 92 #45 of 541
Financial Health – 32 #438 of 647 23 #500 of 647
Shareholder Returns 81 #68 of 359 74 #93 of 359 92 #30 of 359
Overall – 60 65
  • NVS ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • TAK ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • PFE 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

PeriodNVSTAKPFESPY
1 month +10.5%+8.2%+4.2% +0.7%
3 months +1.7%+16.1%+20.2% +3.7%
6 months +8.9%+20.1%+12.2% +7.1%
Year to date +16.8%+28.5%+20.3% +12.8%
1 year +32.2%+45.5%+23.3% +11.9%
3 years +71.8%+50.0%-2.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +19.8%+14.5%-0.7% +22.8%
5 years +94.6%+42.9%-31.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year +14.3%+7.4%-7.3% +10.9%
10 years +126.6%-12.9%-6.2% +262.0%
10 years, per year +8.5%-1.4%-0.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNVSTAKPFESPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.6%21.4%21.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.1%20.0%21.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.340.110.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.172.131.08 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -20.4%-26.4%-64.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.5%-1.9%-1.5% -1.2%
52-week high $168.62$20.43$30.41 $779.14
52-week low $121.80$13.23$23.67 $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.

MultipleNVSTAKPFE
P/E now vs peer median 17.9xmedian 17.8x 200.0xmedian 17.8x 39.4xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 9.1x 2.1xmedian 9.1x 2.7xmedian 9.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 15.0x 16.5xmedian 15.0x 8.2xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.3xmedian 21.7x 14.0xmedian 21.7x 15.5xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median —median 2.2x 1.4xmedian 2.2x 2.0xmedian 2.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.35 -3.44median 0.35 -0.95median 0.35

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 monthsNVSTAKPFE
Revenue – $30.00B $63.70B
Gross profit – $19.76B $46.61B
Operating income – $1.13B $20.39B
Net income – $244.16M $4.36B
Free cash flow – $4.55B $10.99B
R&D – $4.51B $11.05B
EPS (diluted) – $0.10 $0.76
Cash & equivalents $400.00M $2.66B $976.00M
Total debt – $31.49B $63.19B
Shares (diluted) 1.96B 3.15B 5.70B
Enterprise value $285.20B $44.10B $120.32B

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
MetricNVSTAKPFE
P/E 17.9x 200.0x 39.4x
P/FCF 14.3x 14.0x 15.5x
P/Operating cash flow – 11.4x 12.7x
P/S 5.1x 2.1x 2.7x
P/B – 1.4x 2.0x
P/Tangible book – 2.4x 4.4x
EV/EBITDA – 16.5x 8.2x
EV/EBIT – 79.5x 10.9x
EV/Revenue – 3.0x 3.5x
EV/FCF – 19.8x 20.2x
EV/Operating cash flow – 16.0x 16.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -3.44 -0.95

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNVSTAKPFE
Revenue growth (1Y) – -35.4% -0.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -13.1% -7.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -36.3% 1.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -13.3% -5.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -76.7% 1.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -43.6% -9.9%
Net income growth (1Y) – -6.2% -59.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -44.1% -41.3%
EPS growth (1Y) – -86.9% -59.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -58.1% -41.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -30.2% -11.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -6.9% -2.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -31.3% -11.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -8.4% 1.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNVSTAKPFE
Gross margin – 65.9% 73.2%
EBITDA margin – 18.2% 42.4%
Operating margin – 3.8% 32.0%
Pretax margin – 0.3% 6.6%
Net margin – 1.1% 6.8%
FCF margin – 15.2% 17.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 18.7% 21.0%
Return on equity – 0.7% 5.0%
Return on assets – 0.3% 2.1%
Return on invested capital – 0.0% 13.4%
Return on capital employed – 1.2% 11.9%
Asset turnover – 0.3x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 23.0x 3.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.6% 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNVSTAKPFE
Debt / assets – 32.5% 31.4%
Debt / equity – 0.7x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 4.8x 1.9x
Debt / FCF – 6.9x 5.8x
Liabilities / assets – 51.4% 57.5%
Equity / assets – 48.6% 42.5%
Interest coverage – 0.6x –
Current ratio – 3.1x 1.3x
Quick ratio – 1.8x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.9x 0.4x
Altman Z-score – 1.35 2.37

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNVSTAKPFE
Dividend yield 2.9% 1.5% 5.7%
Net buyback yield – 1.0% –
Shareholder yield 2.9% 2.6% 5.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 224.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 89.1%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 1.5%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 2.4%

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.

ConsensusNVSTAKPFE
Forward P/E 17.4xFY2026 50.1xFY2026 10.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $9.26FY2026 $0.40FY2026 $2.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.1%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026 -11.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +1.2% +62.5% -4.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $53.95BFY2026 $28.27BFY2026 $60.59BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -1.1%FY2026 -0.8%FY2026 -3.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.1% +11.9% +3.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNVSTAKPFE
Held by institutions 7.0% 3.3% 66.9%
Institutions holding 1,608 379 2,837
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.9% +6.2% +2.0%
Institutions buying 662 213 1,326
Institutions selling 561 98 1,204
Buyers to sellers 1.18 2.17 1.10

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.

NVSTAKPFE
NVS 1.00 0.49 0.49
TAK 0.49 1.00 0.43
PFE 0.49 0.43 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NVS, TAK and PFE?

Novartis Ag (NVS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Novartis Ag (NVS) $311.97B, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) $65.88B, Pfizer (PFE) $173.68B.

Which stock is cheaper, NVS, TAK and PFE?

Novartis Ag (NVS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Novartis Ag (NVS) 17.9x, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 208.7x, Pfizer (PFE) 40.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Pfizer (PFE) is cheapest (Novartis Ag (NVS) 17.4x, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 50.1x, Pfizer (PFE) 10.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Pfizer (PFE) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) -35.4%, Pfizer (PFE) -0.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Pfizer (PFE) has the highest net margin (Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 1.1%, Pfizer (PFE) 6.8%). On return on invested capital, Pfizer (PFE) leads (Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 0.0%, Pfizer (PFE) 13.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) returned the most: Novartis Ag (NVS) +32.2%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +45.5%, Pfizer (PFE) +23.3%. Over five years, Novartis Ag (NVS) compounded fastest (Novartis Ag (NVS) +14.3%/yr, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) +7.4%/yr, Pfizer (PFE) -7.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Novartis Ag (NVS) 0.00%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 0.00%, Pfizer (PFE) 0.06%. Novartis Ag (NVS) and Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) has been the steadiest (Novartis Ag (NVS) 27.6%, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TAK) 21.4%, Pfizer (PFE) 21.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, NVS, TAK and PFE?

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