SHC vs ICLR vs CAI Stock Comparison

Sotera Health, Icon and Caris Life Sciences Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SHC Sotera Health Co
$18.49 +0.8% 1M +10.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.28B
P/E
32.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.22B
Div. yield
–
Diagnostic Labs Healthcare
3 wins
ICLR Icon Plc
$182.98 +6.2% 1M +0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$14.01B
P/E
32.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.23B
Div. yield
–
Contract Research Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Icon leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Icon 4, Caris Life Sciences 4, Sotera Health 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSHCICLRCAILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.28B $14.01B $9.51B ICLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.3x 32.0x 90.6x ICLR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.1x 17.9x 306.1x ICLR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% +1.8% +85.4% CAI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 13.4% 5.4% 10.6% SHC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.1% 4.7% 15.6% CAI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.3x 2.3x -2.2x CAI
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +10.7% +0.5% +11.3% CAI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -5.8%/yr -8.6%/yr — SHC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.4% 73.7% 69.5% SHC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 81/100 70/100 ICLR

Percentile Scorecard

SHCICLRCAI

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

AxisSHCICLRCAI
Valuation 52 #45 of 92 100 #1 of 11 23 #71 of 92
Growth 66 #30 of 87 70 #4 of 11 99 #2 of 87
Profitability 82 #16 of 86 80 #3 of 11 89 #10 of 86
Financial Health 37 #62 of 97 75 #4 of 13 81 #19 of 97
Shareholder Returns – – 56 #25 of 56
Overall 59 81 70
  • SHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ICLR ranked among 13 companies in Pharma Services
  • CAI ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSHCICLRCAISPY
1 month +0.8%+6.2%+5.3% -0.2%
3 months +4.1%+1.5%+116.0% +3.9%
6 months +19.0%+78.5%+82.6% +8.2%
Year to date +4.8%+0.4%+24.8% +12.9%
1 year +10.7%+0.5%+11.3% +12.3%
3 years +47.8%-22.2%— +87.4%
3 years, per year +13.9%-8.0%— +23.3%
5 years -25.6%-36.1%— +67.9%
5 years, per year -5.8%-8.6%— +10.9%
10 years —+127.4%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+8.6%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSHCICLRCAISPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.4%73.7%69.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.0%87.6%69.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.011.441.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.380.010.16 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -78.2%-76.9%-63.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -5.5%-9.8%0.0% -1.2%
52-week high $19.57$202.92$33.67 $779.14
52-week low $13.13$80.08$14.55 $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.

MultipleSHCICLRCAI
P/E now vs peer median 32.3xmedian 24.6x 32.0xmedian 32.1x 90.6xmedian 24.6x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 1.6x 1.7xmedian 2.6x 9.6xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.0xmedian 14.6x 15.2xmedian 38.1x 50.6xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 46.8xmedian 21.6x 16.3xmedian 21.5x 76.8xmedian 21.6x
P/B now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 3.2x 1.5xmedian 3.1x 16.1xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.86median 0.66 -13.47median 2.03 —median 0.66

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 monthsSHCICLRCAI
Revenue $1.22B $8.23B $989.61M
Gross profit $668.51M $1.93B $689.36M
Operating income $411.34M $718.25M $153.26M
Net income $163.48M $448.66M $105.14M
Free cash flow $112.70M $857.06M $123.96M
R&D – – $117.14M
EPS (diluted) $0.57 $5.68 $0.37
Cash & equivalents $356.72M $808.98M $690.92M
Total debt $2.14B $3.38B $393.15M
Shares (diluted) 288.15M 78.97M 282.89M
Enterprise value $3.96B $10.78B $6.34B

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
MetricSHCICLRCAI
P/E 32.3x 32.0x 90.6x
P/FCF 46.8x 16.3x 76.8x
P/Operating cash flow 18.1x 13.6x 56.4x
P/S 4.3x 1.7x 9.6x
P/B 7.9x 1.5x 16.1x
P/Tangible book 13.3x 2.3x 16.1x
EV/EBITDA 13.0x 15.2x 50.6x
EV/EBIT 17.2x 23.1x 59.5x
EV/Revenue 5.8x 2.0x 9.2x
EV/FCF 62.6x 19.3x 73.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 24.2x 16.1x 54.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.86 -13.47 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSHCICLRCAI
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% 1.8% 85.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 0.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.1% -13.4% 141.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.1% -6.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 21.8% 53.9% 188.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.2% -7.0% –
Net income growth (1Y) 580.5% 55.9% 137.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 37.7% -4.4% –
EPS growth (1Y) 574.9% 30.1% 103.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 37.5% -2.4% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.8% -9.9% 227.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 61.3% 15.8% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 0.0% -11.1% 188.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 32.6% 18.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSHCICLRCAI
Gross margin 55.0% 23.4% 69.7%
EBITDA margin 44.6% 13.3% 18.2%
Operating margin 33.8% 8.7% 15.5%
Pretax margin 21.7% 6.3% 10.6%
Net margin 13.4% 5.4% 10.6%
FCF margin 9.3% 10.4% 12.5%
Operating cash flow margin 24.0% 12.5% 17.0%
Return on equity 25.4% 7.6% 17.7%
Return on assets 5.0% 4.3% 8.8%
Return on invested capital 9.1% 4.7% 15.6%
Return on capital employed 13.5% 5.3% 15.3%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 2.3x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 3.1% 1.1% 6.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSHCICLRCAI
Debt / assets 64.7% 20.8% 32.0%
Debt / equity 3.2x 0.4x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.3x 2.3x -2.2x
Debt / FCF 19.0x 3.9x 3.2x
Liabilities / assets 79.9% 43.8% 51.9%
Equity / assets 20.1% 56.2% 48.1%
Interest coverage – 3.4x 3.3x
Current ratio 2.8x 1.3x 5.5x
Quick ratio 2.4x 0.9x 4.8x
Cash ratio 1.5x 0.3x 4.1x
Altman Z-score 1.94 2.07 8.11

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSHCICLRCAI
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – 2.7% 0.1%
Shareholder yield – 2.7% 0.1%
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.

ConsensusSHCICLRCAI
Forward P/E 20.1xFY2026 17.9xFY2026 306.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.92FY2026 $10.25FY2026 $0.11FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +7.0%FY2026 -18.2%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +21.7% +22.2% +236.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.33BFY2026 $8.52BFY2026 $1.06BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +14.8%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +30.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.2% -3.2% +21.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSHCICLRCAI
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 52.0%
Institutions holding 316 422 245
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.9% +5.5% -6.3%
Institutions buying 220 233 175
Institutions selling 64 138 47
Buyers to sellers 3.44 1.69 3.72

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.

SHCICLRCAI
SHC 1.00 0.32 0.38
ICLR 0.32 1.00 0.22
CAI 0.38 0.22 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SHC, ICLR and CAI?

Icon (ICLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sotera Health (SHC) $5.28B, Icon (ICLR) $14.01B, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) $9.51B.

Which stock is cheaper, SHC, ICLR and CAI?

Icon (ICLR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Sotera Health (SHC) 32.3x, Icon (ICLR) 32.0x, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 90.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Icon (ICLR) is cheapest (Sotera Health (SHC) 20.1x, Icon (ICLR) 17.9x, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 306.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Caris Life Sciences (CAI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sotera Health (SHC) +8.1%, Icon (ICLR) +1.8%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +85.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sotera Health (SHC) has the highest net margin (Sotera Health (SHC) 13.4%, Icon (ICLR) 5.4%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 10.6%). On return on invested capital, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) leads (Sotera Health (SHC) 9.1%, Icon (ICLR) 4.7%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 15.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Caris Life Sciences (CAI) returned the most: Sotera Health (SHC) +10.7%, Icon (ICLR) +0.5%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) +11.3%. Over five years, Sotera Health (SHC) compounded fastest (Sotera Health (SHC) -5.8%/yr, Icon (ICLR) -8.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sotera Health (SHC) has been the steadiest (Sotera Health (SHC) 28.4%, Icon (ICLR) 73.7%, Caris Life Sciences (CAI) 69.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SHC, ICLR and CAI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Icon (ICLR) leads on 4. 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.