VLTO vs IDXX vs ECL Stock Comparison

Veralto, Idexx Laboratories and Ecolab Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
1 more company in this comparison (CDZI) Create a free account to keep reading and compare up to 10 companies.
VLTO Veralto Corp
$103.97 +7.6% 1M +4.5% 1Y
Market cap
$27.42B
P/E
27.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.80B
Div. yield
–
Water Treatment Industrials
2 wins
ECL Ecolab Inc.
$300.86 +8.3% 1M +16.9% 1Y
Market cap
$84.51B
P/E
40.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.37B
Div. yield
0.01%
Water Treatment Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Idexx Laboratories leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Idexx Laboratories 5, Ecolab 4, Veralto 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVLTOIDXXECLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.42B $43.52B $84.51B ECL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.4x 38.2x 40.6x VLTO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.9x 36.9x 38.1x VLTO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.4% +12.8% +9.3% IDXX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 25.0% 12.0% IDXX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 45.6% 10.0% IDXX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.5x 3.1x IDXX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +4.5% -8.2% +16.9% ECL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -2.9%/yr +6.3%/yr ECL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 23.3% 32.1% 21.2% ECL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 77/100 64/100 IDXX

Percentile Scorecard

VLTOIDXXECL

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

AxisVLTOIDXXECL
Valuation 70 #7 of 21 75 #155 of 624 50 #11 of 21
Growth 50 #10 of 19 76 #148 of 601 83 #4 of 19
Profitability – 97 #17 of 541 93 #2 of 16
Financial Health – 46 #350 of 647 25 #16 of 21
Shareholder Returns – 93 #26 of 359 67 #4 of 10
Overall – 77 64
  • VLTO ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment
  • IDXX ranked among 671 companies in Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
  • ECL ranked among 22 companies in Environmental Equipment

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVLTOIDXXECLSPY
1 month +7.6%+8.0%+8.3% +0.7%
3 months +9.8%+3.1%+7.7% +3.7%
6 months +17.9%+2.7%+15.4% +7.1%
Year to date +4.2%-14.9%+14.6% +12.8%
1 year +4.5%-8.2%+16.9% +11.9%
3 years +52.1%+45.3%+89.0% +85.2%
3 years, per year +15.0%+13.3%+23.7% +22.8%
5 years —-13.5%+35.4% +67.6%
5 years, per year —-2.9%+6.3% +10.9%
10 years —+448.3%+161.4% +262.0%
10 years, per year —+18.6%+10.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureVLTOIDXXECLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 23.3%32.1%21.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 21.9%31.3%20.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.230.790.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.19-0.260.79 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.6%-51.3%-44.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -0.9%-24.9%-2.4% -1.2%
52-week high $104.87$766.68$308.35 $779.14
52-week low $82.23$504.70$245.73 $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.

MultipleVLTOIDXXECL
P/E now vs peer median 25.4xmedian 25.4x 39.9xmedian 17.8x 40.5xmedian 25.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.4xmedian 2.5x 10.0xmedian 9.1x 4.9xmedian 2.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 17.9x 28.6xmedian 15.0x 24.3xmedian 17.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 22.1xmedian 22.3x 36.2xmedian 21.7x 47.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median —median 1.8x 28.2xmedian 2.2x 8.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 4.62median 1.73 2.64median 0.35 2.04median 1.73

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 monthsVLTOIDXXECL
Revenue $5.80B $4.55B $17.37B
Gross profit $3.49B $2.84B $7.63B
Operating income $1.27B $1.46B $2.90B
Net income – $1.14B $2.10B
Free cash flow – $1.25B $1.80B
R&D $278.00M $261.47M –
EPS (diluted) $4.08 $14.37 $7.38
Cash & equivalents – $196.93M $722.30M
Total debt – $968.86M $13.19B
Shares (diluted) 245.80M 79.31M 282.10M
Enterprise value $27.42B $42.73B $77.49B

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
MetricVLTOIDXXECL
P/E 25.4x 39.9x 40.5x
P/FCF 22.1x 36.2x 47.0x
P/Operating cash flow – 33.1x 27.9x
P/S 4.4x 10.0x 4.9x
P/B – 28.2x 8.1x
P/Tangible book – 30.0x 15.8x
EV/EBITDA – 28.6x 24.3x
EV/EBIT – 31.7x 33.4x
EV/Revenue 4.4x 10.1x 5.6x
EV/FCF – 36.8x 54.0x
EV/Operating cash flow – 33.7x 32.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.62 2.64 2.04

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVLTOIDXXECL
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.4% 12.8% 9.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.2% 9.0% 4.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.7% 14.4% 8.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.8% 10.5% 8.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -0.2% 16.2% 11.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 11.7% 17.2%
Net income growth (1Y) – 15.6% 4.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 12.9% 18.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 11.9% 18.1% 6.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 15.1% 19.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 51.4% 15.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 22.5% 7.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 59.9% 15.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 28.4% 1.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVLTOIDXXECL
Gross margin – 62.4% 43.9%
EBITDA margin – 35.4% 22.9%
Operating margin – 32.0% 16.7%
Pretax margin – 31.3% 15.0%
Net margin – 25.0% 12.0%
FCF margin – 27.5% 10.3%
Operating cash flow margin – 30.1% 17.4%
Return on equity – 71.9% 20.4%
Return on assets – 33.4% 6.9%
Return on invested capital – 45.6% 10.0%
Return on capital employed – 68.6% 12.0%
Asset turnover – 1.3x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.2x 1.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.4% 0.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVLTOIDXXECL
Debt / assets – 28.1% 42.4%
Debt / equity – 0.6x 1.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.5x 3.1x
Debt / FCF – 0.8x 7.3x
Liabilities / assets – 53.2% 66.4%
Equity / assets – 46.8% 33.6%
Interest coverage – 38.6x 8.0x
Current ratio – 1.2x 1.1x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 20.55 3.96

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVLTOIDXXECL
Dividend yield 0.5% – 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 2.3% 1.1%
Shareholder yield 0.5% 2.3% 2.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 39.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 45.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 12.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 9.7%

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.

ConsensusVLTOIDXXECL
Forward P/E 22.9xFY2026 36.9xFY2026 38.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.54FY2026 $15.63FY2026 $7.90FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.4%FY2026 +19.5%FY2026 +4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.9% +12.9% +23.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.70BFY2026 $5.00BFY2026 $17.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.7%FY2026 +16.3%FY2026 +7.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +16.5% +0.6% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVLTOIDXXECL
Held by institutions 96.1% 93.6% 80.0%
Institutions holding 975 1,290 1,712
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.3% +4.1% +1.4%
Institutions buying 399 588 764
Institutions selling 385 496 679
Buyers to sellers 1.04 1.19 1.13

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.

VLTOIDXXECL
VLTO 1.00 0.36 0.32
IDXX 0.36 1.00 0.46
ECL 0.32 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VLTO, IDXX and ECL?

Ecolab (ECL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Veralto (VLTO) $27.42B, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) $43.52B, Ecolab (ECL) $84.51B.

Which stock is cheaper, VLTO, IDXX and ECL?

Veralto (VLTO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Veralto (VLTO) 27.4x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 38.2x, Ecolab (ECL) 40.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Veralto (VLTO) is cheapest (Veralto (VLTO) 22.9x, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 36.9x, Ecolab (ECL) 38.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Veralto (VLTO) +6.4%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) +12.8%, Ecolab (ECL) +9.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) has the highest net margin (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 25.0%, Ecolab (ECL) 12.0%). On return on invested capital, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) leads (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 45.6%, Ecolab (ECL) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ecolab (ECL) returned the most: Veralto (VLTO) +4.5%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -8.2%, Ecolab (ECL) +16.9%. Over five years, Ecolab (ECL) compounded fastest (Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) -2.9%/yr, Ecolab (ECL) +6.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Veralto (VLTO) 0.00%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 0.00%, Ecolab (ECL) 0.01%. Veralto (VLTO) and Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ecolab (ECL) has been the steadiest (Veralto (VLTO) 23.3%, Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) 32.1%, Ecolab (ECL) 21.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VLTO, IDXX and ECL?

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