Alcon Inc. vs ResMed Inc., two Medical Devices stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Alcon and ResMed both sell devices patients live with, eyes and sleep respectively, but economically they run opposite models: Alcon is a surgical-and-consumer estate still digesting its Novartis spinoff era, earning a 9.5% operating margin, while ResMed is a focused CPAP-and-software franchise earning 34.9%. The concentrated model wins everything measurable: 27.4% net margin against 7.4%, 17.3% return on assets against 2.3%, a 6% free-cash yield against 5.1%, plus a 1.1% dividend. The market prices them backwards from the scoreboard, 46.8 times Alcon's earnings against 19.3 times ResMed's, GLP-1 anxiety about sleep-apnea demand doing to ResMed's multiple what no competitor has done to its margins. The cheap one is the better business; the expensive one has the safer narrative.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | ALC | RMD |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $67.85 | $200.28 |
| Market cap | $33.6B | $29.2B |
| Sector | Medical Devices | Medical Devices |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | +4.3% |
| P/E | 46.8 | 19.3 |
| P/B | 1.52 | 4.50 |
| P/S | 3.45 | 5.27 |
| EV/EBITDA | 31.0 | 13.3 |
| Revenue growth | +5.3% | +10.3% |
| Gross margin | 53.5% | 62.3% |
| Operating margin | 9.5% | 34.9% |
| Net margin | 7.4% | 27.4% |
| Return on equity | 3.3% | 23.4% |
| Return on assets | 2.3% | 17.3% |
| Return on invested capital | 4.2% | 21.0% |
| FCF yield | 5.1% | 6.0% |
| Dividend yield | — | 1.1% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.10 |
| Current ratio | 2.12 | 3.01 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.58 | 8.30 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.