ASTRAZENECA PLC vs Johnson & Johnson, two Drug Manufacturers stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
The margin gap opens at the top of the income statement: AstraZeneca keeps almost 82 cents of gross profit on the sales dollar against Johnson & Johnson's 66, the spread you tend to see between a pure-play drug maker and one that still carries medical devices and consumer-adjacent lines. By the bottom line the order flips, with J&J converting about 22% of revenue to net income to AstraZeneca's 17%, and earning a touch more on its equity (26% to 21%) and assets (10.5% to 9%). The two trade almost on top of each other, both near 27 to 28 times trailing earnings, so the buyer is paying a similar price for two different routes to it. J&J pays a 2.1% dividend and carries modest leverage; AstraZeneca reports essentially no net debt and turns slightly more of its price into free cash, 4.3% to 3%. The market is pricing the cleaner gross-margin story and the broader, dividend-paying conglomerate as roughly equal bets.
Comparison updated 2026-06-15.
| Metric | AZN | JNJ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $171.60 | $256.93 |
| Market cap | $266.0B | $628.2B |
| Sector | Drug Manufacturers | Drug Manufacturers |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +21.0% | — |
| P/E | 26.0 | 29.8 |
| P/B | 5.46 | 7.74 |
| P/S | 4.53 | 6.52 |
| EV/EBITDA | 18.9 | 329.9 |
| Revenue growth | +12.1% | +7.9% |
| Gross margin | 81.9% | 66.3% |
| Operating margin | 23.4% | — |
| Net margin | 17.4% | 21.8% |
| Return on equity | 21.0% | 25.9% |
| Return on assets | 9.0% | 10.5% |
| Return on invested capital | 23.3% | — |
| FCF yield | 4.4% | 2.8% |
| Dividend yield | — | 2.0% |
| Debt / equity | 0.00 | 0.68 |
| Current ratio | 0.94 | 1.03 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 3.47 | 4.82 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 5 / 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.