IQV vs MEDP Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
IQVIA and Medpace both operate as contract research organizations serving the clinical trial industry, but IQVIA operates at a much larger global scale combining research services with healthcare data analytics, while Medpace operates a more focused, full-service model concentrated on small and mid-sized biotech customers.
IQVIA offers diversified scale combining clinical research with data analytics serving both large pharma and biotech customers, while Medpace offers a more concentrated, biotech-focused execution model. Consider whether you prefer IQVIA's diversified scale or Medpace's focused biotech relationship model.
IQV holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. IQV leads on both 1-year return (+45.01%) and forward P/E quality (18.10x vs 30.60x for MEDP), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. MEDP leads on both revenue growth (17.20%) and operating margin (20.76%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for IQV (+5.13%) than for MEDP (-1.53%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to a global leader combining contract research services with healthcare data and analytics
- Value the diversification of a broad customer base spanning large pharma and biotech companies
- Believe massive scale supports large, complex clinical trial engagement capabilities
- Prefer a larger, more diversified services and data business
- Want concentrated exposure to a focused, full-service contract research model for biotech customers
- Value close client engagement and therapeutic area expertise over broad diversification
- Believe a full-service, single-source trial model provides a competitive advantage with resource-limited biotech customers
- Are comfortable with bookings volatility tied to biotech funding cycles
| Metric | IQV | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 53.9 | 60.0 |
| AI ranki | #317 | #175 |
| Latest closei | $269.67 | $620.48 |
| 1M returni | +13.95% | +7.26% |
| 6M returni | +60.11% | +36.32% |
| 1Y returni | +45.01% | +24.99% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | IQV | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $14.44K (+44.4%) started 2025-09-16 | $12.64K (+26.4%) started 2025-09-16 |
| 5Y ago | $10.52K (+5.2%) started 2021-09-17 | $33.58K (+235.8%) started 2021-09-16 |
| 10Y ago | $34.85K (+248.5%) started 2016-09-19 | $203.77K (+1937.7%) started 2016-09-16 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | IQV | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $43.08B | $16.49B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 32.56 | 34.72 |
| Forward P/Ei | 18.10 | 30.60 |
| Price/Salesi | 1.70 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.38 | 5.72 |
| Analyst targeti | $275.17 | $581.83 |
| Target upsidei | +5.13% | -1.53% |
| Metric | IQV | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 8.70% | 17.20% |
| Earnings growthi | -0.60% | 37.10% |
| EPS growthi | -0.60% | +37.10% |
| FCF margini | +12.66% | +18.34% |
| Operating margini | 13.03% | 20.76% |
| Profit margini | 8.10% | 17.66% |
| ROIC proxyi | 22.82% | 162.15% |
| Return on equityi | 22.82% | 162.15% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.18 | 1.15 |
| Debt/equityi | 257.98 | 33.22 |
| Current ratioi | 0.71 | 0.73 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.62 | 0.66 |
Over the past year, IQV and MEDP have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.55), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | IQV | MEDP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +44.36% | +26.43% |
| CAGRi | +44.46% | +26.49% | |
| Volatilityi | 41.10% | 44.50% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.99 | 0.66 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.52 | 0.87 | |
| Max drawdowni | 35.87% | 36.61% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.72% | 0.04% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.95% | 13.13% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.12% | 17.31% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.88% | 22.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.20% | 24.50% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +5.20% | +235.83% |
| CAGRi | +1.02% | +27.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.74% | 52.04% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.07 | 0.62 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.11 | 1.05 | |
| Max drawdowni | 51.52% | 42.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.58% | 0.04% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 24.74% | 15.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.95% | 20.31% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.88% | 22.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.20% | 24.50% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +248.50% | +1937.70% |
| CAGRi | +13.31% | +35.19% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.34% | 49.66% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.41 | 0.76 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.60 | 1.16 | |
| Max drawdowni | 51.52% | 42.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.58% | 0.04% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 15.07% | 12.92% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.90% | 17.08% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.54% | 30.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 28.34% | 28.82% |
| Category | IQV | MEDP |
|---|---|---|
| Company | IQVIA Holdings Inc. | Medpace Holdings, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Diagnostics & Research | Diagnostics & Research |
| Core business | A global provider of clinical research and healthcare data analytics services, combining a large contract research organization business with technology and data solutions serving pharmaceutical and biotech companies. | A contract research organization providing clinical trial management and related services primarily to small and mid-sized biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies across specific therapeutic areas. |
| Investor focus | Clinical research bookings and backlog trends, technology and analytics segment growth, and margin performance across the combined services and data business. | New business bookings and backlog growth, therapeutic area concentration trends, and biotech customer funding environment. |
- Combination of contract research services with healthcare data and analytics creates a differentiated, integrated offering
- Massive scale as one of the largest global contract research organizations supports large, complex clinical trial engagements
- Broad customer base spanning large pharmaceutical companies and smaller biotech firms diversifies revenue sources
- Focused therapeutic area expertise and full-service model have historically supported strong execution and customer satisfaction
- Concentrated customer relationships with small and mid-sized biotech companies allow for closer client engagement
- Full-service, single-source clinical trial model can simplify trial management for biotech customers with limited internal resources
- Biotech funding cycles affect smaller customer segment spending on clinical trial and research services
- Large, complex organizational structure across services and data segments requires ongoing integration and coordination
- Competitive contract research organization market includes both large diversified players and focused specialists
- Heavy customer concentration among small and mid-sized biotech companies creates exposure to biotech funding cycle volatility
- Smaller overall scale relative to the largest global contract research organizations limits some large pharma engagement opportunities
- Bookings growth can be volatile given dependence on biotech clinical trial initiation timing
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