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 (+26.10%) 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 | 54.4 | 62.0 |
| AI ranki | #446 | #121 |
| Latest closei | $275.06 | $677.56 |
| 1M returni | +2.26% | +8.91% |
| 3M returni | +15.67% | +17.16% |
| 6M returni | +73.68% | +61.84% |
| 1Y returni | +26.10% | +16.71% |
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 | $12.63K (+26.3%) started 2025-10-29 | $11.59K (+15.9%) started 2025-10-29 |
| 5Y ago | $10.62K (+6.2%) started 2021-11-01 | $29.91K (+199.1%) started 2021-10-29 |
| 10Y ago | $38.34K (+283.4%) started 2016-10-31 | $233.48K (+2234.8%) started 2016-10-31 |
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 0.56), 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 | +26.27% | +15.91% |
| CAGRi | +26.31% | +15.93% | |
| Volatilityi | 40.26% | 43.57% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.67 | 0.47 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.01 | 0.60 | |
| Max drawdowni | 35.87% | 36.61% | |
| Current drawdowni | 1.54% | 2.18% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 14.04% | 13.04% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.14% | 17.29% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.88% | 22.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.20% | 24.50% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +6.25% | +199.08% |
| CAGRi | +1.22% | +24.50% | |
| Volatilityi | 34.79% | 51.76% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.08 | 0.58 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.12 | 0.97 | |
| Max drawdowni | 51.52% | 42.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 2.67% | 2.18% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 24.74% | 15.81% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.95% | 20.30% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.88% | 22.63% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.20% | 24.50% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +283.41% | +2234.80% |
| CAGRi | +14.39% | +37.06% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.39% | 49.69% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.44 | 0.79 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.65 | 1.20 | |
| Max drawdowni | 51.52% | 42.87% | |
| Current drawdowni | 2.67% | 2.18% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 15.03% | 12.90% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.89% | 17.07% | |
| 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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