MDT vs ZBH Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
MDT and ZBH are both established device makers with different exposure. Medtronic is diversified across cardiovascular, neuroscience, surgical, and diabetes markets, growing modestly and paying a reliable rising dividend. Zimmer Biomet is concentrated in orthopedic implants, where demographics support procedure volumes but pricing erodes persistently. Breadth and dividends against demographic volume growth.
Use this MDT vs ZBH comparison to weigh diversification against a clean demographic tailwind. Medtronic's issue is that scale dilutes its successes and it has lost share in some high-growth categories. Zimmer Biomet's issue is that its volume tailwind is continually offset by price declines, so growth depends on procedures rising faster than prices fall.
MDT holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MDT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-7.42% vs -8.02%), though ZBH has the better forward P/E setup (11.13x vs 14.24x for MDT). MDT leads on both revenue growth (9.90%) and operating margin (22.05%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +8.34% for MDT and +6.60% for ZBH.
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 diversified medical device exposure across many therapy areas
- Value a long dividend growth record and dependable cash flow
- Prefer scale and hospital relationships over product concentration
- Accept modest growth and competitive share loss in some categories
- Want focused exposure to joint replacement demand from ageing populations
- Value surgeon relationships and robotic platform placements as defensive assets
- Believe procedure volume growth can outpace pricing pressure
- Accept persistent implant price erosion as a structural feature
| Metric | MDT | ZBH |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 40.8 | 26.7 |
| AI ranki | #1025 | #2451 |
| Latest closei | $88.64 | $91.04 |
| 1M returni | -3.67% | -10.20% |
| 6M returni | +1.72% | +2.79% |
| 1Y returni | -7.42% | -8.02% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MDT | ZBH |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.4K (-6.0%) started 2025-09-25 | $9.39K (-6.1%) started 2025-09-25 |
| 5Y ago | $8.66K (-13.4%) started 2021-09-27 | $6.58K (-34.2%) started 2021-09-27 |
| 10Y ago | $16.33K (+63.3%) started 2016-09-26 | $8.47K (-15.3%) started 2016-09-26 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MDT | ZBH |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $116.77B | $19.25B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 24.46 | 24.49 |
| Forward P/Ei | 14.24 | 11.13 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 2.37 |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.78 | 3.10 |
| Analyst targeti | $98.84 | $107.57 |
| Target upsidei | +8.34% | +6.60% |
| Metric | MDT | ZBH |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 9.90% | 4.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 18.30% | 33.80% |
| EPS growthi | +18.30% | +33.80% |
| FCF margini | +12.72% | +12.82% |
| Operating margini | 22.05% | 17.96% |
| Profit margini | 13.20% | 9.48% |
| ROIC proxyi | 9.84% | 6.41% |
| Return on equityi | 9.84% | 6.41% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.16% | 0.95% |
| Payout ratioi | 70.20% | 23.30% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.57 | 0.46 |
| Debt/equityi | 58.21 | 60.17 |
| Current ratioi | 2.13 | 1.69 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.36 | 0.74 |
Over the past year, MDT and ZBH have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.47), 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 | MDT | ZBH |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -6.00% | -6.12% |
| CAGRi | -6.01% | -6.12% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.53% | 32.20% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.34 | -0.17 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.50 | -0.21 | |
| Max drawdowni | 30.00% | 23.47% | |
| Current drawdowni | 15.86% | 12.44% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.94% | 10.87% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.49% | 12.22% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.11% | 15.15% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 7.05% | 14.23% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -23.03% | -36.22% |
| CAGRi | -5.11% | -8.61% | |
| Volatilityi | 22.49% | 27.07% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.32 | -0.36 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.44 | -0.48 | |
| Max drawdowni | 42.64% | 44.52% | |
| Current drawdowni | 23.03% | 36.54% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 25.63% | 23.06% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 26.83% | 25.07% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.26% | 15.15% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.81% | 14.23% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +27.71% | -20.95% |
| CAGRi | +2.48% | -2.32% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.55% | 28.77% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.03 | -0.09 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.04 | -0.13 | |
| Max drawdowni | 45.10% | 52.63% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.33% | 45.81% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.80% | 22.47% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 22.09% | 26.73% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.82% | 15.15% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 19.36% | 27.48% |
| Category | MDT | ZBH |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Medtronic plc | Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Medical Devices | Medical Devices |
| Core business | Large diversified medical device company spanning cardiovascular devices, neuroscience including spine and neuromodulation, medical surgical products with surgical robotics, and diabetes technology. Sells globally to hospitals and health systems. | Orthopedic device company focused on knee and hip reconstruction implants, along with sports medicine, extremities, trauma, and surgical robotics used to assist joint replacement procedures. |
| Investor focus | Organic revenue growth by segment, cardiac ablation and structural heart competitiveness, surgical robot adoption, portfolio separation actions, margins, and dividend growth. | Procedure volume growth, implant pricing, robotic platform placements, new product cycles, and international reimbursement pressure. |
- Breadth across many therapy areas reduces dependence on any single product cycle
- Deep hospital relationships and global commercial scale
- Long record of dividend increases supported by steady cash flow
- Ageing populations support structural growth in joint replacement procedure volumes
- Surgeon familiarity with implant systems and instruments creates real switching friction
- Robotic assistance platforms help defend and win procedure share
- Growth has historically lagged more focused, faster-moving device peers
- Competitors have taken share in high-growth areas such as cardiac ablation
- Large size makes it hard for any single product success to move overall results
- Implant pricing declines steadily as hospitals consolidate purchasing and tenders intensify
- Procedure volumes can be deferred, as elective surgery disruptions have shown
- Growth depends on volume because price works against it
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