LIVE
STE
STERIS plc · Health Care - Medical Equipment & Services
$202.61
-5.51% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
DHR
Danaher Corporation · Health Care - Life Sciences & Diagnostics
$177.17
+6.06% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
STE
1
DHR
4
Comparison scoreboard
DHR LEADS 4/5AI Score
STE 49.9
DHR ✓50.3
1Y Return
STE -14.54%
DHR ✓-9.49%
Fwd P/E
STE ✓17.14
DHR 19.47
Target Up.
STE +23.75%
DHR ✓+34.56%
Op. Margin
STE 20.04%
DHR ✓22.94%
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
STE vs DHR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
STE (STERIS) is a specialized sterilization and surgical services company with durable recurring revenue from hospital contracts, while DHR (Danaher) is a diversified life science and diagnostics platform with the legendary DBS operational culture and critical bioprocessing infrastructure. Both are high-quality healthcare equipment businesses with strong recurring revenue characteristics.
STE vs DHR compares two premium healthcare equipment companies — STERIS' specialized sterilization services dominance versus Danaher's diversified life sciences platform and operational excellence culture.
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
DHR holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. DHR has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-9.49% vs -14.54%), though STE trades at the lower forward P/E (17.14x vs 19.47x). On fundamentals, STE is growing revenue faster (7.30%), while DHR maintains the higher operating margin (22.94%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for DHR (+34.56%) than for STE (+23.75%).
Normalized 1Y performance
STE
DHR
Recent returns
STE
DHR
Analyst price targets & sentiment
STE · 9 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (2.2/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$231.00
analyst high$280.00
analyst mean$256.86
current price$202.61
+23.8% upside to analyst mean
DHR · 23 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Strong Buy (1.4/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$210.00
analyst high$310.00
analyst mean$242.35
current price$177.17
+34.6% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
STE may suit investors who:
- →Want focused exposure to hospital sterilization and surgical equipment services with high recurring contract revenue
- →Value STERIS' dominant market position and sticky customer relationships in infection prevention infrastructure
- →Prefer a simpler, narrower healthcare services business to Danaher's broader life science diversification
DHR may suit investors who:
- →Want diversified life science and diagnostics exposure across bioprocessing, analytical instruments, and environmental testing
- →Value the Danaher Business System as a durable operational discipline that consistently improves margins across acquired businesses
- →See Cytiva bioprocessing recovery as a catalyst after the biopharmaceutical inventory correction cycle completes
Performance & AI score
| Metric | STE | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 49.9 | 50.3 |
| AI rank | #474 | #448 |
| Latest close | $202.61 | $177.17 |
| 1M return | -5.51% | +6.06% |
| 6M return | -19.49% | -20.42% |
| 1Y return | -14.54% | -9.49% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | STE | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.58K (-14.2%) started 2025-06-18 | $9.11K (-8.9%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $10.79K (+7.9%) started 2021-06-21 | $7.86K (-21.4%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $36.26K (+262.6%) started 2016-06-20 | $61.46K (+514.6%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | STE | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $20.23B | $127.47B |
| Trailing P/E | 26.17 | 34.84 |
| Forward P/E | 17.14 | 19.47 |
| Price/Sales | 4.39 | 5.89 |
| EV/Revenue | 3.69 | 5.71 |
| Analyst target | $256.86 | $242.35 |
| Target upside | +23.75% | +34.56% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | STE | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 7.30% | 3.70% |
| Earnings growth | 52.20% | 9.80% |
| EPS growth | +52.20% | +9.80% |
| FCF margin | +14.11% | +18.44% |
| Operating margin | 20.04% | 22.94% |
| Profit margin | 13.18% | 14.89% |
| ROIC proxy | 11.37% | 7.08% |
| Return on equity | 11.37% | 7.08% |
| Dividend yield | 1.21% | 0.89% |
| Beta | 0.92 | 0.83 |
| Debt/equity | 29.00 | 37.17 |
| Current ratio | 2.09 | 1.87 |
| Quick ratio | 1.34 | 1.40 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
STE max drawdown25.78%
DHR max drawdown33.11%
STE max wkly drop10.97%
DHR max wkly drop8.99%
5Y risk snapshot
STE max drawdown36.18%
DHR max drawdown44.20%
STE max wkly drop13.72%
DHR max wkly drop14.50%
10Y risk snapshot
STE max drawdown36.18%
DHR max drawdown44.20%
STE max wkly drop17.18%
DHR max wkly drop14.50%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | STE | DHR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -14.23% | -8.88% |
| CAGR | -14.25% | -8.89% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.71 | -0.35 | |
| Max drawdown | 25.78% | 33.11% | |
| Max daily drop | 7.74% | 5.40% | |
| Max wkly drop | 10.97% | 8.99% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +4.17% | -22.65% |
| CAGR | +0.82% | -5.01% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.01 | -0.21 | |
| Max drawdown | 36.18% | 44.20% | |
| Max daily drop | 10.89% | 9.73% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.72% | 14.50% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +228.79% | +333.14% |
| CAGR | +12.65% | +15.80% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.42 | 0.46 | |
| Max drawdown | 36.18% | 44.20% | |
| Max daily drop | 11.59% | 9.73% | |
| Max wkly drop | 17.18% | 14.50% |
Business comparison
| Category | STE | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | STERIS plc | Danaher Corporation |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Medical Devices | Diagnostics & Research |
| Core business | STERIS provides sterilization, surgical equipment maintenance, and infection prevention products and services to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and life science companies, generating high-recurring-revenue service contracts. | Danaher is a diversified life science and diagnostics company operating through biotechnology (Cytiva bioprocessing equipment), life science tools, environmental, and industrial technology segments, known for the Danaher Business System (DBS) operational excellence methodology. |
| Investor focus | Investors track STERIS' healthcare and applied sterilization service revenue growth, contract service revenue recurring proportion, and margin profile as a high-quality, recurring revenue healthcare services company. | Investors track Danaher's core revenue growth excluding M&A and currency effects, bioprocessing segment demand from biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and free cash flow conversion as a measure of the DBS-driven operational discipline. |
STE strengths
- →Dominant market position in hospital sterilization services creates sticky, recurring contract revenue with high customer retention
- →Applied sterilization technologies (AST) segment serves pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers with outsourced sterilization services
- →Recurring service revenue from installed base of surgical equipment and sterilizers provides a predictable, capital-light growth model
DHR strengths
- →Danaher Business System (DBS) operational excellence culture consistently improves margins and returns across acquired businesses
- →Cytiva bioprocessing platform is critical infrastructure for biopharmaceutical drug manufacturing with long-term customer partnerships
- →Diversified portfolio across life sciences, diagnostics, and environmental water testing provides resilience across cycles
Risks to watch — STE
- →Hospital capital spending cycles affect new sterilizer equipment sales even as service revenue is more resilient
- →Surgical procedure volumes affect demand for surgical equipment and related consumables — any procedure volume slowdown impacts revenue
- →Competitive pressures from niche sterilization service providers in specific geographic or product markets
Risks to watch — DHR
- →Bioprocessing demand has been cyclical as biopharmaceutical customers worked through COVID-era inventory buildups
- →Fortive (FTV) and Envista (NVST) spinoffs have progressively simplified Danaher, but integration of Cytiva was transformative and took time
- →Valuation is typically premium, limiting upside in multiple-compression environments even with strong business fundamentals
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