Align Technology vs West Pharmaceutical Services
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The short version
- Align Technology is the larger business, with $4.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.1B for West Pharmaceutical Services.
- West Pharmaceutical Services grew revenue faster (6.3%, against 0.9%).
- West Pharmaceutical Services kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (19.0% operating margin, against 13.5%).
- West Pharmaceutical Services turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.3% FCF margin, against 12.2%).
- West Pharmaceutical Services earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (18.7%, against 13.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of West Pharmaceutical Services’s earnings: a P/E of 50.2x against 26.9x for Align Technology.
| Latest fiscal year | ALGN · FY25 | WST · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $11.0B | $28.0B |
| Revenue | $4.0B | $3.1B |
| Free cash flow | $491M | $469M |
| Net income | $410M | $494M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.9% | 6.3% |
| 5-year growth | 10.3% | 7.4% |
| Share count change | −3.2% | −1.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 67.2% | 35.9% |
| Operating margin | 13.5% | 19.0% |
| Net margin | 10.2% | 16.1% |
| FCF margin | 12.2% | 15.3% |
| Return on capital | 13.3% | 18.7% |
| Return on equity | 10.4% | 16.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.1B | −$583M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.4x | −0.8x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $466M | $195M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 26.9x | 50.2x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 9 |
Revenue
FY16
ALGN $1.1B
WST $1.5B
FY17
ALGN $1.5B
WST $1.6B
FY18
ALGN $2.0B
WST $1.7B
FY19
ALGN $2.4B
WST $1.8B
FY20
ALGN $2.5B
WST $2.1B
FY21
ALGN $4.0B
WST $2.8B
FY22
ALGN $3.7B
WST $2.9B
FY23
ALGN $3.9B
WST $2.9B
FY24
ALGN $4.0B
WST $2.9B
FY25
ALGN $4.0B
WST $3.1B
ALGN
WST
Operating margin
FY16
ALGN 23.1%
WST 12.9%
FY17
ALGN 24.0%
WST 14.1%
FY18
ALGN 23.7%
WST 14.0%
FY19
ALGN 22.5%
WST 16.1%
FY20
ALGN 15.7%
WST 19.0%
FY21
ALGN 24.7%
WST 26.6%
FY22
ALGN 17.2%
WST 25.4%
FY23
ALGN 16.7%
WST 22.9%
FY24
ALGN 15.2%
WST 19.7%
FY25
ALGN 13.5%
WST 19.0%
ALGN
WST
Free cash flow
FY16
ALGN $177M
WST $49.2M
FY17
ALGN $243M
WST $133M
FY18
ALGN $331M
WST $184M
FY19
ALGN $598M
WST $241M
FY20
ALGN $507M
WST $298M
FY21
ALGN $771M
WST $331M
FY22
ALGN $277M
WST $439M
FY23
ALGN $608M
WST $415M
FY24
ALGN $623M
WST $276M
FY25
ALGN $491M
WST $469M
ALGN
WST
Return on capital
FY16
ALGN 57.8%
WST 12.7%
FY17
ALGN 57.5%
WST 12.1%
FY18
ALGN 86.1%
WST 15.9%
FY19
ALGN 87.3%
WST 17.9%
FY20
ALGN 28.2%
WST 23.1%
FY21
ALGN 31.5%
WST 38.8%
FY22
ALGN 15.4%
WST 31.9%
FY23
ALGN 17.0%
WST 26.3%
FY24
ALGN 15.4%
WST 20.1%
FY25
ALGN 13.3%
WST 18.7%
ALGN
WST
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.