Steris vs Zimmer Biomet
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The short version
- Zimmer Biomet is the larger business, with $8.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.9B for Steris.
- Steris grew revenue faster (8.7%, against 7.2%).
- Steris kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (18.6% operating margin, against 13.3%).
- Zimmer Biomet turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.9% FCF margin, against 16.4%).
- Steris earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (9.6%, against 4.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Steris’s earnings: a P/E of 28.4x against 23.9x for Zimmer Biomet.
| Latest fiscal year | STE · FY26 | ZBH · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $22.7B | $19.0B |
| Revenue | $5.9B | $8.2B |
| Free cash flow | $972M | $1.5B |
| Net income | $782M | $705M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.7% | 7.2% |
| 5-year growth | 13.8% | 6.1% |
| Share count change | −0.4% | −2.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 44.3% | 69.7% |
| Operating margin | 18.6% | 13.3% |
| Net margin | 13.2% | 8.6% |
| FCF margin | 16.4% | 17.9% |
| Return on capital | 9.6% | 4.9% |
| Return on equity | 11.4% | 5.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.5B | $6.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9x | 3.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $477M | $677M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 28.4x | 23.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 9 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
STE $2.6B
ZBH $7.8B
FY18
STE $2.6B
ZBH $7.9B
FY19
STE $2.8B
ZBH $8.0B
FY20
STE $3.0B
ZBH $6.1B
FY21
STE $3.1B
ZBH $6.8B
FY22
STE $4.2B
ZBH $6.9B
FY23
STE $4.5B
ZBH $7.4B
FY24
STE $5.1B
ZBH $7.7B
FY25
STE $5.5B
ZBH $8.2B
FY26
STE $5.9B
ZBH —
STE
ZBH
Operating margin
FY17
STE 8.7%
ZBH 10.2%
FY18
STE 15.3%
ZBH 0.4%
FY19
STE 14.8%
ZBH 14.3%
FY20
STE 17.7%
ZBH 1.4%
FY21
STE 17.7%
ZBH 12.6%
FY22
STE 11.3%
ZBH 10.0%
FY23
STE 17.4%
ZBH 17.3%
FY24
STE 16.3%
ZBH 16.7%
FY25
STE 15.9%
ZBH 13.3%
FY26
STE 18.6%
ZBH —
STE
ZBH
Free cash flow
FY17
STE $251M
ZBH $1.4B
FY18
STE $292M
ZBH $1.6B
FY19
STE $350M
ZBH $1.4B
FY20
STE $376M
ZBH $1.1B
FY21
STE $450M
ZBH $1.4B
FY22
STE $397M
ZBH $1.2B
FY23
STE $395M
ZBH $1.3B
FY24
STE $613M
ZBH $1.3B
FY25
STE $778M
ZBH $1.5B
FY26
STE $972M
ZBH —
STE
ZBH
Return on capital
FY17
STE —
ZBH 3.8%
FY18
STE —
ZBH 0.1%
FY19
STE 8.0%
ZBH 5.7%
FY20
STE 10.5%
ZBH 0.3%
FY21
STE 8.8%
ZBH 4.7%
FY22
STE 5.1%
ZBH 3.3%
FY23
STE 7.1%
ZBH 7.0%
FY24
STE 7.2%
ZBH 6.2%
FY25
STE 7.5%
ZBH 4.9%
FY26
STE 9.6%
ZBH —
STE
ZBH
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.