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Healthcare

Non-System-Specific Biopharmaceuticals

69 investable US stocks · data to Saturday, October 24, 2026

Acquirer's Multiple percentile today88th percentile
Cheaper than in 77% of quarters since 1999Its usual range since 1999 is the 84th to 94th percentile (the middle 80% of quarters), with a median of the 92nd. Lower is cheaper: the 10th percentile is cheaper than 90% of the investable US market; the 50th is the middle.

Is it cheap because returns are depressed?

The industry is cheap against its own past, and returns on assets are in their usual range, so the discount isn't explained by weaker returns. Free cash flow yield is in its usual range. A low multiple can be warranted when returns on assets are low, and a high one when they are high, so the multiple reads best next to returns and free cash flow, each against the industry's own history.

Over- or under-earning?

Earning about normally

Return on assets ranks at the 10th percentile of investable US stocks, against a median of the 8th and a low of the 4th since 1999. That is close to its usual level, so today's multiple is about right on a normalized basis. If earnings normalize, the multiple would likely rise: from the 88th percentile today (dearer than 88% of investable US stocks) to around the 92nd (dearer than 92% of investable US stocks), judging by where it sat in past quarters when returns were at their usual level. If returns fell to their low, it would be around the 92nd (dearer than 92% of investable US stocks).

PercentileTodayReturns normalReturns at low
Return on assets (higher is better)10th8th (median)4th (low)
Acquirer's Multiple (lower is cheaper)88th92nd92nd
Non-System-Specific Biopharmaceuticals's return on assets as a percentile, quarterly since 1999. The shaded band is its usual range; the dashed line its median.
025507510020002005201020152020202510▲ better

Percentiles among investable US stocks. Return on assets is operating income over total assets, trailing 12 months. The last two columns show where it sat in past quarters when returns were within 7.5 points of their median (98 quarters) and of their low (90). The past, not a forecast.

Against its own history

Each chart is the industry's median stock as a percentile of all investable US stocks, quarterly since 1999. For the Acquirer's Multiple and debt to equity, lower is better. The shaded band is its usual range (the middle 80% of quarters); the dashed line is its long-run median; the dot is today. Green shading marks the better end of each scale and red the worse, and today's dot takes the colour of where it sits.

Acquirer's MultipleCheaper than usualPercentile of enterprise value ÷ operating income: lower is cheaper. Cheaper than in 77% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202588▼ better
Free cash flow yieldUsual rangePercentile of free cash flow yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 60% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202515▲ better
Shareholder yieldUsual rangeDividends plus buybacks, as a percentile: higher is a bigger yield. Higher than in 59% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202517▲ better
Dividend yieldUsual rangePercentile of dividend yield: higher is a bigger yield. Lower than in 59% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202526▲ better
Return on assets, 5-yrUsual rangePercentile of five-year return on assets: higher is better. Lower than in 62% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202516▲ better
Debt to equityUsual rangePercentile of debt to equity: lower is less debt. Less indebted than in 57% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202519▼ better
Company sizeLarger than usualPercentile of market cap: higher is larger. Larger than in 88% of quarters since 1999.
025507510020002005201020152020202529

Non-System-Specific Biopharmaceuticals stocks in the screens today

In today's screens, cheapest first. ● marks one of a screen's 30 tracked picks.

StockScreenAcquirer's MultipleFCF yieldShareholder yield

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Other Healthcare industries

Other Biopharmaceuticals cheaper than 75%Other Medical Devices cheaper than 69%Diagnostics and Drug Delivery Devices dearer than 51%System-Specific Biopharmaceuticals dearer than 59%Patient Care dearer than 73%Healthcare Support Services dearer than 79%Outsourced Development and Manufacturing Services dearer than 79%Miscellaneous Healthcare dearer than 93%General Medical Devices dearer than 97%

Quarterly since 1999 from point-in-time data. Each quarter, every investable US stock (price above $3, market cap above $75M, average daily trading above $850,000, no OTC, ADRs or MLPs) is placed in a percentile (0-100) against all the others on each metric. An industry's value is the median percentile of its stocks. Industries follow FactSet's RBICS classification. Percentiles describe the past; they are not investment advice or a forecast.