ICON plc Ordinary Shares (ICLR)

FairStock Score: 54/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

Mr. Market is asking $164.34 for ICON as of 2026-10-13. The company is a clinical research organization with 40,200 employees, providing outsourced development services. There is a real business here and some scale advantages. But the numbers before me are not those of a high-return compounder. The data's growth figures, whose period is not specified, show revenue growth of 0.93% and profit growth of -34.86%. FairStock calculations show ROE of 0.29% and ROCE of 0.97%. In the latest reported quarter, fiscal Q2 2026, revenue was $2.1B and net income was $72.6M, a 3.52% margin. That is a thin cushion for a services business. FairStock calculations at the 2026-10-13 close show a P/E of 249, EV/EBITDA of 28.39, Piotroski F-Score of 5/9, and Altman Z-Score of 1.06. The Graham Number is $42.49, so the price is roughly 287% above that rough intrinsic check. On the positive side, free cash flow is $436.0M, FCF yield is 5.2%, and debt-to-equity is 0.38. P/B is 1.35, so the market cap is not far above accounting book. But low returns and declining profit make that book value suspect as a margin of safety. The FairStock Score is 54/100, and no Peter Lynch category can be assigned because there are only 0 years of filed results, needing 3. What is the moat? Scale and regulatory expertise may create switching costs, but current returns do not prove pricing power. I prefer a business that earns high returns on capital and grows consistently. ICON does not show that today. At this price, the margin of safety is negative, so patience is warranted.

In plain English: ICON helps drug companies run clinical trials and manage development programs. The business looks weak right now: sales barely grew, profits fell sharply, and the latest reported quarter had a thin 3.52% profit margin. At $164.34, the shares look expensive relative to current earnings, though the company does generate positive free cash flow.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer