STERIS plc
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
STERIS delivers a compelling combination of durable fundamentals and discounted valuation.
FY2026 revenue of $5.94B grew 8.7% YoY with operating margin expanding to 18.6% and EPS up 27.9% to $7.93, while total debt declined to $2.09B from $2.20B and FCF reached $972M — yet the stock trades at 25.6x earnings (12.1% below the peer median of 29.1x) and 13.5x EV/EBITDA (24.9% below the peer median of 18.0x). Technicals are weak but stabilizing: the stock closed at $209.68 on 7 Oct, below its 50-day MA of $223.31 and 200-day MA of $227.54, but RSI has recovered to 40.9 and the MACD histogram turned positive at +0.71, suggesting near-term downside is exhausted. With earnings beating estimates in four of the last five reported quarters and Q1 FY2027 revenue growing 7.3% YoY, the risk-reward favors accumulation at current levels.
What could go wrong
- Technical breakdown. Stock remains below both its 50-day MA of $223.31 and 200-day MA of $227.54 as of 7 Oct; a failure to reclaim these levels could signal further downside.
- Insider selling pressure. Over the trailing 24 months, insiders executed 24 dispositions with zero open-market acquisitions, netting -89,330 shares worth approximately $21.9M — a persistent bearish insider signal.
- Smart money outflows. The 13F composite smart money score as of 30 Jun was -0.02, slightly negative, though fund count rose to 64 from 57 in the prior quarter.
- Revenue deceleration. Q1 FY2027 revenue growth of 7.3% YoY represents a deceleration from the 9.2% and 9.9% growth seen in Q3 and Q2 FY2026 respectively, raising concern about sustained top-line momentum.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: FY26 fundamentals · technicals, 7 Oct · peer comparison · quarterly results and earnings vs estimates. Orin's read on STE; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Down 5.2% over twelve months, from $240.91 on 27 Oct 2025 to $228.49 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $268.65 on 16 Jan 2026; the last close is 14.9% below it.
- Green line: the closing price each trading day.
- Grey line: the average closing price over the last 50 trading days.
- Dashed amber line: the same over the last 200 trading days — a slower, smoother line.
- Bars along the bottom: shares traded each day — green when it closed higher than the day before, rose when lower (the most, 3.9M, on 5 Feb 2026).
- Flags: the company's filings, on the day they were made (a 10-Q is the quarterly report and a 10-K the annual report; an 8-K reports a major event).
On file
All STE filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $1.9B | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $1.3B | 0.0% |
| State Street | $1.1B | 0.0% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $1.1B | 0.0% |
| Massachusetts Financial Services | $850.4M | 0.3% |
| Morgan Stanley | $831.8M | 0.0% |
| Wellington Management Group | $737.6M | 0.1% |
| Geode Capital Management | $548.6M | 0.0% |
| Select Equity Group | $399.0M | 2.0% |
| T. Rowe Price Associates | $386.2M | 0.0% |
92 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 192 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net −$21.9M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 5 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about STE
Orin answers questions about STE from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →How is it priced, against its own past and its sector?
Priced at 30.1× its last 12 months of profit (Thu 5 Nov close); the typical Healthcare company on the NYSE is at 25.8×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 30.1× | — | 25.8× |
| P/S | 4.02×near usual | 4.20× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.0×near usual | 17.7× | — |
| P/B | 3.4×near usual | 3.4× | — |
- P/E: no usual level — it ran from 27.9× to 179× over its last 5 fiscal years, so a middle value says little.
- "Its usual" is the middle of its own last 5 fiscal years.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
P/S: the company's total market value divided by one year of revenue. Used when there is no profit to measure.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
P/B: the share price divided by the book value per share — what the company owns minus what it owes, as its accounts record it. When book value is tiny, P/B swings wildly and says little.
What do the analysts who cover it publish?
The analysts' average 12-month price target is $271 (from $269 to $275) — 19% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$271
$269 – $275 · +19% against the last close
- 6 buy or overweight
- 0 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
Price target: the share price an analyst publishes for about 12 months ahead. It is the opinion of the firm that wrote it; the average is across the firms that cover the company.
Overweight / underweight: analysts' rating words: overweight means the firm expects the stock to do better than the others it covers, underweight worse. Their words, not Orin's.
How is it priced next to the companies it is compared to?
Priced at 30.1× its last 12 months of profit; the middle P/E of the 8 companies it is compared to that made a profit is 27.1×.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STESTERIS plc | $25B | 30.1× | 17.0× | 44.6% | 13.4% | 11% |
| BIIBBiogen Inc. | $37B | 1.7× | 22.7× | 50.1% | 3.4% | 5% |
| DGXQuest Diagnostics Incorporated | $27B | 23.8× | 14.0× | 33.1% | 9.5% | 15% |
| DXCMDexCom, Inc. | $30B | 30.3× | 19.2× | 62.5% | 20.1% | 36% |
| LHLabcorp Holdings Inc. | $27B | 27.2× | 15.6× | 27.8% | 7.0% | 12% |
| PODDInsulet Corporation | $11B | 25.4× | 16.3× | 71.9% | 13.4% | 29% |
| WATWaters Corporation | $46B | 117× | 53.3× | 50.8% | 3.6% | 2% |
| WSTWest Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | $28B | 50.6× | 32.1× | 36.8% | 17.0% | 19% |
| ZBHZimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | $20B | 26.9× | 12.0× | 69.7% | 9.0% | 6% |
- The list of companies is the data vendor's choice, so it can include a company a person would not have picked.
Market value: the share price times the number of shares — what the whole company is priced at.
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
EV/EBITDA: the price of the whole company (its shares plus its debt, minus its cash) divided by one year of operating profit before interest, tax and write-downs.
Gross margin: the share of each $1 of sales left after the direct cost of making what was sold.
Net margin: the share of each $1 of sales kept as profit after every cost. Below zero, the company lost money.
ROE: return on equity: one year of profit as a share of the shareholders' money in the business (its book value).
Is it priced high or low compared with its own past?
Priced at 30.1× its last 12 months of profit (Thu 5 Nov close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now30.1×
P/E: the share price divided by one year of profit per share — roughly how many years of today's profit the price pays for. A company that loses money has no P/E.
Fiscal year (FY): the company's own 12-month accounting year, which need not match the calendar year.
How has its sector been priced?
Healthcare companies on the NYSE were priced at a typical 25.8× their yearly profit (Tue 27 Oct close).
- Now25.8×
- Each year is the middle of that calendar year's daily sector P/E; "Now" is the Tue 27 Oct close figure, the same one in the table above.
Sector P/E: the middle P/E of the companies in the same sector on the same stock exchange, as the data vendor works it out each day.
What does a cash-flow model say a share is worth?
A standard cash-flow model puts it at $239 a share — 4% above the $228.76 price it was computed against (27 Oct).
| Model | Value a share | Against the price then |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $239 | 4% above $228.76 |
| Levered | $349 | 53% above $228.76 |
Discounted cash flow: a model's estimate of what the company is worth today, from the cash it is forecast to make in future years. Small changes in the forecast move it a lot, and it says little about a company that loses money.
Standard / levered: two versions of the cash-flow model: the standard one counts the cash before the company pays its lenders, the levered one after.