STERIS plc STE
STERIS has crossed back above its 200-day moving average ($234.35) with bullish MACD momentum and an RSI of 66.8 that has room before overbought, reflecting improving sentiment after Q1 FY2027 revenue grew 7% to $1.5B with an EPS beat of $2.59 vs. $2.54 consensus. The fundamental trajectory is compelling—FY2026 revenue reached $5.94B with 28% EPS growth to $7.93, free cash flow of $972M, and total debt reduced from $2.20B to $2.09B—while valuation remains reasonable at 29.1x earnings (5.6% below peer median) and 13.6x EV/EBITDA (28.8% below peer median).
The newly announced $600M North Carolina manufacturing investment signals confidence in long-term demand, and with ~$970M annual FCF the company can fund it without straining the balance sheet.
What could go wrong
- Revenue miss pattern. Q1 FY2027 revenue missed Wall Street estimates despite 7% growth, and if top-line shortfalls persist the market may re-rate the stock's 21.9% price-to-sales premium vs. peer median.
- Elevated capex cycle. The $600M North Carolina complex adds to existing ~$369M annual capex, potentially compressing free cash flow conversion over the next several years.
- Smart money outflows. Smart money score is slightly negative at -0.049 as of March 2026, with the data marked stale, suggesting institutional positioning has not yet turned constructive.
- Insider selling. Recent insider activity is dominated by dispositions including CEO Carestio selling 1,374 shares at $212 and other executives selling, though 24-month net insider buying remains positive at +293,975 shares.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: FMP fundamentals FY2026 · GlobeNewsWire Q1 FY2027 release / Zacks earnings article · peer_relative composite · technicals as of 2026-08-11. Orin's read on STE; not advice.
Twelve months actual closes to 2026-09-23 · actual filings
50-day average 200-day average · volume below
On file
All STE filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Capital Management | $1.3B | 0.0% of fund |
| State Street | $1.1B | 0.0% of fund |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $1.1B | 0.0% of fund |
| Massachusetts Financial Services /Ma/ | $850.4M | 0.3% of fund |
| Morgan Stanley | $831.8M | 0.0% of fund |
| Wellington Management Group Llp | $737.6M | 0.1% of fund |
89 filers · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 191 Form 4 filings, net $51.7M. 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 →Where it trades
| Metric | Now | Own median | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 25.6× | 57.7× | 26.4× |
| EV/EBITDA | 12.2× | 17.9× | — |
| P/S | 3.39× | 4.20× | — |
| P/B | 2.8× | 3.4× | — |
Its P/E sits below all 5 of the last 5 years (−0.98σ from its own mean).
8.4%
free-cash-flow growth every year for 10 years, discounted at 10%, is what today’s price implies — starting from $1.0B of trailing free cash flow. It is an assumption the market is making, not a forecast Orin is making.
What Wall Street published
$271
$269 – $275 · +29% against today's price
- 12 buy or overweight
- 2 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
The analysts’ consensus and their own ratings, not Orin’s. A target is a twelve-month opinion published by the firm that wrote it.
Against the companies it is compared to
| Company | Market cap | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross | Net | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STESTERIS plc | $20B | 25.6× | 12.2× | 44.4% | 13.3% | 11% |
| BIIBBiogen Inc. | $34B | 40.1× | 24.4× | 67.7% | 8.4% | 5% |
| DGXQuest Diagnostics Incorporated | $26B | 24.4× | 15.7× | 33.1% | 9.2% | 14% |
| DXCMDexCom, Inc. | $33B | 33.9× | 21.4× | 62.5% | 20.1% | 36% |
| LHLabcorp Holdings Inc. | $25B | 25.0× | 14.7× | 27.8% | 7.0% | 12% |
| PODDInsulet Corporation | $9B | 25.5× | 15.5× | 71.1% | 12.3% | 27% |
| WATWaters Corporation | $41B | 104.6× | 51.4× | 50.8% | 3.6% | 2% |
| WSTWest Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | $26B | 47.8× | 32.0× | 36.8% | 17.0% | 19% |
| ZBHZimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | $18B | 22.0× | 12.6× | 69.9% | 9.5% | 6% |
The median is of the 8 peers listed above and nothing else — check it against the column. This company trades 13.7% below it. The peer set is the vendor’s, so a company can appear here that a person would not have chosen.
What it has traded at
What its sector has traded at
Two scales, drawn separately on purpose: a sector median and one company’s multiple are not the same number and putting them on one axis invites a comparison neither series supports.
Every estimate on one scale
The vertical rule is the current price. Ranges and point estimates are the backend’s, published as they were calculated; an arrow means the estimate sits beyond this scale, and its number is on the right.