Stryker Corporation
Orin's own judgment of how firmly the evidence points one way — not the chance the price goes up.
Stryker's underlying franchise remains high-quality — FY2025 revenue grew 11.2% to $25.1B with gross margin expansion to 64.0% and $4.28B in free cash flow, and Q2 2026 revenue of $6.59B (+9.4% YoY) beat EPS estimates by 5.7% — but the September 8, 2026 disclosure that a previously-thought-resolved peripheral vascular manufacturing issue persists triggered an 8.8% same-day decline and has attracted multiple securities class action investigations (Pomerantz, Block & Leviton).
At a PE of 29.3x — roughly 20% above the peer median of 24.4x — the stock at $285.22 still trades below both its 50-day ($310.31) and 200-day ($329.87) moving averages, and $642M in net insider selling over 24 months with zero acquisitions adds caution. With Q3 2026 results due October 29, the scope and financial impact of the manufacturing issue remain unquantified, making the risk/reward unclear until management provides clarity.
What could go wrong
- Legal/regulatory overhang. Multiple securities class action investigations (Pomerantz, Block & Leviton) are ongoing following the September 8 disclosure of persisting peripheral vascular manufacturing problems; outcomes and potential settlements are unknown.
- Operating margin compression. FY2025 operating margin fell to 19.5% from 22.4% in FY2024 despite revenue growth of 11.2%, suggesting cost pressures or integration costs are eroding profitability even before accounting for the manufacturing issue.
- Valuation premium persists. At a PE of 29.3x and EV/EBITDA of 19.3x, SYK trades at roughly 20-21% premiums to peer medians despite the unresolved manufacturing and legal issues, limiting downside protection.
- Persistent insider selling. Over 24 months, insiders have net sold 1.8M shares worth $642M with zero acquisitions, including recent dispositions by the CFO and Group President in August-September 2026.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: FY25 fundamentals · Q2 2026 results and earnings vs estimates · news, 1 Oct · peer comparison. Orin's read on SYK; not advice.
How has the share price moved?
Down 21.4% over twelve months, from $383.72 on 27 Oct 2025 to $301.42 at the Tue 27 Oct 2026 close. Its highest close in that time was $387.46 on 27 Feb 2026; the last close is 22.2% 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, 6.3M, on 8 Sep 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).
- Rose flags: large share sales by the company's own officers and directors, from the Form 4 each one files after trading.
On file
All SYK filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| BlackRock | $8.6B | 0.1% |
| Vanguard Capital Management | $7.1B | 0.2% |
| JPMorgan Chase | $5.7B | 0.3% |
| State Street | $4.9B | 0.1% |
| T. Rowe Price Associates | $3.8B | 0.4% |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $2.6B | 0.1% |
| Wellington Management Group | $2.6B | 0.4% |
| Geode Capital Management | $2.5B | 0.1% |
| Morgan Stanley | $1.9B | 0.1% |
| AllianceBernstein | $1.6B | 0.5% |
124 of the 815 filers we track · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 181 Form 4 filings; open-market trades net −$642.6M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 30 sales — the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about SYK
Orin answers questions about SYK 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 31.0× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close) — lower than in all 5 of its last 5 fiscal years (middle 41.4×); the typical Healthcare company on the NYSE is at 25.8×.
| Measure | Now | Its usual | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 31.0×below usual | 41.4× | 25.8× |
| P/S | 4.48×below usual | 5.55× | — |
| EV/EBITDA | 19.0×below usual | 24.6× | — |
| P/B | 4.8×below usual | 6.1× | — |
- "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 $366 (from $310 to $420) — 21% above the Tue 27 Oct close price. That is their published opinion, not Orin's.
$366
$310 – $420 · +21% against the last close
- 15 buy or overweight
- 5 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 31.0× its last 12 months of profit. Only 2 of the 2 companies it is compared to made a profit (MDT 23.0×, ZBH 26.9×), so there is no typical P/E.
| Company | Market value | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross margin | Net margin | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYKStryker Corporation | $116B | 31.0× | 19.0× | 65.2% | 14.4% | 16% |
| MDTMedtronic plc | $120B | 23.0× | 14.4× | 66.7% | 13.9% | 11% |
| 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 31.0× its last 12 months of profit (Tue 27 Oct close). It has no full fiscal year on file since its history starts, so there is nothing of its own to compare with.
- Now31.0×
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 $299 a share — 1% below the $301.55 price it was computed against (27 Oct).
| Model | Value a share | Against the price then |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | $299 | 1% below $301.55 |
| Levered | $304 | 1% above $301.55 |
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.