Alcon (ALC) Competitors

DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM) and Alcon (NYSE:ALC) are both large-cap medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, DXCM or ALC?

Alcon has higher revenue and earnings than DexCom. Alcon is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DexCom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DexCom	$4.03B	6.56	$576.20M	$1.44	46.88
Alcon	$9.91B	3.73	$1.02B	$2.15	34.88

Is DXCM or ALC more profitable?

DexCom has a net margin of 13.29% compared to Alcon's net margin of 10.70%. DexCom's return on equity of 30.41% beat Alcon's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DexCom	13.29%	30.41%	10.08%
Alcon	10.70%	6.92%	4.89%

Does the media prefer DXCM or ALC?

In the previous week, DexCom had 23 more articles in the media than Alcon. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for DexCom and 7 mentions for Alcon. DexCom's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Alcon's score of 0.11 indicating that DexCom is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
DexCom	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Alcon	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend DXCM or ALC?

DexCom presently has a consensus target price of $99.89, suggesting a potential upside of 47.99%. Alcon has a consensus target price of $96.06, suggesting a potential upside of 28.10%. Given DexCom's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe DexCom is more favorable than Alcon.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DexCom	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91
Alcon	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.69

Which has more volatility & risk, DXCM or ALC?

DexCom has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alcon has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in DXCM or ALC?

97.8% of DexCom shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.9% of Alcon shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of DexCom shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Alcon shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

DexCom beats Alcon on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.