Quality Investor

STERIS plc

Rank #288Capital Return

STE · NYSE · Healthcare

STERIS plc (STE) — Rank #288 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.24) · ROE 10.9% · Piotroski F-Score 9 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0001757898 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services in the United States, Ireland, and internationally.

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It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, and Life Sciences. The company offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products, automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products, endoscopy accessories, instruments, washers, and sterilizers and other pieces of capital equipment, as well as equipment used directly in the procedure rooms, including surgical tables, lights, equipment management services, and connectivity solutions; and various preventive maintenance programs, repair services, custom process improvement consulting, and outsourced instrument sterile processing, as well as instrument, devices, and endoscope repair and maintenance services. It also provides process controls and monitoring systems, as well as integrated sterilization equipment, such as accelerators, product handling, and automation; and sterilization modalities, product development, materials testing, and process validation, as well as support services for sterilization equipment and control systems comprising installation, preventive maintenance, updates, repairs, and troubleshooting. In addition, the company offers pharmaceutical detergents, cleanroom disinfectants and sterilants, pharmaceutical grade and research sterilizers and washers, sterility assurance and maintenance products, vaporized hydrogen peroxide room decontamination systems and sterilizers, and high purity water and pure steam generators; and preventive maintenance programs and repair services to support the operation of capital equipment. It serves healthcare providers, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, and hospitals. The company was formerly known as New STERIS Limited and changed its name to STERIS plc in November 2015.

STERIS plc was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio.

Industry
Medical Devices
Sector
Healthcare
State
L2
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
March 31
Website
steris.com

Price History

STE+1.3% · +0.3% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$20.77B

P/E (annual)

26.9

P/S (annual)

3.5

P/B

2.9

P/OCF (annual)

15.5

Shareholder Yield

1.6%

Employees

17,937

Industry

Medical Devices

Exchange

NYSE

Signal Flags

3 green
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.24
Return on equity
10.9%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.49
Current ratio
1.91×
Net cash
-$1.41B

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
1.0%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
8.7%
Piotroski F-Score
9 / 9
Share dilution
-0.4%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 1/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

8.8%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -0.4% — per-share value needs a total required return of 8.4% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 8.4%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

4.4%

r = 10% (base)

8.8%

r = 12%

12.6%

Net debt / market cap: 6.7%

Note: current FCF margin is 1.6σ above its historical mean — implied growth may understate valuation risk if the margin reverts.

Base FCF: $972.4M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

26.8xCheap
26.8xmed 40.4x187.3x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

3.5xCheap
3.5xmed 4.4x5.3x

P / B

Price / book value per share

2.9xCheap
2.9xmed 3.6x4.2x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

8.0xCheap
8.0xmed 10.3x12.2x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

21.6xCheap
21.6xmed 37.1x56.5x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.24

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

25th pctl of 37 SIC 38 peers

Return on equity

10.9%

Gross margin

44.2%

31st pctl of 37 SIC 38 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

8.7%

RPO growth (YoY)

-17.6%

Remaining performance obligations growth — RPO > revenue = forward demand building.

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2023202420252026
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

9.4%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

13.8%

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

94.1%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

35.0%

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.49

76th pctl of 35 SIC 38 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.91×

26th pctl of 36 SIC 38 peers

Quick ratio

1.17×

Net cash

-$1.41B

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$972.40M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.24

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

1.0%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

3.8 / 5

Good
Payout ratio
30.9%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
4.02×5/5 Strong
Dividend growth streak
9 yr4/5 Strong
Balance-sheet health
D/E 0.49 · IC N/A2/5 Fair

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

9 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20212026
Value
Hypergrowth
Capital Return