ABT vs. DXCM: Abbott Laboratories vs. DexCom Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM) are both classified in the Health Care Equipment sub-industry within the broader Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry, placing them in the closest GICS peer bucket.

Company profile comparison for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Profile Item	ABT	DXCM
Name	Abbott Laboratories	DexCom Inc.
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Health Care	Health Care
GICS Industry Group	Health Care Equipment & Services	Health Care Equipment & Services
GICS Industry	Health Care Equipment & Supplies	Health Care Equipment & Supplies
GICS Sub-Industry	Health Care Equipment	Health Care Equipment
Market Capitalization	190.39 billion USD	29.62 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	Nasdaq
Listing Date	March 17, 1980	April 14, 2005
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

ABT

DXCM

GSPC

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

Loading price history…

Trailing total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

Loading price history…

Calendar-year total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
Total Return (1Y)	-10.78%	46.33%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	7.79%	-4.50%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	-0.79%	-12.76%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

ABT

DXCM

GSPC

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

Loading price history…

Distribution of monthly total returns for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

DexCom (DXCM) has an aggressive beta of 1.43, indicating higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is defensive at 0.53 and tends to be less market-sensitive — they sit on opposite ends of the beta spectrum.

Risk profile metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	28.48%	38.37%
Beta (5Y)	0.53	1.43
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-39.64%	-66.32%
Avg. Volume (3M)	8.74M	4.34M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

ABT and DXCM are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-0.53	1.10
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-0.76	1.79

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

DexCom (DXCM) at 37.67% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 9.14% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for DXCM.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.14%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
ABT: 9.14%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

37.67%

Max: 47.61%
DXCM: 37.67%
Q3: 14.36%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their ROE against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

For every dollar of sales, both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 9.75% and DexCom (DXCM) at 19.42% retain more as net profit than most peers, landing in the top net margin quartile of their industries.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.75%

Max: 29.35%
ABT: 9.75%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

19.42%

Max: 29.35%
DXCM: 19.42%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their net margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

DexCom (DXCM) at 24.34% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 11.66%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

11.66%

Max: 35.43%
Q3: 14.14%
ABT: 11.66%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

24.34%

Max: 35.43%
DXCM: 24.34%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their operating margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
ROE (TTM)	9.14%	37.67%
ROA (TTM)	4.90%	11.14%
Net Margin (TTM)	9.75%	19.42%
Operating Margin (TTM)	11.66%	24.34%
Gross Margin (TTM)	57.17%	63.42%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 5.67% and DexCom (DXCM) at 15.60% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

DexCom (DXCM) at 47.18% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at -51.31% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in earnings momentum.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
Revenue Growth (YoY)	5.67%	15.60%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	0.51%	17.01%
EPS Growth (YoY)	-51.31%	47.18%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	-1.65%	36.60%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 1.46 and DexCom (DXCM) at 1.74 carry current ratio within their industries’ typical mid-ranges, suggesting balanced short-term liquidity relative to peers.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.46

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
ABT: 1.46
Q1: 1.37
Min: 0.30

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.74

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
DXCM: 1.74
Q1: 1.37
Min: 0.30

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their current ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 0.61 and DexCom (DXCM) at 0.55 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.61

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
ABT: 0.61
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.55

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
Median: 0.58
DXCM: 0.55
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.46	1.74
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.61	0.55
Net Debt / EBITDA	2.37	-0.28

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

DexCom (DXCM) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reports a yield of 2.22%, ranking against industry peers normally.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.22%

ABT: 2.22%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

DXCM: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

DexCom (DXCM) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reports a payout of 92.54%, ranking against industry peers normally.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

92.54%

ABT: 92.54%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

DXCM: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
Dividend Yield (TTM)	2.22%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	92.54%	0.00%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Both Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 41.02 and DexCom (DXCM) at 31.26 land around their industries’ usual P/E ratio levels — neither is getting a clear earnings-multiple discount or premium versus peers.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

41.02

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
ABT: 41.02
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

31.26

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
DXCM: 31.26
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 3.95 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while DexCom (DXCM) at 5.80 sits in the pricier quartile — DXCM costs more per dollar of sales.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

3.95

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
ABT: 3.95
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

5.80

Max: 8.80
DXCM: 5.80
Q3: 4.32
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) at 3.73 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while DexCom (DXCM) at 11.68 carries an above-peer premium to book — DXCM is pricier on assets.

ABT

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

3.73

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
ABT: 3.73
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

DXCM

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

11.68

DXCM: 11.68
Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) vs. DexCom (DXCM): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and DexCom (DXCM)
Metric	ABT	DXCM
P/E Ratio (TTM)	41.02	31.26
P/S Ratio (TTM)	3.95	5.80
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	3.73	11.68
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	3.19%	2.74%