EW vs. MCK: Edwards Lifesciences vs. McKesson Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK) 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

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK) both fall under the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group, but EW is classified in Health Care Equipment & Supplies while MCK is classified in Health Care Providers & Services.

Company profile comparison for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Profile Item	EW	MCK
Name	Edwards Lifesciences Corporation	McKesson Corporation
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 Providers & Services
GICS Sub-Industry	Health Care Equipment	Health Care Distributors
Market Capitalization	58.73 billion USD	122.48 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	NYSE
Listing Date	March 27, 2000	November 10, 1994
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

MCK

GSPC

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK), 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

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Trailing total returns for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
Total Return (1Y)	25.08%	25.40%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	17.28%	32.67%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	-2.77%	37.84%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

MCK

GSPC

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK), 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

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	25.58%	31.71%
Beta (5Y)	0.78	0.26
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-54.32%	-27.17%
Avg. Volume (3M)	3.69M	822.69K

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

EW and MCK 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 Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	0.81	0.67
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	1.23	1.15

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: Edwards Lifesciences (EW) earns 9.33% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; McKesson (MCK) has no ROE this period.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

9.33%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
EW: 9.33%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

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

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): MCK does not report ROE, so it has no value marker; EW is benchmarked against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group.

Net Margin (TTM)

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at 15.30% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of McKesson (MCK) at 1.12%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

15.30%

Max: 29.35%
EW: 15.30%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.12%

Max: 29.35%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
MCK: 1.12%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their net margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at 30.15% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of McKesson (MCK) at 1.48%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

30.15%

Max: 35.43%
EW: 30.15%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.48%

Max: 35.43%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
MCK: 1.48%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their operating margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
ROE (TTM)	9.33%	--
ROA (TTM)	8.77%	4.72%
Net Margin (TTM)	15.30%	1.12%
Operating Margin (TTM)	30.15%	1.48%
Gross Margin (TTM)	78.02%	3.65%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at 11.55% and McKesson (MCK) at 12.36% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

McKesson (MCK) at 49.22% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at -73.74% is in the bottom quartile, showing a clear gap in earnings momentum.

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
Revenue Growth (YoY)	11.55%	12.36%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	10.77%	13.39%
EPS Growth (YoY)	-73.74%	49.22%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	-9.14%	15.31%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at 4.60 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while McKesson (MCK) at 0.90 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

4.60

Max: 7.59
EW: 4.60
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
Q1: 1.37
Min: 0.30

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.90

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
Q1: 1.37
MCK: 0.90
Min: 0.30

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their current ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Only one side’s leverage can be read here: Edwards Lifesciences (EW) carries debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06 against its industry range, while McKesson (MCK) reports no figure this period.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.06

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
EW: 0.06
Min: 0.00

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00
MCK: --

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): MCK does not report debt-to-equity ratio, so it has no value marker; EW is benchmarked against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
Current Ratio (MRQ)	4.60	0.90
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.06	--
Net Debt / EBITDA	-1.88	0.64

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile McKesson (MCK) reports a yield of 0.32%, ranking against industry peers normally.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

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

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.32%

MCK: 0.32%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile McKesson (MCK) reports a payout of 8.77%, ranking against industry peers normally.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

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

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

8.77%

MCK: 8.77%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.00%	0.32%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	0.00%	8.77%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

McKesson (MCK) at 27.36 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at 59.38 sits in the richer quartile — EW needs stronger growth or earnings quality to justify the premium.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

59.38

Max: 80.41
EW: 59.38
Q3: 47.62
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

27.36

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
Median: 29.93
MCK: 27.36
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

McKesson (MCK) at 0.29 looks cheap on sales in the lower P/S ratio quartile, while Edwards Lifesciences (EW) at 8.80 looks rich in the upper quartile — a clear gap in price per dollar of revenue.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

8.80

EW: 8.80
Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.29

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
MCK: 0.29
Min: 0.03

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

McKesson (MCK) reports a negative P/B ratio of -30.85, meaning negative book equity — the multiple itself is not meaningful for valuation. Meanwhile Edwards Lifesciences (EW) reports 5.41, ranking against industry peers normally.

EW

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

5.41

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
EW: 5.41
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

MCK

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

-30.85

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31
MCK: -30.85

Edwards Lifesciences (EW) vs. McKesson (MCK): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) and McKesson (MCK)
Metric	EW	MCK
P/E Ratio (TTM)	59.38	27.36
P/S Ratio (TTM)	8.80	0.29
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	5.41	-30.85
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	1.95%	6.04%