MDLN vs. SYK: Medline vs. Stryker Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Medline (MDLN) and Stryker (SYK) both belong to the Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry, though MDLN is classified under Health Care Supplies while SYK falls under Health Care Equipment.

Stryker (SYK) has been public since March 17, 1980, giving it decades of market history across multiple cycles, while Medline (MDLN) listed only on December 17, 2025 and lacks comparable through-cycle data.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Medline (MDLN) reports a negative beta of -0.93, suggesting inverse market sensitivity over the measurement window. That is uncommon for ordinary equities and can reflect commodity-linked or hedge-like exposure, but it can also come from statistical noise. Stryker (SYK) has a non-negative beta of 0.72.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Both MDLN and SYK need 1-year volatility and 1-year return to plot risk-return positioning.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Stryker (SYK) at 16.02% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Medline (MDLN) at 4.85% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for SYK.

Stryker (SYK) at 13.78% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Medline (MDLN) at 1.85%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

Stryker (SYK) at 22.96% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Medline (MDLN) at 5.22%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Only one side can be read here: Stryker (SYK) reports revenue growth of 11.16%, ranked against its industry; Medline (MDLN) has no revenue growth figure this period.

Medline (MDLN) at 117.38% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than Stryker (SYK) at 8.25%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Stryker (SYK) at 2.18 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Medline (MDLN) at 4.04 sits above its industry’s typical mid-range — comfortable liquidity, though possibly with more idle current assets relative to peers.

Both Medline (MDLN) at 0.65 and Stryker (SYK) at 0.66 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Medline (MDLN) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Stryker (SYK) reports a yield of 1.05%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Medline (MDLN) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Stryker (SYK) reports a payout of 37.49%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Stryker (SYK) at 34.70 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Medline (MDLN) at 90.09 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for MDLN’s trailing earnings.

Medline (MDLN) at 1.70 is priced about in line with its industry on P/S ratio, while Stryker (SYK) at 4.72 sits in the pricier quartile — SYK costs more per dollar of sales.

On P/B ratio, both Medline (MDLN) at 2.95 and Stryker (SYK) at 5.29 are valued close to their industries’ norm against book — neither stands out from peers.

Valuation Metrics