Start here if you're new
what it is
IQVIA helps drug companies run trials, sell medicines, and organize healthcare data.
how it gets paid
Last year Iqvia made $16.3B in revenue. Research & Development Solutions was the main engine at $9.1B, or 56% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 5.9% last year. 11.8% was the punch line. That miss was enough to break IQVIA's usual beat-by-a-few-pennies habit and trigger a 20% drop.
what just happened
IQVIA's last quarter missed by 11.8%, and the stock still got slapped 20%.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
95/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
14.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
16.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 59/100 — below average
What they do
IQVIA helps drug companies run trials, sell medicines, and organize healthcare data.
Your customers do not swap IQVIA easily. Research & Development Solutions is 56% of sales, and Technology & Analytics Solutions is 39%, so IQVIA sits inside both the trial process and the data pipe. Leaving means ripping out work already wired into 88,000 employees and a system built from IMS Health and Q2 Solutions.
How they make money
$16.3B
annual revenue · their business grew +5.9% last year
Research & Development Solutions
$9.1B
Technology & Analytics Solutions
$6.4B
Contracted Sales & Medical Solutions
$0.8B
The products that matter
outsourced clinical trial execution
Biopharmaceutical Development
core to the $16.3B business
it's the operating backbone of the company. the snapshot data here does not split segment revenue, but this is where pharma clients pay to run development work they do not want to build in-house.
core
commercial outsourcing support
Commercial Services
supported by 26.0% operating margin
this is the part that helps drugmakers sell and support products after development. we are not given a separate revenue line here, so the honest takeaway is mix matters more than the exact slice.
mix matters
healthcare data and workflow layer
Data and Analytics
shows up in 95 / 100 predictability
the numbers in this snapshot do not break out this business either. what you can say is that a 95/100 predictability score usually points to sticky customer work, recurring projects, or both.
sticky work
Key numbers
$202
VL target
That is $35.06 above $166.94, or 21% upside. You are paying for a rerate, not a miracle.
14.0x
trailing P/E
P/E means price divided by last 12 months of earnings. At 14.0x, the stock is priced like a normal earnings machine, not a broken one.
$12.8B
long debt
Long-term debt means money IQVIA must pay back later. $12.8B equals 31% of capital, so leverage is real but not wild.
16.5%
return on capital
Return on capital means profit generated from the money invested. 16.5% says the business still turns invested dollars into decent profit.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 55 / 100
- long-term debt $12.8B (31% of capital)
- net profit margin 13.9% — keeps 14 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 39% — $0.39 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in IQV 3 years ago → it's now worth $7,190.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
IQVIA's last quarter missed by 11.8%, and the stock still got slapped 20%.
EPS means profit per share. Yahoo shows $2.99 versus $3.39 expected. EDGAR shows annual revenue at $16.3B and gross margin at 21.8%, so the business still has profit power even when the quarter disappoints.
$11.9B
revenue
$2.99
eps
21.8%
gross margin
the number that mattered
11.8% was the punch line. That miss was enough to break IQVIA's usual beat-by-a-few-pennies habit and trigger a 20% drop.
-
iqvia’s recent earnings release surprised investors.
-
management typically delivers quarterly earnings a few pennies above their prior outlook.this was the case again earlier this month when fourth-quarter reported earnings per share came in at $3.42, versus our $3.39 call. however, leadership noted that 2026 earnings were likely to be between $12.55 and $12.85 per share, versus our $13.00 view and the $12.93 consensus estimate.
-
the news pushed the stock price 20% lower.
-
we have trimmed our 2026 earnings estimate by a quarter per share.for one, added financing costs and higher interest expense will hurt profits by an incremental $80 million. potential margin expansion will be limited by a larger proportion of less-lucrative fsp contracts, where customers outsource certain functions rather than entire clinical trials. another possible drawback is reemerging questions about biopharma customers’ budgets, although spending has been volatile in recent quarters and this may just be a temporary slowdown.
-
the r&ds backlog remains firm.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is a longer-than-expected profit reset in outsourced clinical development.
med
another guidance cut
2026 EPS guidance already moved to $12.55–$12.85 versus the $12.93 consensus estimate cited on this page. If management has to reset again, the low-multiple argument gets weaker fast.
This is an earnings-trust problem. A company with 95/100 predictability does not get many free misses.
med
FSP contract mix pressures margins
Management flagged a larger proportion of less-lucrative FSP contracts. Translation: IQVIA may win work that carries less profit per dollar of revenue.
At a 26.0% operating margin today, even modest mix erosion can matter more than the headline revenue number.
med
financing costs keep climbing
The page cites an incremental $80M hit from added financing costs and higher interest expense. With $12.8B of long-term debt, rates are not background noise here.
That drag hits profit directly, which matters more when the company keeps just 12.8% of revenue as net income.
Between the $12.55–$12.85 guide, the extra $80M financing drag, and lower-quality contract mix, the risk is not that IQVIA stops growing — it's that earnings growth stays too soft for the stock to rerate.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
next quarter's EPS guide
The stock already absorbed one reset. your next read is simple: does management keep the $12.55–$12.85 range intact, tighten it upward, or cut again.
metric
operating margin
26.0% is the proof this is a good business. If that starts slipping while revenue still grows, the mix problem is getting worse.
risk
interest expense
The page cites an extra $80M financing hit. you want to know whether that number stabilizes or keeps climbing against the $12.8B debt load.
trend
revenue vs. profit quality
Revenue is still expected near $17B. The real question is whether EPS follows, or whether growth comes with thinner economics.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 means the near-term setup is middle of the pack. in human-speak, analysts are waiting for the guidance dust to settle.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 means typical risk for a large-cap stock. Not a bunker, not a rollercoaster.
chart momentum
top 5%
technical score 1 is the highest rating. That's the market saying the bounce has been strong, even if the fundamental debate is not over.
earnings predictability
95 / 100
Management has historically given reliable numbers. That's exactly why one soft guide hit the stock so hard.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 523 buyers vs. 444 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$125
$279
$167
current price
$202
target midpoint · +21% from current · 3-5yr high: $450 (+170% · 28% ann'l return)
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