Sotera Health Company (SHC)
NASDAQ:SHC
Want to see SHC full AI Analyst Report?
Top Page
Sotera Health
(NASDAQ:SHC)
Select Model
Select Model
Rating:60Neutral
Price Target:
$16.00
▼(-8.05% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:05/05/26
The score is anchored by improving profitability and cash generation but constrained by a leveraged balance sheet and a history of earnings/cash-flow variability. The latest earnings call supports a more constructive outlook via reaffirmed 2026 guidance, margin progress, and leverage-improvement goals, while technicals are mixed and valuation (P/E ~35.9 with no dividend yield provided) remains a headwind.
Positive Factors
Durable recurring services and long revenue streak
Sotera’s core businesses are mission-critical, fee-for-service sterilization, lab testing and isotope supply used in regulated life-science production. Twenty years of consecutive revenue growth indicate entrenched customer relationships, high switching costs and predictable baseline demand that support multi‑quarter visibility.
Negative Factors
Elevated leverage and debt-heavy capital structure
A still-high absolute debt load constrains strategic flexibility and amplifies interest‑rate and refinancing exposure. Even with improvement, leverage leaves less cushion for demand shocks, increases fixed costs, and prioritizes cash for debt service over discretionary investments for at least several quarters.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Durable recurring services and long revenue streak
Sotera’s core businesses are mission-critical, fee-for-service sterilization, lab testing and isotope supply used in regulated life-science production. Twenty years of consecutive revenue growth indicate entrenched customer relationships, high switching costs and predictable baseline demand that support multi‑quarter visibility.
Read all positive factors
Sotera Health (SHC) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$4.39B
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)3.20M
Price to Earnings (P/E)35.9
Beta (1Y)1.22
Revenue Growth5.74%
EPS Growth74.87%
CountryUS
Employees3,000
SectorHealthcare
Sector Strength45
IndustryMedical - Diagnostics & Research
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)0.27
Shares Outstanding285,156,430
10 Day Avg. Volume2,593,230
30 Day Avg. Volume3,196,942
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.93
Price to Book (P/B)8.27
Price to Sales (P/S)4.30
P/FCF Ratio33.58
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.44
Enterprise Value/Revenue5.43
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit9.78
Enterprise Value/Ebitda14.13
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$20.67Price Target Upside18.77% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering6
EPS Forecast (FY)0.96
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.24B
Sotera Health Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Sotera Health Company provides sterilization, and lab testing and advisory services in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company's sterilization services include gamma and electron beam irradiation, and EO processing; Nel...
How the Company Makes Money
Sotera Health makes money by selling outsourced, fee-based services and products that help life-sciences customers sterilize products, validate manufacturing processes, and comply with quality and regulatory requirements.
1) Contract sterilizatio...
Sotera Health Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Net Revenue by Segment
Breaks down Sotera's revenue by business line, revealing which segments drive sales growth and where demand is strongest or weakest. A concentrated revenue base increases dependence on a few markets, while diversified growth across segments signals resilience. Tracking segment revenue trends highlights areas of pricing power, volume gains, or contract wins that are likely to shape future earnings.
Breaks down Sotera's revenue by business line, revealing which segments drive sales growth and where demand is strongest or weakest. A concentrated revenue base increases dependence on a few markets, while diversified growth across segments signals resilience. Tracking segment revenue trends highlights areas of pricing power, volume gains, or contract wins that are likely to shape future earnings.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlySotera Health Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:May 05, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| Next Earnings Date:Aug 06, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveyed predominantly positive operational and financial momentum: company delivered revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth, expanded margins, strong Nordion performance, improved adjusted EPS, meaningful legal dismissals, solid liquidity, and reaffirmed guidance. Key risks and near-term headwinds include Nelson Labs' revenue and margin pressure, some timing-driven results (Nordion harvest schedules and FX benefits), Sterigenics weather/downtime variability, elevated CapEx, and remaining leverage above target. Overall, the positive execution, legal outcomes, and reaffirmed outlook outweigh the identifiable challenges.Positive Updates
Consolidated Revenue Growth
Total company revenues rose 10% to $280 million in Q1 2026, or 6.5% on a constant currency basis versus Q1 2025, reflecting broad-based demand and FX tailwinds.
Negative Updates
Nelson Labs Revenue and Margin Pressure
Nelson Labs revenue declined 0.7% to $52 million (down 3.8% constant currency); segment income decreased 11.5% to $15 million (down 15.1% CC) and margins stepped down to 28% reflecting lower volume/mix and continued recovery work from prior headwinds.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Consolidated Revenue Growth
Total company revenues rose 10% to $280 million in Q1 2026, or 6.5% on a constant currency basis versus Q1 2025, reflecting broad-based demand and FX tailwinds.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Sotera reaffirmed 2026 guidance calling for total company revenue of $1.233–$1.251 billion (5.0%–6.5% constant-currency growth, with an estimated ~100 bps FX tailwind mostly realized in H1), adjusted EBITDA of $632–$641 million (5.5%–7.0% constant-currency growth, ~100 bps FX benefit), and adjusted EPS of $0.93–$1.01; the company expects interest expense of $135–$145 million, an adjusted-tax rate of 27%–29%, depreciation to rise, a weighted-average diluted share count of ~289–291 million, capex of $175–$225 million, continued net-leverage improvement from 3.2x toward the 2.0–3.0x target, and guidance that assumes no M&A. Segment assumptions include Sterigenics mid‑to‑high‑single‑digit constant‑currency revenue growth (Q2 similar to Q1) with pricing toward the high end of the 3%–4% range, Nordion low‑to‑mid‑single‑digit growth with ~40%–45% of its revenue in H1, and Nelson Labs low‑single‑digit constant‑currency growth with a slight Q2 return to growth and full‑year margins in the low‑to‑mid‑30s.Sotera Health Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
73
Positive
Balance Sheet
44
Neutral
Cash Flow
67
Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 1.16B | 1.10B | 1.05B | 1.00B | 931.48M |
| Gross Profit | 645.53M | 602.29M | 577.16M | 557.00M | 518.67M |
| EBITDA | 303.23M | 442.20M | 406.83M | -17.41M | 400.81M |
| Net Income | 77.95M | 44.40M | 51.38M | -233.57M | 116.88M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 3.26B | 3.07B | 3.13B | 3.12B | 2.79B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 346.46M | 277.24M | 296.41M | 395.21M | 106.92M |
| Total Debt | 2.27B | 2.35B | 2.33B | 2.03B | 1.83B |
| Total Liabilities | 2.66B | 2.67B | 2.69B | 2.77B | 2.20B |
| Stockholders Equity | 606.03M | 404.91M | 443.73M | 350.24M | 586.10M |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 149.18M | 45.09M | -362.71M | 95.58M | 179.38M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 287.19M | 224.16M | -147.73M | 277.96M | 281.55M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -135.14M | -179.00M | -214.91M | -181.90M | -159.83M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -100.53M | -50.56M | 265.96M | 197.76M | -117.29M |
Sotera Health Technical Analysis
Positive
17.40
Price Trends
15.39
Positive
16.59
Negative
15.72
Positive
Market Momentum
0.30
Negative
66.73
Neutral
87.35
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For SHC, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 17.4 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 14.71, above the 50-day MA of 15.39, and above the 200-day MA of 15.72, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.30 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 66.73 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 87.35 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for SHC.
Sotera Health Risk Analysis
Sotera Health disclosed 46 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Sotera Health reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Sotera Health Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (51)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
70 Outperform | $21.17B | 34.48 | 34.94% | ― | 1.25% | ― | |
70 Outperform | $21.20B | 21.39 | 13.88% | 1.80% | 11.03% | 14.34% | |
65 Neutral | $7.00B | 22.80 | 11.85% | 3.31% | 5.65% | 411.58% | |
60 Neutral | $4.39B | 35.94 | 14.98% | ― | 5.74% | 74.87% | |
51 Neutral | $7.86B | -0.30 | -43.30% | 2.27% | 22.53% | -2.21% | |
51 Neutral | $8.50B | -9.06 | -4.40% | ― | -0.85% | -1143.24% |
* Healthcare Sector Average
SHC
Sotera Health
15.39
2.47
19.12%
CRL
Charles River Labs
172.32
52.88
44.27%
ILMN
Illumina
139.37
61.20
78.29%
QGEN
Qiagen
33.96
-8.70
-20.39%
DGX
Quest Diagnostics
191.50
17.08
9.79%
Sotera Health Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesFinancial Disclosures
Sotera Health Names New CEO, Highlights Leadership Transition
Positive
May 5, 2026
On May 5, 2026, Sotera Health announced that its board appointed industry veteran Alton Shader as chief executive officer and Class II director effective May 26, 2026, while incumbent CEO and chairman Michael B. Petras, Jr. will shift to the role ...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Sotera Health Adds Independent Director Amid Board Reshuffle
Positive
Mar 16, 2026
On March 12, 2026, Sotera Health director Constantine S. Mihas notified the board that he would resign as a Class I director effective March 16, 2026, following a reduction in the number of directors certain stockholders are entitled to designate,...
Regulatory Filings and Compliance
Sotera Health Completes Large Secondary Shareholder Stock Sale
Neutral
Mar 6, 2026
On March 4, 2026, Sotera Health Company and certain selling stockholders entered into an underwriting agreement with Wells Fargo Securities, LLC for the secondary sale of 25,000,000 shares of Sotera Health common stock at $15.270 per share. On Mar...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesFinancial Disclosures
Sotera Health Announces General Counsel Transition and Retirement
Positive
Feb 24, 2026
In 2025 Sotera Health posted its 20th consecutive year of revenue growth, with full‑year net revenues rising 5.7% to $1.164 billion and net income increasing to $78 million from $44 million in 2024. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 8.2% to $594 milli...
Executive/Board Changes
Sotera Health Adds Independent Director to Board Committees
Positive
Feb 5, 2026
On February 4, 2026, Sotera Health Company expanded its Board of Directors from eleven to twelve members and appointed former Timken chief executive Richard G. Kyle as a Class III director, with immediate effect. Kyle, an experienced industrial ex...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.