Which Is a Better Investment, ICON PLC or Medpace Holdings Inc Stock?

By Eunice Kim
August 02, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Life Sciences Tools & Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Medpace Holdings, Inc. or ICON Public Limited Company because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company

Medpace Holdings, Inc. provides clinical research-based drug and medical device development services in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and Australia. The company offers a suite of services supporting the clinical development process from Phase I to Phase IV in various therapeutic areas. It provides clinical development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries; and development plan design, coordinated central laboratory, project management, regulatory affairs, clinical monitoring, data management and analysis, pharmacovigilance new drug application submissions, and post-marketing clinical support services. In addition, the company offers bio-analytical laboratory services, clinical human pharmacology, imaging services, and electrocardiography reading support for clinical trials. Medpace Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies. It also provides clinical development services, including all phases of development, peri and post approval, data solutions, and site and patient access services; clinical trial management, consulting, contract staffing, data solutions, and laboratory services; and commercial services comprising clinical development strategy, planning and trial design, full study execution, and post-market commercialization. In addition, the company offers testing services comprising bioanalytical, biomarker, vaccine, good manufacturing practice, and central laboratory services, as well as full-service and functional service partnerships to customers. Further, the company provides adaptive trials, cardiac safety solutions, clinical and scientific operations, consulting and advisory, commercial positioning, decentralized and hybrid clinical trials, early clinical, medical imaging, real world intelligence, site and patient, and strategic solutions. Additionally, it provides therapeutics for cardiovascular, central nervous system, endocrine and metabolic disorders, hepatology, infectious diseases, internal medicine immunology, and oncology. It serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries, as well as government and public health organizations. ICON Public Limited Company was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Latest Life Sciences Tools & Services and Medpace Holdings, Inc., ICON Public Limited Company Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Medpace Holdings, Inc. had a $16.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Life Sciences Tools & Services median of $1.8 million. Medpace Holdings, Inc.’s stock is up 2.8% in 2026, down 4% in the previous five trading days and up 31.83% in the past year.

Currently, Medpace Holdings, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 33.8. Medpace Holdings, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.8 billion with a 17.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 17.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $17.705 per share for the current fiscal year. Medpace Holdings, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of July 31, 2026, ICON Public Limited Company had a $12.6 billion market cap, putting it in the 80th percentile of all stocks. ICON Public Limited Company’s stock is down 10.2% in 2026, down 1.3% in the previous five trading days and down 9.88% in the past year.

Currently, ICON Public Limited Company’s price-earnings ratio is 73.8. ICON Public Limited Company’s trailing 12-month revenue is $8.3 billion with a 0.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 0.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.589 per share for the current fiscal year. ICON Public Limited Company does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Medpace Holdings, Inc. MEDP F
ICON Public Limited Company ICLR C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Medpace Holdings, Inc. has a Value Score of 17, which is Ultra Expensive. ICON Public Limited Company has a Value Score of 57, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Medpace Holdings, Inc. or ICON Public Limited Company has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Medpace Holdings, Inc. or ICON Public Limited Company is the better investment when it comes to value.

Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Medpace Holdings, Inc. MEDP B
ICON Public Limited Company ICLR B

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Medpace Holdings, Inc. has a Growth Score of 69, which is Strong. ICON Public Limited Company has a Growth Score of 69, which is Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company have a grade of B. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Medpace Holdings, Inc. MEDP A
ICON Public Limited Company ICLR B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Medpace Holdings, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 85, which is Very Strong. ICON Public Limited Company has a Momentum Score of 77, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Medpace Holdings, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Medpace Holdings, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to ICON Public Limited Company. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Medpace Holdings, Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company Grades

In addition to Growth, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Estimate Revisions and Quality.

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Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Medpace Holdings, Inc. or ICON Public Limited Company Stock?

Overall, Medpace Holdings, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 17, Growth Score of 69 and Momentum Score of 85.

ICON Public Limited Company stock has a Value Score of 57, Growth Score of 69 and Momentum Score of 77.

Comparing Medpace Holdings, Inc. and ICON Public Limited Company’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

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AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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