Sifting through countless of stocks in the Health Care Equipment & Supplies 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 Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services or Inc. 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 Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc.

Medtronic plc develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: The Cardiovascular Portfolio, Neuroscience Portfolio, and Medical Surgical Portfolio. The Cardiovascular Portfolio segment offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices; cardiac ablation products; insertable cardiac monitor systems; TYRX products; and remote monitoring and patient-centered software. It also provides aortic valves, surgical valve replacement and repair products, endovascular stent grafts and accessories, and transcatheter pulmonary valves, left atrial appendage exclusion systems, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) systems and percutaneous coronary intervention products, percutaneous angioplasty balloons, and endovenous products. The Neuroscience Portfolio segment offers medical devices and implants, biologic solutions, spinal cord stimulation and brain modulation systems, implantable drug infusion systems, and interventional products, as well as nerve ablation system under the Accurian name. This segment offers its products for spinal surgeons, neurosurgeons, neurologists, pain management specialists, anesthesiologists, orthopedic surgeons, urologists, urogynecologists, and interventional radiologists, as well as ear, nose, and throat specialists, and energy surgical instruments. The Medical Surgical Portfolio segment offers surgical stapling devices, vessel sealing instruments, wound closure and electrosurgery products, AI-powered surgical video and analytics platform, robotic-assisted surgery products, hernia mechanical devices, mesh implants, gynecology products, gastrointestinal and hepatologic diagnostics and therapies, and therapies to treat diseases and conditions, and patient monitoring and airway management products, as well as insulin pumps and consumables, continuous glucose monitoring systems, and sensors. Medtronic plc was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Galway, Ireland.

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers stoppers and seals for injectable packaging systems; syringe and cartridge components, including custom solutions for the needs of injectable drug applications, as well as administration systems that enhance the safe delivery of drugs through advanced reconstitution, mixing, and transfer technologies; and films, coatings, washing, and vision inspection and sterilization processes and services to enhance the quality of packaging products. This segment also provides drug containment solutions in the form of vials, syringes, and cartridges; and self-injection devices; and a range of integrated solutions, including analytical lab services, pre-approval primary packaging support and engineering development, regulatory expertise, and after-sales technical support. This segment serves biologic, generic, and pharmaceutical drug companies. The Contract-Manufactured Products segment is involved in the design, manufacture, and automated assembly of devices used in surgical, diagnostic, ophthalmic, injectable, and other drug delivery systems, as well as consumer products. This segment primarily serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device companies. It sells and distributes its products through its sales force and distribution network, contract sales agents, and regional distributors. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Latest Health Care Equipment & Supplies and Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, Medtronic plc had a $118.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Health Care Equipment & Supplies median of $416.1 million. Medtronic plc’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and down 1.23% in the past year.

Currently, Medtronic plc’s price-earnings ratio is 24.7. Medtronic plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $36.4 billion with a 13.9% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.971 per share for the current fiscal year. Medtronic plc currently has a 3.1% dividend yield.

Currently, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 43.9. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.3 billion with a 17.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 13.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $8.959 per share for the current fiscal year. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. currently has a 0.3% dividend yield.

How We Compare Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc. 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 Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Medtronic plc	MDT	A
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.	WST	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks 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 the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Medtronic plc has a Quality Score of 84, which is Very Strong. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a Quality Score of 95, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Medtronic plc	MDT	C
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.	WST	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%.

Medtronic plc has a Momentum Score of 50, which is Average. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 69, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Medtronic plc. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, West Pharmaceutical Services, 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.

Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Medtronic plc	MDT	B
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.	WST	B

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

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Medtronic plc has a Earnings Estimate Score of 62, which is Positive. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 75, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, both Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc. have a grade of B. For those focusing solely on a company’s estimate revisions, other financial metrics will need to be evaluated to determine whether Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services or Inc. is a better fit.

Other Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc. Grades

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

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

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.

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 Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Medtronic plc stock has a Momentum Score of 50, Estimate Revisions Score of 62 and Quality Score of 84.

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. stock has a Momentum Score of 69, Estimate Revisions Score of 75 and Quality Score of 95.

Comparing Medtronic plc, West Pharmaceutical Services and Inc.’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.

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.