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 STERIS plc, Cencora 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 STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc.

STERIS plc provides infection prevention products and services in the United States, Ireland, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Healthcare, Applied Sterilization Technologies, and Life Sciences. The company offers cleaning chemistries and sterility assurance products, automated endoscope reprocessing system and tracking products, endoscopy accessories, instruments, washers, and sterilizers and other pieces of capital equipment, as well as equipment used directly in the procedure rooms, including surgical tables, lights, equipment management services, and connectivity solutions; and various preventive maintenance programs, repair services, custom process improvement consulting, and outsourced instrument sterile processing, as well as instrument, devices, and endoscope repair and maintenance services. It also provides process controls and monitoring systems, as well as integrated sterilization equipment, such as accelerators, product handling, and automation; and sterilization modalities, product development, materials testing, and process validation, as well as support services for sterilization equipment and control systems comprising installation, preventive maintenance, updates, repairs, and troubleshooting. In addition, the company offers pharmaceutical detergents, cleanroom disinfectants and sterilants, pharmaceutical grade and research sterilizers and washers, sterility assurance and maintenance products, vaporized hydrogen peroxide room decontamination systems and sterilizers, and high purity water and pure steam generators; and preventive maintenance programs and repair services to support the operation of capital equipment. It serves healthcare providers, medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, and hospitals. The company was formerly known as New STERIS Limited and changed its name to STERIS plc in November 2015. STERIS plc was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio.

Cencora, Inc. sources and distributes pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. The company’s U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes generic and injectable pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers; distributes plasma and other blood products, vaccines, and other specialty pharmaceutical products; provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; packaging solutions to institutional and retail healthcare providers; clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support services; data analytics, outcomes research, and other services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers; pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and other products to the companion animal and production animal markets; sales force services to manufacturers; and offers other services to physicians who specialize in various disease states, such as oncology, as well as to other healthcare providers, including hospitals and dialysis clinics. Its International Healthcare Solutions segment provides international pharmaceutical wholesale and related service, and global commercialization services; distributes pharmaceuticals, other healthcare products, and related services to pharmacies, doctors, health centers, and hospitals; and offers specialty transportation and logistics services for the biopharmaceutical industry. The company was formerly known as AmerisourceBergen Corporation and changed its name to Cencora, Inc. in August 2023. Cencora, Inc. was founded in 1871 and is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

Latest Health Care Equipment & Supplies and STERIS plc, Cencora, Inc. Stock News

As of September 4, 2026, STERIS plc had a $21.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Health Care Equipment & Supplies median of $423.0 million. STERIS plc’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and down 7.72% in the past year.

Currently, STERIS plc’s price-earnings ratio is 27.5. STERIS plc’s trailing 12-month revenue is $6.0 billion with a 13.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $11.172 per share for the current fiscal year. STERIS plc currently has a 1.2% dividend yield.

Currently, Cencora, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 24.6. Cencora, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $332.8 billion with a 0.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $17.873 per share for the current fiscal year. Cencora, Inc. currently has a 0.7% dividend yield.

How We Compare STERIS plc, Cencora 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 STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
STERIS plc	STE	D
Cencora, Inc.	COR	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.

STERIS plc has a Value Score of 29, which is Expensive. Cencora, Inc. has a Value Score of 46, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither STERIS plc, Cencora or Inc. 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 STERIS plc, Cencora or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
STERIS plc	STE	A
Cencora, Inc.	COR	A

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.

STERIS plc has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong. Cencora, Inc. has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc. have a grade of A. 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.

STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
STERIS plc	STE	D
Cencora, Inc.	COR	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%.

STERIS plc has a Momentum Score of 37, which is Weak. Cencora, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 67, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Cencora, Inc.

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

Other STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc. Grades

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

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 STERIS plc, Cencora and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, STERIS plc, Cencora or Inc. Stock?

Overall, STERIS plc stock has a Value Score of 29, Growth Score of 89 and Momentum Score of 37.

Cencora, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 46, Growth Score of 89 and Momentum Score of 67.

Comparing STERIS plc, Cencora 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.