Share count
493Mpeak FY2024
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ALC, Alcon Inc.
This report outlines Alcon's overall 2025 compensation framework and philosophy for the members of the Board as well as for the members of the Executive Committee of Alcon and provides a general outlook for our 2026 compensation structure.
In navigating these dynamics, management executed with discipline and focus and advanced a robust pipeline of new product launches that contributed to improving sales momentum as the year progressed.
A wave of innovative product launches, which were many years in development, began reaching surgeons, eye care professionals, and patients around the world.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
Revenue · FY2025
$10.4B
+4.9% YoY · 9% 5-yr CAGR
Vital signs · TTM, with 5-yr average
Revenue $10.4B 5-yr avg $9.4B
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.
- Situation
- Cyclical. Margins collapse and recover repeatedly across the record; a single year, good or bad, misstates the through-cycle earning power.
- What moves the needle
- Gross margin has run about 55% and operating margin about 7.0% through the cycle, a wide spread between price and the cost of what it sells — whether that advantage is durable pricing power or a margin that can erode is the question the record is for. The operating margin has swung widely — from −7.1% to 14% — on a steadier 55% gross margin, so what moves it sits below the gross line, in operating spend and one-off charges more than in the cost of the product itself. Inventory runs near 23% of sales, so how fast it turns back into cash — and the risk of writing it down when demand softens — sits alongside the margin. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on pricing power & competition, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
- Is it a good business?
- Return on capital has rarely cleared the cost of capital (median 2%, above 15% in 0 of 9 years). By owner earnings: roughly 14% of revenue reaches owners as cash, consistently. The cycle and the balance sheet decide this one; the worst year tells more than the median, and the rest is in the 10-K.
Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.
Where the money comes from
read the 20-F →Revenue spreads across 5 regions, the largest United States at 45%.
Revenue by geography, FY2025
- United States45%$4.7B
- Other42%$4.4B
- Japan6%$609M
- China5%$570M
- Switzerland1%$71M
From the segment footnote of the company's own 20-F. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.
The record
Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.
The record, 2017–2025
realized figures from each filing · older years to the left| 2017’17 | 2018’18 | 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMDec 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| $6.8B | $7.2B | $7.5B | $6.8B | $8.3B | $8.7B | $9.5B | $9.9B | $10.4B | $10.4B | RevenueRevenue |
| 47% | 45% | 50% | 44% | 57% | 55% | 56% | 56% | 56% | 56% | Gross marginGross mgn |
| ($77M) | ($248M) | ($187M) | ($482M) | $580M | $672M | $1.0B | $1.4B | $1.4B | $1.4B | Operating incomeOp. inc. |
| −1.1% | −3.5% | −2.5% | −7.1% | 7.0% | 7.7% | 11.0% | 14.3% | 13.1% | 13.1% | Operating marginOp. mgn |
| $256M | ($227M) | ($656M) | ($531M) | $376M | $335M | $974M | $1.0B | $980M | $980M | Net incomeNet inc. |
| — | — | — | — | 10% | 28% | — | 19% | 16% | 16% | Effective tax rateTax rate |
| Cash flow & returns | ||||||||||
| $1.2B | $1.1B | $920M | $823M | $1.3B | $1.2B | $1.4B | $2.1B | $2.3B | $2.3B | Operating cash flowOp. cash |
| $962M | $1.4B | $1.6B | $1.4B | $969M | $882M | $414M | $1.1B | $1.3B | $1.1B | Working capital & otherWC & other |
| $415M | $524M | $553M | $479M | $700M | $636M | $658M | $473M | $543M | $543M | CapexCapex |
| 6.1% | 7.3% | 7.4% | 7.0% | 8.4% | 7.3% | 7.0% | 4.8% | 5.2% | 5.2% | Capex / revenueCapex/rev |
| $1.1B | $994M | $767M | $684M | $1.2B | $1.0B | $1.2B | $1.9B | $2.1B | $2.1B | Owner earningsOwner earn. |
| 15.9% | 13.9% | 10.2% | 10.0% | 14.2% | 11.9% | 12.6% | 18.9% | 19.8% | 19.8% | Owner earnings marginOE mgn |
| $803M | $616M | $367M | $344M | $645M | $581M | $730M | $1.6B | $1.7B | $1.7B | Free cash flowFCF |
| 11.8% | 8.6% | 4.9% | 5.0% | 7.8% | 6.7% | 7.7% | 16.2% | 16.6% | 16.6% | Free cash flow marginFCF mgn |
| — | — | $0 | $0 | $54M | $100M | $116M | $130M | $166M | $166M | Dividends paidDiv. paid |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | $0 | $0 | $676M | — | BuybacksBuybacks |
| -0% | -1% | -1% | -2% | 2% | 2% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 5% | ROICROIC |
| 1% | -1% | -3% | -3% | 2% | 2% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% | Return on equityROE |
| — | — | −3% | −3% | 2% | 1% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% | Retained to equityRetained/eq |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| $172M | $227M | $822M | $1.6B | $1.6B | $980M | $1.1B | $1.7B | $1.5B | $1.5B | Cash & investmentsCash+inv |
| — | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.7B | $1.8B | $1.7B | $1.9B | $1.9B | ReceivablesReceiv. |
| — | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.6B | $1.9B | $2.1B | $2.3B | $2.3B | $2.4B | $2.4B | InventoryInvent. |
| — | $2.7B | $2.9B | $3.0B | $3.4B | $3.8B | $4.1B | $4.0B | $4.3B | $4.0B | Operating working capitalOper. WC |
| — | $3.4B | $4.2B | $5.0B | $5.4B | $5.2B | $5.6B | $6.3B | $6.4B | $6.4B | Current assetsCur. assets |
| — | $1.9B | $2.3B | $2.3B | $2.5B | $2.7B | $2.4B | $2.3B | $3.0B | $3.0B | Current liabilitiesCur. liab. |
| — | 1.8× | 1.8× | 2.2× | 2.2× | 1.9× | 2.4× | 2.8× | 2.1× | 2.1× | Current ratioCurr. ratio |
| — | $8.9B | $8.9B | $8.9B | $8.9B | $8.9B | $8.9B | $8.9B | $9.3B | $9.3B | GoodwillGoodwill |
| — | $27.1B | $27.7B | $27.6B | $28.0B | $29.2B | $29.6B | $30.3B | $31.6B | $31.6B | Total assetsAssets |
| — | $0 | $3.2B | $3.9B | $4.0B | $4.5B | $4.7B | $4.5B | $4.2B | $4.2B | Total debtDebt |
| — | ($227M) | $2.4B | $2.4B | $2.4B | $3.6B | $3.6B | $2.9B | $2.6B | $2.7B | Net debt / (cash)Net debt |
| -2.9× | -10.3× | -1.7× | -3.9× | 4.8× | 5.0× | 5.5× | 7.4× | 6.7× | 6.7× | Interest coverageInt. cov. |
| $23.0B | $22.6B | $19.3B | $18.8B | $19.3B | $19.7B | $20.6B | $21.6B | $22.0B | $22.0B | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| 488M | 488M | 488M | 489M | 490M | 491M | 493M | 494M | 493M | 494M | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| $13.91 | $14.65 | $15.38 | $13.97 | $16.92 | $17.74 | $19.18 | $20.05 | $21.09 | $21.04 | Revenue / shareRev/sh |
| $0.52 | $-0.46 | $-1.34 | $-1.09 | $0.77 | $0.68 | $1.98 | $2.06 | $1.99 | $1.98 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| $2.21 | $2.04 | $1.57 | $1.40 | $2.40 | $2.12 | $2.42 | $3.79 | $4.17 | $4.16 | Owner earnings / shareOE/sh |
| $1.64 | $1.26 | $0.75 | $0.70 | $1.32 | $1.18 | $1.48 | $3.24 | $3.50 | $3.50 | Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh |
| — | — | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.11 | $0.20 | $0.24 | $0.26 | $0.34 | $0.34 | Dividends / shareDiv/sh |
| $0.85 | $1.07 | $1.13 | $0.98 | $1.43 | $1.29 | $1.33 | $0.96 | $1.10 | $1.10 | Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh |
| $47.17 | $46.37 | $39.54 | $38.49 | $39.30 | $40.04 | $41.83 | $43.59 | $44.68 | $44.57 | Book value / shareBVPS |
Per-share growththe realized rate an owner's share compounded
| 8-yr | 5-yr | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue / share | +5.3%/yr | +8.6%/yr |
| Owner earnings / share | +8.3%/yr | +24.5%/yr |
| EPS | +18.1%/yr | — |
| Capital spending / share | +3.3%/yr | +2.4%/yr |
| Book value / share | −0.7%/yr | +3.0%/yr |
The record, charted
FY2010–2025Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked.
ROIC
5%low FY2020
Gross margin
56%low FY2020
Net debt ÷ owner earnings
1.3×peak FY2020
Owner earnings vs. net income
Owner earningsNet incomeThe accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.
$2.1Bowner earningsvs.$980Mnet incomelow FY2020
Where the cash went
ReinvestBuybacksDividendsAcquisitionsRetainedEach year's operating cash, by what management did with it: the mix, and how it drifts.
FY2010FY2025
Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.
In fiscal 2025 the business earned $2.1B of owner earnings, the operating cash left after the $212M it takes just to hold its position. It put $331M more into growth; free cash flow, after that spending, was $1.7B.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income | $980M | $1.0B | $974M | $335M | $376M |
| Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items | +$1.3B | +$1.1B | +$414M | +$882M | +$969M |
| Cash from operations | $2.3B | $2.1B | $1.4B | $1.2B | $1.3B |
| Maintenance capital expenditurethe spending needed just to hold position and volume | −$212M | −$202M | −$193M | −$178M | −$169M |
| Owner earnings | $2.1B | $1.9B | $1.2B | $1.0B | $1.2B |
| Growth capital expenditurediscretionary; spent to get bigger, not to stand still | −$331M | −$271M | −$465M | −$458M | −$531M |
| Free cash flow | $1.7B | $1.6B | $730M | $581M | $645M |
| Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue | 20% | 19% | 13% | 12% | 14% |
Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position (here about $212M, roughly its depreciation, the rate its assets wear out). The other $331M of its capital spending is growth it chose, not upkeep it owed; charged only with the maintenance it must do, the business earns well more than the year's free cash flow shows.
Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.
Quality & stewardship
Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.
Owner’s Scorecard
FY2025 20-F · source on SEC EDGAR →
Will it survive?
- ComfortableOperating income $1.4B ÷ interest expense $204M
What this means
Operating profit covers interest with the kind of margin Graham wanted for a defensive holding. Necessary, not sufficient, it says solvent, not cheap.
- How heavy is the debt, net of cash? $2.7B · 2.0× operating profitModest net debtCash $1.5B − debt $4.2B
What this means
Netting $1.5B of cash and short-term investments against $4.2B of debt leaves $2.7B owed, about 2.0× a year's operating profit (3.1× on the gross debt, before the cash). Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.
- Long (60+ days)DSO 68 + DIO 190 − DPO 29 days
What this means
Days cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Lower is better; a long cycle means growth itself eats cash.
Is it a good business?
- Below average through the cycle9-yr median, range -2%–5%; 5% latest = NOPAT $1.1B ÷ invested capital $24.7BIndustry peers: median 17%
What this means
The rate the business earns on the money tied up in it, Buffett's north star, because over time a stock tracks the ROIC beneath it. Above ~15% sustained hints at a moat; a return below the cost of capital (~8%) erodes value as a business grows rather than building it — the test Buffett weighs most. The headline is the median of the last 9 years (it ran 5% most recently), so one peak or trough year doesn't set the verdict. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.
- Solid through the cycle9-yr median margin, range 10%–20%; latest $2.1B = operating cash $2.3B − maintenance capex $212MIndustry peers: median 20%
What this means
What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's 20% of revenue this year, a 14% median across 9 years. It chose to put $331M more into growth, so free cash flow this year was $1.7B — the gap is investment, not weakness.
- Cash-backedCash from ops $2.3B ÷ net income $980M
What this means
How much of reported profit showed up as operating cash. Above 1× is reassuring; well below suggests earnings lean on accruals. One year is noisy, growth and working-capital swings distort it, and this is operating cash, not free cash. Watch the multi-year trend.
How is the cash used?
- Returns about halfDividends + buybacks $842M ÷ Owner Earnings $2.1B
What this means
Of $2.1B Owner Earnings, $842M (41%) went back to shareholders, $166M dividends, $676M buybacks. Returning most of it is the mark of a mature business with little left to reinvest at a high return; reinvesting most could mean a long runway, or empire-building. The split doesn't say which; the return earned on it (see ROIC) does.
- Investing or harvesting? 2.56×ExpandingCapex $543M ÷ depreciation $212M
What this means
Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.
Graham’s defensive tests · 2 of 6 met
Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.
- Adequate size PassRevenue ≥ $2B · $10.4B
What this means
Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's 1972 floor was ~$100M of sales (≈ $700M today); we use a $2B revenue line as a conservative modern stand-in.
- Strong liquidity PassCurrent ratio ≥ 2× · 2.12×
What this means
Current assets at least twice current liabilities, near-term bills covered without touching the business. Strict by design: many cash-rich modern firms run leaner and miss it, holding their cushion in longer-dated securities.
- Conservative debt NearDebt ≤ working capital · $4.2B vs $3.4B WC
What this means
Graham's rule that borrowings not exceed net current assets. Capital-heavy and buyback-heavy firms routinely fail it, read it next to interest coverage, not alone.
- Earnings stability MissA profit every year (10-yr record) · 3 loss years
What this means
Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.
- Dividend record MissUninterrupted dividends · 6 of 10 yrs
What this means
An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.
- Earnings growth NearEarnings +33% over the record · +33%
What this means
At least a third more earnings than a decade ago, averaging three years at each end. Net income (not per-share), so stock splits don't distort it, buybacks and dilution show up in the share-count line instead.
- Moderate price —P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price
What this means
Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are $2.03/share (latest year $2.01), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $45.20/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.
Durability & moat, 2017–2025
Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.
- Profitable years 6 of 9
What this means
Lost money in 3 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.
- Return on capital ≥ 15% 0 of 8 yrs
What this means
A moat shows up as a high return on invested capital that holds year after year, not one good vintage.
- Operating margin −2% → 13% (3-yr avg ends)
In the filing’s words The filing ties gains to its own pricing, but names price competition too — pricing power that is real yet contested, not unopposed. The margin shows who is winning.
What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin widened — about −2% early to 13% lately, median 7% — pricing power intact or improving.
- Reinvestment, incremental ROIC returns capital
What this means
The capital base barely grew: this business returns cash through dividends and buybacks rather than reinvesting. Judge it on the cash returned, not on compounding.
- Owner earnings growth +8%/yr
What this means
Owner earnings grew about 8% a year over the record.
- Worst year 2020 · −7.1% op. margin
What this means
Operations went underwater in 2020, understand why before trusting the good years.
- Share count +0.1%/yr
What this means
Roughly flat share count, little dilution, little buyback.
- Dividend record rising
What this means
Paid and raised the dividend across the record, the continuity Graham prized.
- How management talks about it Promotional
What this means
The record is compounding, but the filing leans on a promoter’s vocabulary rather than the per-share, return-on-capital terms an owner uses. The results back the talk here; the register is still worth noting.
Does AI threaten the moat?
Low contestabilityThe moat is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded, the kind AI cuts costs within but does not contest.
In its own filing Raised, but not as a competitor
The filing raises AI among its risks, but in other terms (security, regulation, energy or the like), not as a competitor to its product; it frames AI mainly as a capability.
AI is unlikely to contest a moat that is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded; here it reads more as a cost tool than a threat, and the company is using it that way.
Read from the filing's own risk factors, paired with the industry's structure under its SIC code; the durability is read above, the price below.
All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.
Current Position
as of fiscal year-end, Dec 31, 2025Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.
Current assets$6.4B
- Cash & short-term investments$1.5B
- Receivables$1.9B
- Inventory$2.4B
- Other current assets$589M
Current liabilities$3.0B
- Debt due within a year$62M
- Accounts payable$370M
- Other current liabilities$2.6B
Current ratio2.12×all current assets ÷ what's due · Graham looked for 2×
Quick ratio1.33×stricter: inventory excluded
Cash ratio0.50×strictest: cash alone against what's due
Working capital$3.4Bthe cushion left after near-term bills
Debt due this year vs. cash$62M due · $1.5B cash
covered by cash on hand, no refinancing forced · both figures from the Dec 31, 2025 balance sheet
Deeper floors
Tangible book value$3.8Bequity stripped of goodwill & intangibles
Net current asset value($3.1B)Graham's net-net: current assets less all liabilities
Debt incl. operating leases$4.7B$509M of it operating leases
Deferred revenue$217Mcustomer cash collected before delivery; operating float
From the company's latest filing.
How the cash was used, 2010–2025
Over the record, the business generated $14.8B of operating cash; how management split it reads as a balanced allocator, splitting cash between the business, owners, and the balance sheet.
- Reinvested$5.3B · 36%
- Dividends$1.6B · 11%
- Buybacks$709M · 5%
- Retained (debt / cash)$7.2B · 49%
- Returned to owners$2.3B
18% of the owner earnings the business produced over the span, $1.6B as dividends and $709M as buybacks.
- Source of fundingOperating cash
Operating cash covered reinvestment and returns; over the span debt rose $4.2B and cash and short-term investments fell $1.9B.
- Average price paid for buybacks—
Buybacks ran $709M over the span, but the filings don't tag the share count needed to deduce the average price paid.
- Net change in share count62.6%
The diluted count rose from 304M to 494M: issuance (stock pay, deals) outran any buybacks, so owners were diluted on net.
- Dividend record$0.34/sh
Paid in 6 of the years on record, the per-share dividend shrinking about 28% a year. It was cut at least once along the way.
- Return on what it retained12%
Of the earnings it kept rather than paid out ($2.4B over the span), annual owner earnings (first three years vs last three) grew $298M, so each retained $1 added about 0.12 of yearly owner earnings. Buffett's test, run on owner earnings instead of market value.
Buybacks are gross of stock issued to staff; the share-count line above is the net of that, the figure that decides whether owners gained. The average price paid blends a year of purchases (and any accelerated repurchase), so it is close, not exact. The record of where the cash went and on what terms.
Acquisitions & goodwill
from the balance sheet & the 10-year cash-flow recordGoodwill grows only when a company acquires and falls only when it concedes it overpaid. The size of that bet, the cash put into buying rather than building, and how much has already been written off.
Goodwill & intangibles$18.3B58% of all assets; the premium carried on the balance sheet for businesses acquired
Against book equity42%goodwill is this share of book equity; the rest is the company’s own retained and paid-in capital
Cash spent acquiring$0over 10 years buying other businesses, against $5.3B of capital spent building
None written down over the record; the goodwill is still carried at full cost. That is the deals holding their value on the books so far; whether they keep doing so is the test an owner watches, since the write-down, when it comes, is the admission the price was too high.
Goodwill, acquired intangibles and equity from the latest balance sheet; acquisition spend and write-downs summed across the 10-year record, from the company's own filings.
Inverting the record
Invert: instead of why Alcon Inc. is a good business, the question is what would make owning it a mistake, and whether those marks are in the record. Disconfirming tests across 2010–2025.
2 of the 4 tests turned up something to look into; the other 2 came back clean.
- Look hereDid the share count rise anyway?62.6%
Diluted shares grew 62.6% over 2010–2025, even as the company spent $709M on buybacks. The repurchases were outrun by issuance — to staff, in a raise, or in a deal — and the filing says which; owners' slice still shrank. Read the buyback line beside this one, not on its own.
- Look hereDid debt outgrow the business?$62M → $4.2B
Debt rose from $62M to $4.2B while owner earnings went from about $1.4B to $1.7B — under 0.1 years of owner earnings in debt then, about 2.5 now: measured against what the business earns, the balance sheet carries more debt than it did. Debt raised for buybacks or deals rather than growth is the kind that bites in a downturn.
And these came back clean
- Is it less profitable than it was?
- Did reported profit become cash?
Each test is read from the filings and is noisy alone; a flag can mark a cyclical trough or a year of heavy investment as easily as a problem. The filing says which.
What an owner would ask, FY2025
read the 10-K →- Which reported numbers are a judgment call?Management names Revenue recognition, Inventory as critical estimates
each rests partly on management's judgment; the filing's note sets out the assumptionsverify →
The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.
Peers, Medical Devices & Equipment
The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each figure is a through-cycle median, so a peak or trough year can’t distort it; the group median at the foot is the line to read each against.
| Company | Revenue | Gross margin | Op. margin | ROIC | Owner earn. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSXBoston Scientific Corporation | $20.1B | 69% | 14.2% | 5% | 12% |
| KLACKLA Corporation | $12.2B | 60% | 37.2% | 38% | 30% |
| ALCAlcon Inc. | $10.4B | 55% | 7.0% | 2% | 14% |
| ISRGIntuitive Surgical Inc. | $10.1B | 68% | 30.0% | 16% | 29% |
| ZBHZimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. | $8.2B | 71% | 11.7% | 4% | 18% |
| GRMNGarmin Ltd. Common Stock (Switzerland) | $7.2B | 58% | 23.9% | 23% | 20% |
| AAgilent Technologies Inc. | $6.9B | 54% | 19.1% | 17% | 18% |
| EWEdwards Lifesciences Corporation | $6.1B | 76% | 25.7% | 22% | 23% |
| Group median | — | 64% | 21.5% | 16% | 19% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFEnter the US price, in dollars: the NYSE/Nasdaq quote you hold. Alcon Inc.'s US listing is the ordinary share itself. The record tables elsewhere on this page remain as filed.
Type today's close and see the owner-earnings growth you'd have to believe to justify it, beside what Alcon Inc. has delivered.
Alcon Inc.’s latest year runs above its own through-cycle margin — the reported figure may flatter a peak. So the tool opens on the through-cycle base, Graham’s averaging cutting both ways; clear the toggle below to read the latest year exactly as reported.
$
Through the cycle, Alcon Inc. earns about $1.4B on its 13.9% median owner-earnings margin. This year’s 19.8% margin runs above that; the reported figure may flatter a peak you'd be paying on. Normalize, below, values the price on that through-cycle figure rather than the latest year. It comes pre-checked here for that reason, the same rule that already normalizes a trough; clear it to price the year as filed.
Base
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The assumptions
9.0% = the 4.55% 10-year Treasury (Jul 15, 2026) + 4.45 points of equity premium. The rate you require is yours to set.
Enter a price above to run it.
A dated snapshot of the price you typed, the assumptions you set, and what the page showed for them. A snapshot is never edited after it is saved. Your notebook is yours alone — the commitment states what is stored and what we will never do.
Implied by the price—
Owner-earnings growth · ’21→’25+15%/yr
Owner-earnings growth · ’17→’25+11%/yr
Owner-earnings growth · ’17→’25+8%/yr
Owner-earnings yield—
What a growth belief costs, in multiples
The growth each return requires, at your price
P/E (3-yr earnings ’23–’25)—
P/B—
Graham’s price gate—
Graham capped the multiple at 15×; Buffett and Munger let that rule go: a wonderful business can deserve 50× if the thesis holds. The gate marks the bargain-hunter's floor.
Against a high-grade bond: Graham’s yardstick bond yield%
Prefilled with the 10-year Treasury (4.55%, as of Jul 15, 2026). Edit it for today’s exact figure, or a AAA corporate yield.
Graham measured a stock against the bond you could own instead, the heart of his margin of safety. Enter a price above to weigh the owner-earnings yield against this bond.
Owner-earnings yield—
High-grade bond yield—
Margin over the bond—
Free cash flow $1.7B on 487M shares outstanding, per the 20-F cover, as of 2025-12-31; net debt $2.7B. The base opens on the through-cycle figure (the latest year sits above the record’s own median, and Graham’s averaging cuts both ways); clear Normalize to use the year as filed. Net of stock comp treats option pay as the expense it is. Capex ($543M) runs well above depreciation ($212M), so this is a build-out; Steady-state swaps total capex for maintenance (≈ depreciation), lifting the base to about $2.1B, the cash it would throw off if it stopped expanding. The dials set the multiple a growth belief justifies; the price, and every dollar on this page, is yours.
Cite: Owner Scorecard, "Alcon Inc. (ALC), the owner's record," https://ownerscorecard.com/c/ALC, data as of 2026-07-09.
Manual order: ← ALAR its page in the Manual ALLT →
Industry order: ← 7741 the Medical Devices & Equipment chapter ALGN →