April 24, 2025
Top 10 Stock ICON Sell Recommendation
How to read the ranks
For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".
Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".
Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.
Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.
(NEW) Sentiment - quantifies professional analyst ratings and holdings as well as market pulse. Green = positive sentiment; red = skepticism (Only available to Premium Subscribers).
(NEW) 360° View - the ultimate rating with all financial and non-financial indicators.
Snapshot: ICON – Top 10 Stock in Employee Health Leaders in Europe
ICON is listed as a top 10 stock on April 24, 2025 in the market index Employee Health EU because of its high performance in at least one of the Obermatt investment strategies. While half the consolidated Obermatt Ranks are above-average, investor sentiment is negative and growth performance is below market average, both a sign for caution. Based on the Obermatt 360° View of 8 (8% performer), Obermatt issues an overall sell recommendation for ICON on April 24, 2025.
Snapshot: Obermatt Ranks
| Country | Ireland |
| Industry | Life Sciences Tools & Services |
| Index | Employee Health EU, NASDAQ |
| Size class | X-Large |
When Obermatt identifies the Top 10 stocks in a market, it’s based on a certain investment strategy. The best performing stocks usually aren’t the ones that everyone is talking about (those are often "over-priced" and have low Value ranks).
For each investment strategy, we provide you with more detailed analysis and our recommendation. You see the ranks of the top 10 stocks ranked by that particular investment strategy (360° View, Sentiment, Value, Growth, Safety and Combined Financial Performance).
360° View: Obermatt 360° View ICON Sell
| 360 METRICS | April 24, 2025 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 51 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 7 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 51 |
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| SENTIMENT | ||||||||
| SENTIMENT | 14 |
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| 360° VIEW | ||||||||
| 360° VIEW | 8 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt 360° View of 8 (better than 8% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and financial characteristics for the stock ICON are critical, mostly below average. The 360° View is based on consolidating four consolidated indicators, with half the metrics below and half above average for ICON. The consolidated Value Rank has an attractive rank of 51, which means that the share price of ICON is on the lower side compared with the typical size in indicators such as revenues, profits, and invested capital. This means the stock price is lower than for 51% of alternative stocks in the same industry. The company is also safely financed with a Safety rank of 51. But the professional market sentiment is below average compared with other stock investment alternatives with a Sentiment Rank of 14. Professional investors are more confident in 86% other stocks. The consolidated Growth Rank also has a low rank of 7, which means that the company is below average in terms of growth momentum when looking at financial metrics such as revenue, profit, invested capital growth, and stock returns. 93 of its competitors have better growth. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated 360° View of 8, ICON is worse than 92% of all alternative stock investment opportunities based on the Obermatt Method. This means that ICON shares are on the riskier side for investors. The picture is mixed here. The stock seems to be a good value (Value Rank of 51), and the financing structure is on the safer side (Safety Rank of 51). However, sentiment in the professional investor community is below-average (Sentiment Rank of 14), as is the growth momentum for the company (Growth Rank of 7). Since the company is good value and the share price low, it should attract investors, yet professionals are skeptical. Even though the financing structure is not as important as Value, Growth, and Sentiment, investors should still be careful with this decision and conduct further research if they are serious about investing in this company. ...read more
Sentiment Strategy: Professional Market Sentiment for ICON negative
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Sentiment Rank of 14 (better than 14% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and engagement for the stock ICON is critical, mostly below average.
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Sentiment Rank of 14 (less encouraging than 86% compared with investment alternatives), ICON has a reputation among professional investors that is far below that of its competitors.
Value Strategy: ICON Stock Price Value better than average
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 51 (better than 51% compared with alternatives), ICON shares are more attractively priced than the majority of comparable stocks. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with three out of four indicators above average for ICON. Price-to-Sales (P/S) is 53, which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future sales is lower than for 53% of comparable companies, indicating a good value regarding ICON's revenue size. The same is valid for expected Price to Profits (or Price / Earnings, P/E), more favorable than for 59% of alternatives, and it's also true for the Price-to-Book Capital ratio (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Capital Rank of 71. But, compared with other companies in the same industry, dividend yields are expected to be lower than average; only 1% of all competitors have even lower dividend yields than ICON (a Dividend Yield Rank of 1). 99% alternative investments in the same business provide a higher dividend yield. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 51, is a buy recommendation based on ICON's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. The below-average dividend yield may be a good sign, as it could mean the company has more attractive investment opportunities for the generated cash than to pay it out as dividends. A low dividend yield can also indicate a growth phase. ...read more
Growth Strategy: ICON Growth Momentum negative
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 7 (better than 7% compared with alternatives), ICON shows one of the most restricted growth dynamics in its industry. There is little momentum in this company. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with all four metrics below average for ICON. Sales Growth has a rank of 32, which means that currently professionals expect the company to grow less than 68% of its competitors. The same is valid for Profit Growth, with a rank of 23, and Capital Growth with 28. In addition, Stock Returns have a below market rank of 5, which means that the stock returns have recently been below 95% of alternative investments. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 7, is a sell recommendation for growth and momentum investors. These are all bad growth momentum indicators. These are negative signals for investors interested in growth companies. Value is likely good for this company, as investors may have left this stock in the cold. If that is the case, investors should look at the company's outlook, especially Sentiment performance, because it may be a turnaround situation that could entail above-average stock returns in the future. But it remains a risky bet, as no growth signals are in the green zone yet. ...read more
Safety Strategy: ICON Debt Financing Safety above-average
| SAFETY METRICS | April 24, 2025 | |||||||
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| LEVERAGE | ||||||||
| LEVERAGE | 61 |
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| REFINANCING | ||||||||
| REFINANCING | 48 |
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| LIQUIDITY | ||||||||
| LIQUIDITY | 40 |
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| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | 51 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 51 (better than 51% compared with alternatives), the company ICON has financing practices on the safer side, which mean that their overall debt burden is lower than average. This doesn't mean that the business of ICON is safe, it only means that the company is on the safer side regarding possible bankruptcy, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators, with just one indicator above average for ICON and the other two below average. Leverage is at a rank of 61 meaning the company has a below-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has less debt than 61% of its competitors.Refinancing is at a rank of 48, which means that the portion of the debt about to be refinanced is above-average. It has more debt in the refinancing stage than 52% of its competitors. Liquidity is at a rank of 40, meaning that the company generates less profit to service its debt than 60% of its competitors. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 51 (better than 51% compared with alternatives), ICON has a financing structure that is safer than that of its competitors. This is an indication that the company is on the riskier side when it comes to debt service. There is only below-market average liquidity, and a short-term refinancing issue might be around the corner. But in the long-term, the debt levels of ICON are on the safer side. ...read more
Combined financial peformance: ICON Lowest Financial Performance
| COMBINED PERFORMANCE | April 24, 2025 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 51 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 7 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 40 |
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| COMBINED | ||||||||
| COMBINED | 14 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 14 (worse than 86% compared with investment alternatives), ICON (Life Sciences Tools & Services, Ireland) shares have lower financial characteristics compared with similar stocks. Shares of ICON are a good value (attractively priced) with a consolidated Value Rank of 51 (better than 51% of alternatives), are safely financed (Safety Rank of 51, which means low debt burdens), but show below-average growth (Growth Rank of 7). ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 14, is a sell recommendation based on ICON's financial characteristics. As the company ICON's key financial metrics exhibit good value (Obermatt Value Rank of 51) but low growth (Obermatt Growth Rank of 7) while being safely financed (Obermatt Safety Rank of 51), it may be a safer investment because companies with low debt can better withstand times of crises. Yet the good value, better than 51% of comparable companies, may also indicate that the company's future is challenging. If you believe that low growth is temporary or just due to a specific current event, you may conclude that the good value of the stock provides an attractive investment opportunity and the downside is limited due to below-average financing risks. ...read more
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