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What this page is: Delvantic's full research page for Labcorp Holdings Inc. (LH) — AI-driven forensic equity research: mechanical valuation models (DCF, EPV, anchored-PE, scenario) plus three independent AI lenses (Quality / Value / Sentiment). Everything below is rendered server-side; you are not missing content that requires JavaScript. All scores are predictions and research opinions, not financial advice.
Our current read (analysis of 2026-10-07): Designation Low · Gem Score -30 (−100…+100 Quality+Value blend) · Quality 34 · Value -72 · Sentiment 39 (timing only, not weighted) · Composite fair value $179.55 vs $332.66 at analysis
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profile-header/price-overview— company profile, live quote, market capextended-analysis— the core: three AI lens reads with findings, scores, and the analyst memofuture-predictions— our forward price-band predictionsmarket-narrative/ai-findings/gpt-critique— narrative context, cross-model findings, and an adversarial critique of our own analysis (near the end of the document)- Members-only sections (render as login gates for anonymous readers):
price-history,income-trend,key-metrics,financials(statement tables),insider-trading. The analysis above is public; the raw data tables require a free account.
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Labcorp Holdings Inc.
LH NYSELabcorp Holdings Inc. is a global life sciences and healthcare company that provides laboratory services to support clinical care, research, and drug development. Labcorp Holdings Inc. serves doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients through a broad portfolio that includes routine and specialty diagnostic testing, central laboratory services, and early development research support. Its Diagnostics Laboratories segment covers testing in areas such as oncology, women’s health, autoimmune disease, and neurology, while its Biopharma Laboratory Services segment supports pharmaceutical and biotech clients with laboratory capabilities for clinical trials and development programs. The company plays a key role in healthcare by helping customers generate data used in diagnosis, treatment decisions, and biomedical research.
Price Overview
Price History (1 Year)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
| Period | Revenue | Net Income | Net Margin | YoY/QoQ |
|---|
Key Metrics
EPS (Diluted): 10.46
Total Equity: $8.64B
Shares: 83,800,000
Total Debt: $5.15B
Cash: $532.30M
EBITDA: $2.07B
Total Debt: $5.15B
Cash: $532.30M
Revenue: $13.95B
Revenue: $13.95B
Revenue: $13.95B
Total Equity: $8.64B
Tax Rate: 20.7%
Equity: $8.64B
Total Debt: $5.15B
Cash: $532.30M
Current Liabilities: $2.82B
Long-Term Debt: $5.15B
Total Debt: $5.15B
Total Equity: $8.64B
Shares: 83,800,000
Shares: 83,800,000
CapEx: -$434.50M
Shares: 83,800,000
Stock Price: $335.11
Net Income: $876.50M
Industry Benchmarks
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 12:41am (36d ago)| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $16.1B | $11.9B | $12.2B | $13.0B | $14.0B |
| Cost of Revenue | $10.5B | $8.2B | $8.8B | $9.4B | $9.9B |
| Gross Profit | $5.6B | $3.7B | $3.4B | $3.6B | $4.0B |
| Operating Expenses | $2.4B | $2.3B | $2.6B | $2.5B | $2.6B |
| Operating Income | $3.3B | $1.4B | $725.6M | $1.1B | $1.4B |
| Net Income | $2.4B | $1.3B | $418.0M | $746.0M | $876.5M |
| EBITDA | $4.0B | $2.0B | $1.3B | $1.7B | $2.1B |
| EPS | $24.60 | $14.05 | $4.80 | $8.89 | $10.54 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $24.39 | $13.97 | $4.77 | $8.84 | $10.46 |
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 12:30am (36d ago)| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | $1.5B | $320.6M | $536.8M | $1.5B | $532.3M |
| Total Current Assets | $5.3B | $4.6B | $3.8B | $4.8B | $4.0B |
| Total Assets | $20.4B | $20.2B | $16.7B | $18.4B | $18.4B |
| Current Liabilities | $2.8B | $3.1B | $3.2B | $3.3B | $2.8B |
| Long-Term Debt | $5.5B | $5.1B | $4.1B | $5.4B | $5.1B |
| Total Liabilities | $10.1B | $10.0B | $8.8B | $10.3B | $9.8B |
| Total Equity | $10.3B | $10.1B | $7.9B | $8.1B | $8.6B |
| Retained Earnings | $10.5B | $10.6B | $7.9B | $8.3B | $8.6B |
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 12:51am (36d ago)| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $3.1B | $2.0B | $1.3B | $1.6B | $1.6B |
| Capital Expenditure | -$460.4M | -$429.3M | -$453.6M | -$489.9M | -$434.5M |
| Free Cash Flow | $2.6B | $1.5B | $874.1M | $1.1B | $1.2B |
| Acquisitions (net) | -$496.9M | -$1.2B | -$671.5M | -$839.0M | -$582.0M |
| Net Debt Issued / (Repaid) | $1.0B | $0 | $0 | $2.0B | $0 |
| Dividends Paid | — | -$195.2M | -$254.0M | -$243.1M | -$240.7M |
| Stock Buybacks | -$1.7B | -$1.1B | -$1.0B | -$250.1M | -$450.0M |
| Net Change in Cash | $151.9M | -$1.0B | $106.8M | $981.9M | -$986.4M |
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 12:41am (36d ago)| Metric | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | -26.4% | +2.5% | +7.0% | +7.2% |
| Gross Profit Growth | -34.1% | -9.3% | +7.7% | +10.7% |
| Operating Income Growth | -55.9% | -49.5% | +49.8% | +27.4% |
| Net Income Growth | -46.2% | -67.3% | +78.5% | +17.5% |
| EBITDA Growth | -50.7% | -34.0% | +32.8% | +19.4% |
Dividend History (Last 20)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 12:30am (36d ago)| Date | Dividend | Declaration | Record | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-28 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2026-05-29 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2026-02-27 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2025-11-26 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2025-08-28 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2025-05-29 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2025-02-27 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2024-11-26 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2024-08-29 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2024-05-24 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2024-02-26 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2023-11-07 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2023-08-07 | $0.72 | — | — | — |
| 2023-05-17 | $0.62 | — | — | — |
| 2023-02-22 | $0.62 | — | — | — |
| 2022-11-16 | $0.62 | — | — | — |
| 2022-08-17 | $0.62 | — | — | — |
| 2022-05-18 | $0.62 | — | — | — |
| 1994-03-29 | $0.37 | — | — | — |
| 1993-12-29 | $0.37 | — | — | — |
Deep Analysis
Risk : Reward — upside vs downside from this company's own quarters
Computed 2026-10-06 02:02A +1σ run of quarters pays -33%; a −1σ run costs 71%. Ratio -0.5:1 (μ 6.3%, σ 9.7% floored by longrun, 16 pairs).
Older method (repeat-worst-quarter): 0.3 : 1
| Case | Growth | Margin | Fair value | vs price ($332.66) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bull — recovery | +9% | 17.3% | $375.92 | +13% |
| Base — stabilizes | +6% | 15.0% | $299.35 | -10% |
| Bear — keeps slipping | +3% | 12.8% | $233.34 | -30% |
| Stress — last quarter repeats | +6% | 7.6% | $158.88 | -52% |
| Upside — a +1σ run of quarters (v2) | +16% | 7.7% | $221.48 | -33% |
| Stress — a −1σ run of quarters (v2) | -3% | 6.1% | $96.89 | -71% |
Narrative Economics
market-narrative step).
Growth Outlook
Analyzed 2026-09-01 01:01The question every valuation on this page silently assumes: is this company likely to grow? Judged forward — the business, its category, the world — against what's already printed.
Claude Reading
Looking at the raw print first: LH just did $3.73B in Q2 2026 revenue at 8.0% net margin, up from $3.53B/6.7% a year prior — that's 5.7% YoY revenue growth and ~26% earnings growth, with the last four quarters trending $3.35B → $3.52B → $3.54B → $3.73B. Margins are inflecting: 2024 net margin was 5.7%, 2025 was 6.3%, TTM is running closer to 7%. FCF of $1.21B on a $27.2B market cap is a 4.4% yield; op CF of $1.64B covers the $5.15B debt load comfortably (debt/EBITDA roughly 2.2x). This is not a broken business — it's a boring compounder printing accelerating results.
Where I depart sharply from the Valuation Synthesis is its $150 "fair value." That number implies LH should trade at ~17x earnings and ~12x FCF — reasonable for a no-growth utility, but LH is not that. Earnings are compounding at 25%+ off a depressed 2023/24 base as biopharma services normalize; revenue is reaccelerating (Q2 sequential +5.4%); ROE is 10% and rising. Quest trades at ~19x forward, and LH deserves a similar-to-slight-premium multiple given superior CRO exposure. On $12-13 of forward EPS at 20-22x, fair value is $260-285, not $150. The synthesis's DCF is anchored to trailing GAAP earnings that include COVID-era comp distortions and understates the operating leverage now materializing. So the stock is modestly rich at $335, not "121% overvalued."
The Market Forces "value trap / terminal share loss" claim is the weakest of the prior outputs — it's directly contradicted by 7.3% revenue YoY, expanding margins, and $1.21B FCF. Where is the share loss? Insider selling is trivial (10K shares total across two months on a 81M share float, much of it option-exercise mechanics) — calling this "management selling stock" is overreach. The Narrative layer is more honest: this is institutional consensus pricing, not a cult, and the risk is cyclical (pharma R&D budgets) not structural. The real contrarian argument isn't "terminal decline" — it's that LH's margin recovery is nearly complete (op margin already 9.9% vs 2021 peak of ~20% which was COVID-inflated and unrepeatable), and once you strip out cyclical tailwinds you're paying 27x for a 5-7% grower. That's the actual bear case, and it's a valuation critique, not a business-quality critique.
Where I land: at $335, LH trades at ~28x TTM earnings and ~22x FCF for a business growing revenue high-single-digits with modest margin expansion runway. That's a full-to-rich multiple, but nowhere near the "$150 fair value" the synthesis claims. My fair value range is $260-290 — meaning ~15-20% overvalued, not 55%. I dissent from the synthesis's magnitude but agree on direction. The stock is priced for continued margin expansion and biopharma reacceleration; a Q3 miss or pharma R&D slowdown could easily produce a 15-20% drawdown to that fair value band, but the downside isn't $150 unless there's an actual earnings collapse, which the trajectory doesn't support. I'd wait for $275 or lower to build a position; at $335 the risk/reward is unattractive but not catastrophic. The prior models are directionally right and quantitatively wrong — a common failure mode when trailing DCFs meet a business emerging from a multi-year normalization.
GPT Reading
What jumps out first is that Labcorp is not a broken business; it is a recovered business being priced like a high-quality compounder. The operating story since 2023 is clearly better: annual revenue rose from $12.16B in 2023 to $13.01B in 2024 and $13.95B in 2025, while operating income nearly doubled from $725.6M to $1.38B. Quarterly trends reinforce that improvement. Revenue has climbed from $3.28B in 2024’s third quarter to $3.73B in 2026’s second quarter, and net margin has rebuilt from the 4%-5% range in late 2024 to roughly 8% in the last two quarters. On a trailing run-rate basis, the company now looks capable of earning something like $1.1B-$1.2B annually if current quarterly profitability holds, materially above the reported 2025 net income of $876.5M. Cash flow also supports the idea that earnings quality is real: 2025 operating cash flow was $1.64B and free cash flow $1.21B, healthy against a $27.2B market cap. This is why the stock has a right to trade above a bog-standard low-teens multiple.
But the valuation still looks stretched relative to the business quality on display. At roughly 31.8x earnings, 2.0x sales, and 15.6x EV/EBITDA, the market is capitalizing Labcorp like a durable double-digit grower with expanding returns, yet the actual economics are more mature and more cyclical. Revenue growth is good, not exceptional: 2025 grew 7.2% and the most recent quarter grew 5.7% year over year versus 2025-06-30. Even after the recovery, 2025 operating margin was 9.9%, still well below 2022’s 12.1% and nowhere near 2021’s abnormal 20%+ COVID-era profitability. ROIC at 8.3% and ROE at 10.2% are respectable but not premium-multiple numbers. Net debt is about $4.6B after subtracting $532M cash from $5.15B debt, which is manageable but further argues against paying up. On 2025 free cash flow of $1.21B, the stock yields only about 4.5% FCF before assuming any downturn, and even annualizing the stronger recent earnings still leaves you paying a full price for a business whose core profile is defensive mid-single-digit growth.
The key contradiction with the harshest model-driven bear case is that those frameworks may be too anchored to depressed post-COVID reported earnings and too dismissive of the margin recovery already visible in the quarterly data. A smart bull will say the P/E is optically high because the denominator is still normalizing; if Labcorp sustains roughly $280M-$300M of quarterly net income, the forward P/E is closer to the mid-20s than 32x. They will also argue this deserves a premium to a hospital-adjacent services peer because diagnostics and drug-development infrastructure have scale, embedded relationships, and recurring demand. That case has real support in the numbers: two straight quarters near 8% net margin, six consecutive quarters of year-over-year revenue growth, and free cash flow comfortably above accounting earnings. I take that seriously, which is why I do not think this is a short-on-sight or a “value trap” in any fundamental sense.
Still, I weigh the bear side more heavily because the current price already discounts most of that normalization. Even if net income reaches $1.15B, the equity is still around 23x earnings for a company growing revenue mid-single digits with sub-10% ROIC. That is rich for a business whose historical earnings proved highly sensitive to mix and cycle changes. The insider tape is not decisive, but the recent pattern is all sales and option-related monetization rather than open-market buying, which is what you often see when management agrees the stock is adequately valued. And while the narrative of mission-critical lab infrastructure is true, the actual financial history shows this is not a software-like moat business; from 2021 to 2023 revenue fell from $16.12B to $12.16B and net income from $2.38B to $418M. Some of that was COVID normalization, but it is a reminder that demand and margins are not immune to sharp resets.
What would change my mind is simple: either a cheaper price or evidence that Labcorp is becoming structurally better than the mature-earnings profile suggests. If the company can produce several more quarters around $3.8B+ revenue with operating margins consistently above 11% and annual free cash flow pushing toward $1.5B, then today’s multiple becomes easier to defend. Alternatively, if the stock fell into roughly the $250-$280 range without a deterioration in the recent earnings run-rate, I would view the risk/reward much more favorably. Conversely, if revenue slips back toward the $3.5B area or net margin retreats to the 6%-7% range, the current valuation leaves plenty of room for de-rating.
Grok Reading
The raw numbers describe a post-COVID normalization story that is real but already fully—and then some—priced. Labcorp put up $13.95B of revenue in 2025 with $876.5M of net income, a clean step up from $13.01B and $746M the year before, and the last two reported quarters ($3.54B and $3.73B) are running at an annualized pace north of $14.5B with net margins back to 7.9–8.0%. That is genuine operating recovery: operating income climbed from $1.09B to $1.38B, free cash flow printed a solid $1.21B against only $434M of capex, and the earnings CAGR of 44.8% is the arithmetic of climbing off the 2023 trough. What the models are under-weighting in their narrative is how little of this is incremental franchise power versus base-effect repair. Revenue is still 13% below the 2021 COVID peak of $16.12B, ROIC sits at a pedestrian 8.3%, ROE at 10.2%, and trailing net margin of 6.3% is nowhere near the 2021 level that justified prior peak multiples. At $335 and a 31.8x P/E, 2.0x sales, and 15.6x EV/EBITDA, the market is paying a growth-compounder price for mid-single-digit volume recovery and modest mix shift. The $5.15B debt load against $532M cash is serviceable given the cash generation, but it does not buy you optionality at this valuation.
The contradiction with the quantitative stack is instructive rather than dismissible. The rule-based tag of mature_earner is correct; the 7.1% revenue CAGR and decelerating quarterly trend confirm it. Where the pre-flight and narrative layers go soft is in treating the “platform-monopoly / precision-medicine infrastructure” story as durable enough to anchor a 100%+ premium to DCF. Diagnostics is an oligopoly with real logistics and regulatory barriers, but it is also a volume-and-price business facing hospital lab consolidation and payer pressure; the biopharma services leg is cyclical with trial budgets, not a structural annuity. Insider flow is uniformly sales across August 2026 with no meaningful open-market buys, which is at best neutral and consistent with a stock that has already run. Sector intelligence flagging below-benchmark returns and macro headwinds fit the fundamental picture better than the bull narrative does.
The strongest opposing case is that margin trajectory and FCF quality can keep the multiple from collapsing even if growth stays mid-single digits. Net margins have marched from 4.3% in Q4 2024 to 8% in Q2 2026; if operating leverage pushes full-year operating margin from 9.9% toward the mid-teens and biopharma mix continues to enrich, earnings power of $1.1–1.3B becomes plausible and a 22–25x multiple on that forward base would still support a mid-$200s stock. Free-cash-flow yield of roughly 4.5% with a 27% payout and sub-1% dividend is not punitive for a defensive healthcare name, and the balance-sheet leverage (D/E 0.60, current ratio 1.42) leaves room for buybacks or tuck-in M&A that can manufacture EPS. A smart bull would also note that the $150–179 model fair values embed a no-cycle, no-mix-shift assumption that has been too harsh every time diagnostics volumes stabilized post-COVID. I weigh that case as real but insufficient: it requires the market to keep paying 30x+ for execution that is already visible in the print, and any stall in the recent 7–8% margin run-rate or a soft quarter in drug-development services removes the only justification for the premium.
I would flip if two consecutive quarters deliver revenue growth above 10% with operating margin sustained above 12%, or if management guides biopharma services to a clear double-digit trajectory with visible backlog conversion that re-anchors the earnings power above $1.4B. A material multiple re-rating lower that brings the stock into the low-to-mid $200s on unchanged fundamentals would also reset the risk/reward enough to reconsider.
Big-3 Panel — where each AI stands
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · separate lenses
Labcorp throws off durable cash — $1.21B FCF in 2025, OCF/NI near 2x, accruals -4.2% of assets, Beneish M of -2.56 and an Altman Z of 3.41 all point to clean, well-supported earnings. Capital allocation is shareholder-friendly: diluted shares have shrunk from 97.5M in 2021 to 83.8M in 2025 (-3.7% CAGR), SBC is a modest 0.9% of revenue, and buybacks run nearly 7x SBC. Revenue has recovered to $13.95B in 2025 after the 2022 COVID-testing rolloff, growing about 7% year-over-year. The soft spot is profitability trajectory. Gross margin has re-based lower — from 34.9% in 2021 to 28.8% in 2025 — and operating margin, though recovering from a 2023 trough of 6%, still sits at 9.9% versus 20.2% in 2021. Even acknowledging the pandemic-era boost, the structural op margin looks mid-single to low-double digits, not the mid-teens the pre-COVID franchise implied. Net debt of roughly $4.6B against $532M cash means the balance sheet is a working constraint, not a fortress; with $1.2B annual FCF, leverage is manageable but real. Insider tape is routine disposition (14 sells, 0 opens) — neutral, not a warning. Overall: a well-run, cash-solid, per-share-friendly incumbent whose earnings power is still visibly below its prior peak.
Verify before trusting this (5)
- Whether the gross margin re-basing from 34.9% to 28.8% reflects mix/inflation or structural pricing pressure in core diagnostics
- Debt maturity ladder and fixed-vs-floating exposure behind the $4.6B net debt
- Segment detail on Diagnostics vs Biopharma Labs growth and margins post-Fortrea spin
- Payer/customer concentration and Medicare/PAMA exposure in the 10-K
- Acquisition contribution to 2024-2025 revenue growth vs organic
The e2e composite fair value lands at $179.05 and the signal-adjusted FV at $150.46, implying roughly 45-55% downside from $332.66. The DCF ($217) is the most generous method and still sits ~35% below price; the anchored P/E ($232) also implies a meaningful haircut; the EPV floor ($50) is clearly a runaway low-end input reflecting depressed current earnings power and should be treated as a floor, not a target. Even leaning on the friendliest method, the price is not defended by the math. Company quality is Solid (not fortress) with operating margins still running near half of 2021 levels, which argues for a deserved value closer to the DCF than to today's tape. What is priced in: a durable re-acceleration in biotech CRO demand, margin recovery back toward prior peaks, and continued buyback-driven per-share compounding — a stack of 'and's rather than a single knowable catalyst. Margin of safety at $332.66 is negative; a fair entry sits closer to the DCF with a discount, i.e. mid-$180s to low-$200s.
Verify before trusting this (5)
- Biopharma CRO backlog and book-to-bill trend in the next print
- Diagnostics organic volume vs price mix
- Adjusted operating margin trajectory vs 2021 peak
- Guidance for FCF conversion and buyback pace
- Any one-time items inflating current EPS used in the anchored-PE
The pressure on LH right now is net positive but subtle. The macro tape is mildly risk-on with VIX at 14.9 and the S&P only 1.5% off highs, which is a supportive backdrop for a low-beta (0.84) defensive healthcare name that does not need euphoria to hold a bid. More importantly, the active narrative - Labcorp as mission-critical infrastructure for pharma R&D and precision medicine - is strong and largely uncontested, and the price ($332 vs a $150 DCF anchor) shows the market is willingly paying a 120%+ premium on story alone. That is the definition of narrative tailwind.
Verify before trusting this (4)
- Any crack in pharma R&D spend commentary from peers (IQV, ICLR) that would puncture the biotech-infrastructure story
- Sell-side target revisions - are price targets chasing the stock up or lagging (divergence signal)
- VIX push above 20 or a rotation out of defensive healthcare that would test the narrative's durability
- Next earnings tone on diagnostics pricing and lab consolidation pressure
Clinical testing volume is a defensive, utilization-driven annuity: it grows with demographics, chronic disease prevalence and expanding test menus regardless of the rate cycle, which insulates LH from the flagged macro headwinds better than most healthcare names. The two live structural forces are (1) price deflation per test, enforced by payers and government fee schedules, which permanently caps organic revenue at low-to-mid single digits, and (2) consolidation — scale logistics, courier density and payer contracts remain genuinely hard to replicate, so LH keeps absorbing hospital outreach books as health systems shed non-core operations. Precision medicine and blood-based neurology/oncology assays are a real mix tailwind but arrive slowly through coverage decisions, not step-changes. On the biopharma side, trial complexity keeps rising, favoring incumbent central-lab networks, but spend levels remain hostage to biotech funding. Net: a slow, sturdy compounder in a fast-growing category — the world supports stability and margin gains far more than it supports rate-of-growth acceleration.
When we made this prediction on Sep 1, 2026, LH was $329.97. We expect it to be $308.00 by Mar 2027, and we consider it great value under $200.00. This is an early model (v0.6.0) — the direction is more reliable than the exact price. Made Sep 1, 2026.
Blue is our prediction, starting the day we made it. Grey is a slower route to the same place — the same destination, taking longer. Black is the actual price, so you can see how we are doing.