Medline vs West Pharmaceutical Services (MDLN vs WST)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
Medline is the larger company by revenue ($28.4B vs $3.1B) and market value ($72.3B vs $25.3B). West Pharmaceutical Services runs the higher operating margin (19.0% vs 7.8%). Medline trades at the lower trailing P/E (35.3x vs 48.5x).
About Medline
Medline Inc. is a provider of medical-surgical products and supply chain solutions serving various healthcare settings such as hospitals, surgery centers, and physician offices. The company offers approximately 335,000 products, including surgical kits, gloves, wound care items, and diagnostic equipment, through its Medline Brand and Supply Chain Solutions segments. Medline operates a network of global distribution centers and its own fleet of trucks to deliver products and supply chain services to healthcare providers.
About West Pharmaceutical Services
West Pharmaceutical Services Inc manufactures advanced containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products. Its main offerings include proprietary packaging components, drug delivery devices, and contract manufacturing services for pharmaceutical, biologic, generic, diagnostic, and medical device companies worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Proprietary Products, which provides packaging and delivery solutions, and Contract-Manufactured Products, which focuses on custom manufacturing and assembly of complex devices.
Head to head (MDLN FY2025 vs WST FY2025)
| Metric | MDLNFY2025 | WSTFY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $28.43B | $3.07B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | — | 6.3% |
| Gross margin | 26.4% | 35.9% |
| Operating margin | 7.8% | 19.0% |
| Net margin | 4.1% | 16.1% |
| Net income | $1.16B | $493.7M |
| Diluted EPS | $-0.01 | $6.79 |
| FCF margin | 4.6% | 15.3% |
| ROE | 6.0% | 15.5% |
| Debt / equity | 0.6× | 0.1× |
| Market cap | $72.30B | $25.31B |
| P/E (TTM) | 35.3× | 48.5× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (MDLN FY2025, WST FY2025). P/E and market cap are derived from recent market prices and update daily.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| MDLN by fiscal year | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $23.23B | $25.51B | — | $28.43B |
| Net income | $234.0M | $1.16B | $1.15B | $1.16B |
| Operating margin | 5.4% | 8.4% | — | 7.8% |
| WST by fiscal year | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.83B | $2.89B | $2.95B | $2.89B | $3.07B |
| Net income | $661.8M | $585.9M | $593.4M | $492.7M | $493.7M |
| Operating margin | 26.6% | 25.4% | 22.9% | 19.7% | 19.0% |
Medline and West Pharmaceutical Services use different fiscal calendars (MDLN's FY2025 ended 2025-12-31, WST's FY2025 ended 2025-12-31), so their fiscal years are shown separately rather than forced into one timeline.
Peer standing
Where each company ranks among the 88 medical device companies, on the same scale. Each figure is ranked only against peers that report it. Percentiles describe position in the distribution, not a rating.
| Metric | MDLN | WST |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 26.4%3rd percentile of 77 | 35.9%11th percentile of 77 |
| Operating margin | 7.8%66th percentile of 80 | 19.0%90th percentile of 80 |
| Net margin | 4.1%66th percentile of 81 | 16.1%89th percentile of 81 |
| FCF margin | 4.6%63rd percentile of 74 | 15.3%82nd percentile of 74 |
| ROE | 6.0%65th percentile of 79 | 15.5%85th percentile of 79 |
| P/E (TTM) | 35.3×61st percentile of 32 | 48.5×81st percentile of 32 |
| Debt / equity | 0.65×60th percentile of 54 | 0.06×9th percentile of 54 |
| Short interest (days to cover) | 3.73d53rd percentile of 88 | 2.33d30th percentile of 88 |
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | MDLN | WST |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 36.3M | 2.3M |
| Change vs prior settlement | +31.3% | +1.3% |
| Days to cover | 3.73 | 2.33 |
| As of settlement | 2026-06-30 | 2026-06-30 |
Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.
Insider activity (last 90 days)
| Form 4 open-market activity | MDLN | WST |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 1 ($170,750) | 0 |
| Sells | 14 ($3.60B) | 2 ($1.1M) |
Open-market purchases and sales reported on SEC Form 4 (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 16% of covered companies saw any open-market insider buy in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
7 tracked 13F managers hold both Medline and West Pharmaceutical Services as of their latest quarterly filings: Citadel Advisors, Gotham Asset Management, Millennium Management, Point72 Asset Management, Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma Investments, Viking Global Investors. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR (public domain). Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.