At a glance
Sotera Health Co is worth $5.32B, about 69 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 5.7% to $1.16B in fiscal 2025, with 6.7% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 7.3% a year. It pays no dividend. The stock returned +12.6% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −5.6% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 71.9% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and is still below its earlier high.
The business in plain English
Sotera Health helps make sure medical devices, drugs and food are safe. It sterilizes products for manufacturers, tests them in its labs and advises on meeting safety rules. In 2025 its customers included more than 40 of the 50 largest medical device makers and nine of the ten largest drug companies. Most of its services are required for customers to satisfy government rules. It works from 62 facilities and serves customers in more than 50 countries.
Sterigenics, the biggest segment, earned 65% of the $1.16 billion revenue in the year ended December 31, 2025. It sterilizes products such as syringes, catheters, implants and procedure kits in their final packaging. It uses gamma radiation, ethylene oxide (EO) gas or electron beams at 48 facilities in 13 countries. More than 90% of its revenue came from customers on multi-year contracts. Nordion (16.1%) sells cobalt-60, a radioactive material made in nuclear reactors. Cobalt-60 supplies the radiation for gamma sterilization and some cancer treatments. Nelson Labs, the lab testing business, added 18.9%.
Services made up 85.6% of revenue and products 14.4%. The United States contributed 54.1%, Europe 20%, Canada 19.1% and other regions 6.9%. Its main global rival is Applied Sterilization Technologies, part of STERIS, and some manufacturers sterilize their products in-house.
Price history
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SHC +12.6% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Service | $995.8M | 85.6% |
| Product | $167.9M | 14.4% |
By business segment
| Sterigenics | $755.8M | 65% |
| Nelson Labs | $220.2M | 18.9% |
| Nordion | $187.6M | 16.1% |
By geography
| United States | $629.5M | 54.1% |
| Europe | $232.2M | 20% |
| Canada | $221.9M | 19.1% |
| Other | $79.9M | 6.9% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $321.4M, up 9.2% from a year earlier, and net income was $53.6M (+573.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $1.16B (+5.7% year over year; +7.3% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 6.7% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +7.3% good |
|---|---|
| Free cash flow margin | 12.8% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 12.9% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 2.4% weak |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-1.78B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $818.2M | $-38.6M | $67.1M |
| FY2021 | $931.5M | $116.9M | $179.4M |
| FY2022 | $1.00B | $-233.6M | $95.6M |
| FY2023 | $1.05B | $51.4M | $-362.7M |
| FY2024 | $1.10B | $44.4M | $45.1M |
| FY2025 | $1.16B | $77.9M | $149.2M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $5.32B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 69.1 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Sotera Health’s market value went from $6.66B at the end of 2021 to $5.32B on Oct 28, 2026, down 20%; since the end of 2025 it is up 6%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $5.32B | +6.2% |
| 2025 | $5.01B | +29.3% |
| 2024 | $3.87B | -18.6% |
| 2023 | $4.76B | +102.6% |
| 2022 | $2.35B | -64.7% |
| 2021 | $6.66B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SHC price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +5.7% | +12.6% | +14.2% | -5.6% | — |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +5.7% |
| 2025 | +28.9% |
| 2024 | -18.8% |
| 2023 | +102.3% |
| 2022 | -64.6% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Before this security existed |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 70.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 71.9%, not recovered by the end of the data |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 9 sales ($1.41B).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 2026 | Pincus & Co. Warburg Director, 10% owner | sell | $289.8M |
| May 13, 2026 | Pincus & Co. Warburg Director, 10% owner | sell | $289.8M |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Pincus & Co. Warburg Director, 10% owner | sell | $229.1M |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Pincus & Co. Warburg Director, 10% owner | sell | $229.1M |
| May 13, 2026 | Gtcr Investment Xi Llc Director, 10% owner | sell | $193.2M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| WP XI Partners, L.P. | 25.7% | Nov 10, 2025 |
| Sessa Capital IM, L.P. | 9.5% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Darsana Capital Partners LP | 8.8% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Sculptor Capital LP | 8.41% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 8.4% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Sessa Capital (Master), L.P. | 7.23% | Dec 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.12% | Sep 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in SHC
| NIXT Research Affiliates Deletions ETF | 0.74% |
| CSA VictoryShares US Small Cap Volatility Wtd ETF | 0.18% |
| TPSC Timothy Plan US Small Cap Core ETF | 0.13% |
| NUSC Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF | 0.11% |
| BKSE BNY Mellon US Small Cap Core Equity ETF | 0.1% |
| EZM WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Fund | 0.1% |
| STXK Strive Small-Cap ETF | 0.1% |
| EQAL Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF | 0.08% |
What could go wrong
- Ethylene oxide lawsuits and health claims. Sotera is defending lawsuits tied to emissions of ethylene oxide (EO), a sterilizing gas, from current and former plants. The company expects more suits, and EO's potential health risks could bring future liability claims.
- Few suppliers for EO and cobalt-60. Sotera relies on few suppliers for EO and cobalt-60. One supplier serves the US industry with EO, and cobalt-60 takes 18 months to five years to make in reactors. Sanctions involving Russia could disrupt supply.
- Accidents with hazardous materials. Handling, storing, shipping and disposing of EO and radioactive cobalt-60 carries safety risks. An accident at a plant or in transit could lead to liabilities that materially hurt results.
- Changing environmental and safety rules. Environmental, health and safety rules affecting sterilization keep changing. Complying adds cost, and failing to obtain or keep required approvals, or delays in getting them, could hurt the business.
- Heavy debt load. As of June 30, 2026, Sotera had about $2.14 billion of debt and $357 million of cash and investments. Leverage, the 10-K warns, could limit flexibility and raise interest-rate risk; loan covenants also restrict operations.
- Influential owners and large share sales. The 10-K flags the control held by funds tied to Warburg Pincus and GTCR, whose interests may differ from other shareholders'. Both sold large blocks in May 2026; further sales could weigh on the price.
Recent events
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Major agreement signed; New debt or financial obligation
- Major agreement ended; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
For income and retirement investors
Sotera Health pays no dividend, and its 10-K says it does not expect to pay one in the foreseeable future. It paid no dividends and made no share buybacks from fiscal 2021 through 2025. Its share count rose 0.9% between August 5, 2021 and July 30, 2026. For an income investor, that means any return must come from a higher share price, and turning the holding into spending money means selling shares. The price has swung widely. In the 2022 bear market the stock fell 71.9% from its June 6, 2022 high to an October 11, 2022 low. It had not regained that high as of October 28, 2026. Calendar-year returns ranged from a 64.6% loss in 2022 to a 102.3% gain in 2023. Its trading history is too short to show how it behaved in the 2008 financial crisis or the 2020 COVID crash. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Sotera Health make money?
Sotera Health makes most of its money sterilizing medical devices and drugs for manufacturers. In the year ended December 31, 2025, revenue was $1.16 billion, and 85.6% came from services. Sterigenics, its sterilization arm, earned 65% of revenue. Nelson Labs, its lab testing business, earned 18.9%. Nordion, which sells radioactive cobalt-60 used in gamma sterilization and cancer treatment, earned 16.1%. More than 90% of Sterigenics' revenue came from customers on multi-year contracts, and no single customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenue.
Does Sotera Health pay a dividend?
No. Sotera Health paid no dividends from fiscal 2021 through 2025, and its 10-K, filed February 24, 2026, says it does not expect to pay any in the foreseeable future. It also made no share buybacks over that period. Any return for shareholders therefore depends on the share price rising. Investors who rely on portfolio income may find dividend-paying stocks or income funds worth comparing, because selling shares would be the only way to draw cash from a Sotera holding.
Why is Sotera Health facing lawsuits?
Sotera Health faces lawsuits over ethylene oxide (EO), a gas it uses to sterilize medical products at 17 of its facilities. Its 10-K says the company is defending litigation tied to the use, emissions and releases of EO from its current and former sterilization plants, and that more lawsuits are likely. It also warns that potential health risks linked to EO could bring future liability claims. Alleged failures to perform its services properly could also lead to product liability claims, recalls and penalties.
Is Sotera Health profitable?
Yes, based on its latest results, though its record is uneven. For the year ended December 31, 2025, net income was $77.9 million on $1.16 billion of revenue, a 6.7% net margin, or $0.27 per diluted share. It lost $233.6 million in fiscal 2022. In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, net income was $53.6 million and revenue rose 9.2% from a year earlier. As of October 28, 2026, the share price was about 69 times fiscal 2025 earnings.
Who owns Sotera Health stock?
Large investment firms hold the biggest reported stakes. WP XI Partners, L.P. reported owning 25.7% as of November 10, 2025. As of June 30, 2026, Sessa Capital IM reported 9.5%, Sculptor Capital 8.41% and BlackRock 8.4%. Warburg Pincus and GTCR, the firms the 10-K calls its Sponsors, sold large blocks of shares between March and May 2026, so older ownership figures may overstate their holdings. The 10-K warns that the Sponsors' interests may differ from those of other shareholders.