STERIS rises after $2.1 billion Xodus Medical acquisition announced

Session of October 12, 2026 · Published October 13, 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

STERIS (STE) rose 2.1% on October 12, 2026, after agreeing to buy Xodus Medical for $2.1 billion to broaden its infection-prevention portfolio. The stock opened 0.8% above the previous close and traded at 1.0 times its 20-day average volume, the company said, according to GuruFocus and PRNewsWire.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 12, 2026, STE closed at $218.98, up 2.1% on the day and 5.9% lower than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The stock's 2.1% gain was 1.6 times a typical daily move for the stock and was 3.1 percentage points better than the Healthcare sector median, which fell 1.0% on the day. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% while the index over the last five sessions rose 0.4%; STERIS itself rose 3.7% over the last five sessions. Trading volume matched its 20-day average, and the stock has a beta of 0.42, meaning the stock tends to move less than the market. Market commentators judged this a large, mostly company-specific move, with the company announcement the likely driver.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 12, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.6%, so the latest move equals 1.3 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.2%) are unusual.

In the past five years the stock had 94 sessions with a gain of at least 2.1%. Twenty trading days after such sessions the median result was a gain of 0.4%, and 51 of those 94 sessions were higher by that point.

The technical picture

The stock traded 4.3% above its 20-day moving average but 1.5% below its 50-day moving average and 3.5% below its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) was 59, in a neutral range, and the stock stood 18.7% below the 52-week high. Volatility was 22% annualized over 60 days, lower than 73% of its own readings over five years.

Closing price over the past year. STE ends the period 18.5% below its 52-week high, below its 50-day average ($222.31) and below its 200-day average ($226.94).

Over shorter horizons, the stock rose 3.9% in one month and 4.9% over three months, while it fell 8.5% over one year, leaving it 24.5 percentage points behind the S&P 500 for the same period.

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through June 30, 2026, revenue was $6.04 billion, which grew 8.4% from a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were $8.18, which rose 25.3% from a year earlier. Gross margin was 44.4% (a year earlier: 44.1%) and operating margin was 18.9% (a year earlier: 16.6%). Free-cash-flow margin was 15.3% and return on invested capital was 8.7%. On the balance sheet, net debt was 0.9 times EBITDA and share count over one year decreased by 0.9%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $1.5B, 7.3% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

Valuation measures showed price to trailing earnings of 26.8 times trailing earnings and price to forward earnings of 19.5 times expected earnings. The price to trailing earnings was the lowest reading of the past five years (five-year median: 49.2 times earnings). Free-cash-flow yield was 4.4%. PromtFinance scores ranked STERIS highly on Stability at 98 and Value at 91, with Quality at 83; Growth, Momentum and Revisions scored more modestly. The company had a market value of $20.89 billion on the session date.

Earnings and analyst expectations

STERIS last reported on August 5, 2026, with earnings per share of $2.59 against $2.49 expected, 4.0% above estimates. The company had one consecutive quarter beating estimates and an average surprise over the last four reports of 2.1% above estimates. The typical two-day reaction after recent reports was that the stock fell 0.4%. The next report was due November 4, 2026.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $2.04, against $1.79 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts’ consensus price target was $271.33, which was 23.9% above the closing price, based on ratings from 14 analysts and a consensus rating of Buy; 86% of the ratings were Buy. Investors will watch for any guidance or earnings commentary tied to integration costs or projected cost savings from the Xodus Medical purchase and whether those items alter near-term expectations.

What to watch

The acquisition closing timeline and integration details for Xodus Medical following the $2.1 billion agreement, announced October 12, 2026.
Next earnings report on November 4, 2026, and whether results continue the pattern of earnings per share surprises, given the last report on August 5, 2026, beat by 4.0%.
Any updates to guidance or commentary that could affect the company’s operating margin of 18.9% and free-cash-flow margin of 15.3% as the deal is integrated.
Changes to analyst estimates or the consensus price target of $271.33 from 14 analysts, given the deal and the valuation at 26.8 times trailing earnings.

Full STE analysis: scores, chart and financials →