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German maker of ophthalmic surgical devices and microscopes used in cataract, refractive and neurosurgical procedures.
German maker of ophthalmic surgical devices and microscopes used in cataract, refractive and neurosurgical procedures.
Sells surgical systems, diagnostic devices and microscopes up front, then earns repeat income from consumables such as intraocular lenses, the artificial lenses fitted after cataract removal, and from service contracts. Carl Zeiss AG, owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, holds the majority of the shares.
In one line: A German Alcon/Bausch+Lomb for ophthalmic devices.
Moat: narrow (IP / patents, brand, customer qualification). Leading optical/precision engineering and surgeon relationships in ophthalmic devices, competing with larger device makers.
Headquarters: Jena, Germany · Founded: 1990 · Employees: 5,784
Size Carl Zeiss Meditec (AFX.DE) is a Germany Health Care company (Medical Specialties) with a market value of $3.51B, the 88th largest of 205 Germany companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at €34.96 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 40.4%, against +6.2% for the median peer and +2.6% for the Germany market (cap-weighted) — 4th highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 0.1% over the last twelve months (peer median +4.7%); the operating margin is 8.3% (peer median 11.8%).
Valuation It trades at 26.8× forward earnings against a peer median of 22.1× (8th most expensive of 18).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 14% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +11%, so the hurdle is +3 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 4.7 points below its cost of capital (9.4% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 10 Dec 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | €2.17B | €2.23B | €2.07B | €2.09B | €1.90B |
| Revenue growth | — | +8% | -1% | +10% | — |
| Gross profit | €1.11B | €1.18B | €1.09B | €1.21B | €1.13B |
| EBITDA | €325M | €383M | €364M | €437M | €477M |
| Net income | €94.9M | €141M | €179M | €290M | €294M |
| Free cash flow | €273M | €170M | €161M | €185M | €145M |
| Capital expenditure | €63.2M | €76.6M | €152M | €114M | €82.0M |
| Total debt | n/a | €607M | €629M | €276M | €219M |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Zeiss Meditec AFX.DE | $3.51B | +40% | 0% | 8% | 26.8× | 13.7% |
| Alcon ALC.SW | $37.5B | +22% | -1% | 11% | 21.4× | 12.9% |
| Bausch + Lomb BLCO.TO | $7.20B | +31% | +11% | 9% | 17.3× | 11.0% |
| Hoya 7741.T | $47.4B | -23% | +13% | 31% | 26.7× | 13.3% |
| RxSight RXST | n/a | -22% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | AFX.DE | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +12.6% | +9.0% | 7th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +40.4% | +6.2% | 4th highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -24.9% | -24.0% | 11th highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -0.1% | +4.7% | 4th lowest of 19 |
| Operating margin | 8.3% | 11.8% | 8th lowest of 19 |
| Forward P/E | 26.8× | 22.1× | 8th most expensive of 18 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 13.7% | 10.1% | 6th most demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +10.8% | +8.0% | 7th highest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +2.9 pp | -0.3 pp | 6th most demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -4.7 pp | -1.2 pp | 6th lowest of 18 |
| EV / EBITDA | 11.5× | 11.1× | 5th most expensive of 10 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.8× | 0.5× | 3rd most indebted of 11 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Zeiss Meditec AFX.DE | Germany | $3.51B | +40% | 0% | 8% | 26.8× | 13.7% | +10.8% |
| iRay Technology 688301.SS | China | $3.54B | -8% | +58% | 24% | 27.5× | n/a | n/a |
| Ambu A/S AMBU-B.CO | Denmark | $3.42B | +40% | +5% | 11% | 28.1× | 12.6% | +11.1% |
| Lepu Medical Technology (Beijing) 300003.SZ | China | $3.42B | -12% | -1% | 13% | 26.3× | 9.6% | -4.2% |
| MGI Tech 688114.SS | China | $3.42B | +9% | +2% | -7% | n/a | 46.5% | -0.1% |
| Andon Health 002432.SZ | China | $3.60B | -29% | -30% | -26% | 15.0× | -7.7% | -7.4% |
| Autobio Diagnostics 603658.SS | China | $3.41B | +19% | +3% | 25% | 20.6× | -0.3% | +7.2% |
| Shandong Weigao Blood Purification Products 603014.SS | China | $3.63B | -3% | +4% | n/a | 20.4× | -1.2% | +8.1% |
| Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA OBCK.DE | Germany | $3.36B | -25% | +5% | 15% | 15.4× | 3.5% | +8.0% |
| SCHOTT Pharma AG & Co. KGaA 1SXP.DE | Germany | $3.67B | +31% | +4% | 15% | 22.1× | 11.7% | +11.0% |
| Zhende Medical 603301.SS | China | $3.33B | -8% | +8% | 7% | 43.5× | 23.2% | -16.1% |
| Stevanato STVN | United States | $3.70B | -26% | +12% | 18% | 19.3× | 10.6% | +12.1% |
| Sumitomo Bakelite 4203.T | Japan | $3.31B | +15% | +15% | 13% | 14.9× | 6.8% | +8.9% |
| Celcuity CELC | United States | $3.27B | -49% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Pulse Biosciences PLSE | United States | $3.87B | +179% | n/a | -7,008% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| TransMedics TMDX | United States | $3.06B | +30% | +26% | 12% | 48.5× | 35.6% | +88.2% |
| Envista NVST | United States | $4.04B | +4% | +12% | 11% | 15.6× | 6.8% | +7.1% |
| Tecan TECN.SW | Switzerland | $4.05B | +91% | -4% | 1% | 40.1× | 46.9% | +3.8% |
| Fielmann FIE.DE | Germany | $4.12B | +3% | +3% | 14% | 17.8× | -5.3% | +11.3% |
| Axogen AXGN | United States | $2.99B | +19% | +24% | -5% | 76.5× | 48.8% | +14.9% |
| CareDx CDNA | United States | $4.13B | +260% | +39% | 1% | 53.2× | n/a | n/a |