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Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH)

NYSE / Healthcare / Medical - Distribution

Share price

253.71 USD Market dataClose of Oct 15, 2026

Market capitalisation

58.75B USD Market dataClose of Oct 15, 2026
Market data
Oct 15, 2026
Filed accounts
FY2026, filed Aug 11, 2026
Ratios computed
Oct 15, 2026
Filed years
11, FY2016 to FY2026
Four kinds of sourceSEC filingCompany statementMarket dataComputedWhat each means
SEC filingFiled with the SEC
Read from a statement the company filed with the SEC, with the form, fiscal year, filing date and accession beside it.
Company statementCompany statement
What the company says about itself in a filing: an 8-K item, the auditor, its own segment names.
Market dataMarket data
Prices, market value and what analysts publish, with the date they are as of.
ComputedComputed by ValueScreener
Worked out by us from the other three, with the inputs and the formula one press away. A score is a research output, not a rating or a recommendation.
Reading

1 of 10

Overview

What the business is, what it costs, and how it reads on four questions.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Four questions, at a glance

Quality

Return on invested capital, after tax

85.6% Computed

From the FY2026 filing

Read quality

Valuation

Price to earnings

34.90x Computed

FY2026 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read valuation

Cash generation

Free cash flow yield

7.5% Computed

FY2026 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read cash generation

Revenue and net income, as filed

FY2017 Revenue: 129.98B USDFY2017 Net income: 1.29B USDFY2018 Revenue: 136.81B USDFY2018 Net income: 256.0M USDFY2019 Revenue: 145.53B USDFY2019 Net income: 1.36B USDFY2020 Revenue: 152.92B USDFY2020 Net income: -3.70B USDFY2021 Revenue: 162.47B USDFY2021 Net income: 611.0M USDFY2022 Revenue: 181.33B USDFY2022 Net income: -938.0M USDFY2023 Revenue: 204.98B USDFY2023 Net income: 330.0M USDFY2024 Revenue: 226.83B USDFY2024 Net income: 852.0M USDFY2025 Revenue: 222.58B USDFY2025 Net income: 1.56B USDFY2026 Revenue: 254.25B USDFY2026 Net income: 1.71B USD
Revenue Net income10 filed fiscal years, from the annual reports; the table in Filings names each document.
Named tests met
5 of 30 Which tests
The business, and the score behind its five axes

The reading, in brief

Is it cheap

Price to earnings is 34.90x at the close of 2026-10-15 on FY2026 figures; the lines are 15.00x (Graham's defensive ceiling) and, by market convention, 10.00x, 25.00x and 40.00x, and this sits between 25.00x and 40.00x.

Today, against the Healthcare sector (223 companies), 34.90x sits at the 66th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 13.52x to 42.98x.

Is it good

Return on invested capital was 85.6% in FY2026, in the band labelled "Exceptional" (20.0% and above), on lines anchored on Damodaran's cost-of-capital data, suggesting returns on the capital in the business well above the usual cost of that capital.

Today, against the Healthcare sector (233 companies), 85.6% sits at the 97th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from -37.4% to 12.8%.

Is it safe

Interest coverage was 7.51x in FY2026, in the band labelled "Comfortable" (6.00x and above), on lines anchored on Damodaran's interest-coverage table, suggesting an interest bill operating profit covers many times over.

Year by year against peers
Whether Cardinal Health, Inc.'s gross margin stayed above the median of the Healthcare sector, year by year. (FY2017 to FY2025, 9 fiscal years of Cardinal Health, Inc. with a comparable figure)
The direction
Which way Cardinal Health, Inc.'s gross margin has moved, and how steadily. (FY2017 to FY2026, 10 filed years of Cardinal Health, Inc.)
What could explain it
What in Cardinal Health, Inc.'s filed statements could explain the movements. (7 readings drawn from the statement lines Cardinal Health, Inc. filed)
What to check next
What to check next on Cardinal Health, Inc., and where in its filings. (3 questions for Cardinal Health, Inc.)
In one paragraph
One paragraph on Cardinal Health, Inc.'s returns, cash, balance sheet and price. (14 of sixteen figures read for Cardinal Health, Inc.)

These are CAH’s filed figures. The research desk says what they mean, against peers and its own years, with what to check next.

Research CAHPart of Serious. New accounts start with 30 days of Professional, free, no card.

2 of 10

What changed

The newest filing, what it moved, and when the next one is due.

SEC filingCompany statement

The newest accounts on file are the FY2026 annual report: 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, accession 0000721371-26-000038.

3 of 10

Quality

The returns the business earns on its capital, and the margins behind them.

SEC filingComputed

Cardinal Health, Inc: returns on capital and margins, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Return on invested capital, after tax85.6% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Return on equity
Why n/m

Book equity is zero or negative. Return on equity computed over it flips sign and can read as a strong positive on a loss-making company, so we will not show a number.

n/m ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Return on capital employed, pre-tax19.5% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Return on assets3.0% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Gross margin3.8% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Operating margin1.0% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Net margin0.7% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
CAH 0.7%
COR 0.5%CI 2.2%TAK 2.4%MCK 1.2%CVS 0.4%
0.4%2.4%
Net margin: CAH against the 5 companies named under Valuation context, each as filed for its own latest year. Placement only: no average is drawn.

4 of 10

Financial strength

What it owes against what it owns, and whether it can meet what falls due.

SEC filingComputedCompany statement

Cardinal Health, Inc: leverage, liquidity and distress, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Debt to equity
Why n/m

Filed shareholders equity is zero or below, so debt measured against it is not a measurement (n/m).

n/m ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Current ratio0.88 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Quick ratio0.49 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Interest coverage7.51x ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Altman Z-score5.13 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Net debt5.28B ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Total assets 57.30BTotal liabilities 60.02BOwnsOwes, and equity
Total assets Total liabilities Shareholders’ equity (zero or below, not drawn)
The balance sheet, line by line

Financial health

What Cardinal Health, Inc owned and owed at the end of fiscal 2026, from the balance sheet it filed (10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038).

Cardinal Health, Inc: balance sheet position
Total assets57.30B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026
Total liabilities60.02B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026
Shareholders' equity-2.88B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026
Cash4.86B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026
Total debt10.13B FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026
Net debt5.28B
Current ratio0.88
Debt to equityn/m
  • Debt to equity: FY2026: Filed shareholders equity is zero or below, so debt measured against it is not a measurement (n/m).

Read from the filed balance sheet for each year, with the income statement of the same year supplying operating profit where a ratio needs it. Nothing here is a view on whether this company is sound.

5 of 10

Valuation context

What the market charges for it, against its own record and companies like it.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Cardinal Health, Inc: what the market charges, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Price to earnings34.90x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
P/E on trailing twelve months34.49x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · Trailing four quarters, each as known on the day; the quarterly filings are listed under Filings
Price to book
Why n/m

Book equity is zero or negative, so a ratio measured against it (debt to equity, price to book) is not a measurement, and we will not show a number.

n/m ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Price to sales0.24x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Enterprise value to EBIT25.03x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Enterprise value to EBITDA18.33x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Price to earnings over growth1.23 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Diluted earnings per share7.23 USD FiledFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Graham number
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038

We publish no fair value or price target of our own. Value CAH on your own assumptions in the DCF workbench, starting from the filed figures.

Its own record, and companies like it

Valuation

What the market charges for Cardinal Health, Inc today, and the multiples it has carried. No value of ours: the figures are the filings’ and the market’s.

Cardinal Health, Inc: valuation
Share price253.71 USD
Market capitalisation58.75B USD
Enterprise value to EBITDA18.33x
Graham numbern/a
Diluted earnings per share, FY20267.23 USD

Price to earnings on trailing twelve months, a different basis from the fiscal-year P/E above, since Aug 10, 2017: low 8.85x, median 24.89x, high 294.94x, latest 34.49x. 1,742 trading days with a meaningful ratio, 564 more on a loss and left out. Each close over the trailing twelve months of earnings as known that day: a quarter counts from the day it was filed.

Companies like Cardinal Health, Inc

  1. Cencora, Inc. (COR)Market cap 65.15B USD
  2. Cigna Corporation (CI)Market cap 78.96B USD
  3. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TAK)Market cap 61.73B USD
  4. McKesson Corporation (MCK)Market cap 116.40B USD
  5. CVS Health Corporation (CVS)Market cap 118.40B USD

Same sector (Healthcare) and size band (Large, 10B to 200B), nearest in market value, net margin and current ratio. Each of those counts equally, by how many of the companies considered sit between the two on it. Closest first: the order is likeness and nothing else.

6 of 10

Cash generation

Whether profit arrives as cash, and what is paid back to shareholders.

SEC filingComputed

Cardinal Health, Inc: cash generation and what is paid out, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Free cash flow yield7.5% ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Free cash flow4.53B USD ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Free cash flow margin1.8% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Dividend yield0.8% ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Payout ratio28.6% ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
FY2017 Free cash flow: 797.0M USDFY2017 Net income: 1.29B USDFY2018 Free cash flow: 2.38B USDFY2018 Net income: 256.0M USDFY2019 Free cash flow: 2.39B USDFY2019 Net income: 1.36B USDFY2020 Free cash flow: 1.58B USDFY2020 Net income: -3.70B USDFY2021 Free cash flow: 2.03B USDFY2021 Net income: 611.0M USDFY2022 Free cash flow: 2.79B USDFY2022 Net income: -938.0M USDFY2023 Free cash flow: 2.36B USDFY2023 Net income: 330.0M USDFY2024 Free cash flow: 3.25B USDFY2024 Net income: 852.0M USDFY2025 Free cash flow: 1.85B USDFY2025 Net income: 1.56B USDFY2026 Free cash flow: 4.53B USDFY2026 Net income: 1.71B USD
Free cash flow Net incomeProfit that arrives as cash stands level with net income; a gap year after year is worth reading about.

7 of 10

Filings

Every figure, the year it is for and the document it was read from.

SEC filingMarket data

The filed figures

Computed from the accounts this company filed with the SEC and, in a ratio with a price in it, the last close, dated on this page. Every filed figure below carries the fiscal year and the filing date its accounts were read from, and every blank carries the reason it is blank. Nothing here is a view on this company.

Cardinal Health, Inc.: the eight ratios, with the fiscal year and filing date behind each.
FigureValueYearAs of
34.90xFY2026Oct 15, 2026
n/mFY2026Oct 15, 2026
n/m Not meaningful for this company, such as a P/E on negative earnings or a bank's EV/EBIT.
25.03xFY2026Oct 15, 2026
7.5%FY2026Oct 15, 2026
85.6%FY2026Aug 11, 2026
0.8%FY2026Oct 15, 2026
n/mFY2026Aug 11, 2026
n/m Not meaningful for this company, such as a P/E on negative earnings or a bank's EV/EBIT.
0.88FY2026Aug 11, 2026
0.24xFY2026Oct 15, 2026
1.23FY2026Oct 15, 2026
5.13FY2026Oct 15, 2026
-2.83FY2026Aug 11, 2026
8/9FY2026Aug 11, 2026

The figures are computed from the accounts for fiscal 2026, the newest full year on file. 11 filed fiscal years on record, FY2016 to FY2026, from SEC EDGAR. Prices as of Oct 15, 2026. Ratios recomputed Oct 15, 2026. Two facts, because a recompute is not a fresh quote.

The year and the filing date name the statement each figure’s accounts are read from, and they stand even where the figure itself could not be computed: the line beneath a blank says what that statement did not carry. A figure’s name opens its formula and the filings behind it; a statement that names no SEC filing has no filing date, and reads n/a.

Ten years of filed figures, year by year

Ten years of filed figures

10 filed fiscal years, FY2017 to FY2026, read from the annual reports Cardinal Health, Inc filed with the SEC. Each year names its filing. Amounts in USD, as filed.

Cardinal Health, Inc: revenue, earnings, free cash flow and returns, by fiscal year, with the filing each year was read from
YearRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeEPS, dilutedFree cash flowOperating marginReturn on equityFiling
FY2026254.25B2.61B1.71B7.234.53B1.0%n/m10-K, Aug 11, 20260000721371-26-000038
FY2025222.58B2.27B1.56B6.451.85B1.0%n/m10-K, Aug 12, 20250000721371-25-000079
FY2024226.83B1.24B852.0M3.453.25B0.6%n/m10-K, Aug 14, 20240000721371-24-000056
FY2023204.98B752.0M330.0M1.262.36B0.4%n/m10-K, Aug 15, 20230000721371-23-000060
FY2022181.33B-607.0M-938.0M-3.372.79B-0.3%n/m10-K, Aug 11, 20220000721371-22-000058
FY2021162.47B472.0M611.0M2.082.03B0.3%34.1%10-K, Aug 16, 20210000721371-21-000080
FY2020152.92B-4.10B-3.70B-12.611.58B-2.7%-206.6%10-K, Aug 13, 20200000721371-20-000089
FY2019145.53B2.06B1.36B4.532.39B1.4%21.5%10-K, Aug 20, 20190000721371-19-000090
FY2018136.81B126.0M256.0M0.812.38B0.1%4.2%10-K, Aug 22, 20180000721371-18-000077
FY2017129.98B2.12B1.29B4.03797.0M1.6%18.9%10-K, Aug 10, 20170000721371-17-000083
  • Revenue, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 7.7%
  • Earnings, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 3.2%
  • Earnings per share, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 6.7%
  • Free cash flow, compound annual growth FY2017 to FY2026: 21.3%

Every figure in this section is a line of a filed annual statement or a ratio of two of them. Nothing here is estimated or smoothed. Earnings per share filed before a share split are put on today's share count, and say so. Nothing here is a verdict on the company.

8 of 10

Risks and guardrails

The accounting screens, the published tests, and the lines you can set to be told.

ComputedCompany statement

Cardinal Health, Inc: accounting screens and published tests, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Beneish M-score-2.83 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Piotroski F-score8/9 ComputedFY2026 10-K, filed Aug 11, 2026, 0000721371-26-000038
Named tests met5 of 30 Computed
Beta0.33 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026

The named tests

Of 30 tests value investors published: 5 met, 18 not met, 7 we could not complete. Counts, never a score: a single figure would have to decide that meeting one investor’s criteria and meeting another’s are worth the same.

Which tests, by name(all 30)
Meets
Three forensic scores; ROIC at or above WACC; Low P/S, rising earnings (James O'Shaughnessy); Cash-covered dividend; Cash-flow yield and ROIC
Does not
Defensive investor (Benjamin Graham); Large cap, low P/E; Earnings yield and ROIC (Joel Greenblatt); Low PEG, low debt (Peter Lynch); Gross margin, turnover (Robert Novy-Marx); EV/EBITDA and coverage; High yield, low payout; Dividends and buybacks; Near the 52-week low; Z-score and coverage (Edward Altman); Two thirds of NCAV (Benjamin Graham); High returns, low debt; Owner earnings yield; High return on tangibles; Tangible book or below; Clean books, high ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/E (David Dreman); Low P/E, growth, yield (John Neff)
Not measured
Deep value; High F-score, low P/B (Joseph Piotroski); High returns and growth; Low beta, profitable; P/E times P/B (Benjamin Graham); Book or below, low debt (Walter Schloss); Cheapest quarter on P/B (David Dreman). A test with a figure we could not read is incomplete, never met and never failed.
Figures we could not read(5)
  • Debt to Equity: Filed shareholders equity is zero or below, so debt measured against it is not a measurement (n/m).
  • P/B Ratio: Book equity is zero or negative, so a ratio measured against it (debt to equity, price to book) is not a measurement, and we will not show a number.
  • Return on Equity: Book equity is zero or negative. Return on equity computed over it flips sign and can read as a strong positive on a loss-making company, so we will not show a number.
  • Price To Graham: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Price Tangible Book: Book equity is zero or negative, so a ratio measured against it (debt to equity, price to book) is not a measurement, and we will not show a number.

9 of 10

Declared positions

Whether anybody here owns this company.

Positions declared by Javier Sanz Alvarez: no holding in any company shown here, as of October 3, 2026.

10 of 10

Next step

What to do with what you have read.

A thesis is your reason for owning it, in your words, with the figures that must stay true. Checking those figures every night against the newest filed accounts, and telling you once when one breaks, is what the subscription adds.

More on this company

What this cannot tell you

  • 5 figures could not be read on this company, among them Debt to Equity, P/B Ratio, Return on Equity. Each blank in the table above names the rest, with its reason. 7 named tests come back incomplete because of them, which is neither met nor missed.

And the one that is true of all of it: This is what the numbers say today. It cannot tell you the day one of them stops being true. Nothing here can, because the reasons are not written down.

Running this once is arithmetic on public documents and you are welcome to it. Writing down why you own each company, in your own words and with the numbers that have to stay true for it to hold, and then having those numbers re-checked every night against the newest filed accounts, and against the latest close where a rule watches a price, is Professional, the plan a new account starts on for 30 days, one trial per person. It writes to you the day one breaks, and stays quiet when nothing does. The check runs every night at 23:30 UTC. A filing is picked up the night after it is published.

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Analyze your own portfolio

ValueScreener · valuescreener.ai · Computed from accounts filed with the SEC by this company, read from EDGAR, and from dated closing prices. On this page a filed figure opens into its formula, its inputs and the statement, fiscal year and filing date it was read from, and a price into the day of its close. A figure that cannot show that trail says so.

A computation on accounts filed with the SEC, not a recommendation and not advice. Past filings do not indicate future results. Risk disclaimer.

Once a week, what changed in the filings of US-listed companies, why it can matter to a thesis, and what deserves a closer review. Grounded in filings, not market noise.

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Risk disclaimer. This service is provided for research and education only. Nothing on it is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Capital is at risk, and past performance does not indicate future results. Figures come from filed accounts and may be incomplete, delayed or later restated, so verify a number against the filing before you act on it.