Is Cardinal Health Inc (CAH) undervalued or overvalued?

Our model estimates a fair value of about $63 against a price of $254.06 (Data under review, +0% to fair value). It blends a 10-year DCF, sector multiples and earnings-power value and is a model estimate, not advice.

What is the X-Ray Score for CAH?

Cardinal Health Inc has an X-Ray Score of 52 out of 100, built from valuation, growth, profitability, financial health and dividend lenses ranked against Health Care peers.

Where does the data for CAH come from?

Financial statements come from SEC EDGAR filings, prices from exchange price feeds, and industry betas and equity risk premium from Damodaran Online (NYU Stern).

Cardinal Health Inc (CAH)

Health Care · Health Care Distributors · US stock · S&P 500 component

$254.06 ▲ +0.35 (0.14%)

At close 16 Oct 2026 · USD · Volume 1,336,500

Compare with MCK Historical data Research report SEC filings

Fair valueData under review

$63

$31fair band $38–$88$94

Day's range

$251.95 – $255.56

52-week range

$151.03 – $257.70

Red flags⚠ Negative equity

About Cardinal Health Inc

Cardinal Health distributes pharmaceuticals and medical products to hospitals, pharmacies and clinics, and manufactures a range of medical and surgical supplies. It also operates nuclear medicine pharmacies and offers services to help providers manage supply chains. The company earns money from small margins on very large volumes of products it distributes, along with fees and sales from its own medical products. Drug pricing and customer contracts affect its results.

The company reported twelve-month revenue of $244.7 billion, which expanded at 7.4% a year across the last three years. It earned an operating margin of 1.0%, and it generated a return on invested capital of 55%. Leverage, measured as net debt to EBITDA, is 1.8 times. The dividend yield is 0.8%. The site's X-Ray Score is 58 out of 100.

Written with AI from public information and the filing figures on this page, then checked automatically for unsupported numbers. It can contain mistakes: read the company's own filings below before relying on it.

Price chart

Historical data & CSV

52-wk range $151.03 – $257.70Volume 1,336,500Daily, split-adjusted

Vitals

Market cap$60.2B

52-week range$151.03 – $257.70

Volume (last day)1,336,500

P/E (TTM)36.6

EBIT / EV yield3.8%

Free-cash-flow yield9.1%

Dividend yield0.8%

Revenue (TTM)$244.7B

Net income (TTM)$1.7B

Operating margin1.0%

Return on capital55.4%

Debt incl. leases$9.0B

Cash & securities$2.8B

Debt = borrowings plus lease liabilities. Cash & securities = cash, equivalents and short-term marketable securities (long-term securities are not counted, so net cash can be understated for companies like Apple). Net debt = debt minus cash & securities. Source: latest SEC 10-Q/10-K. EBIT / EV yield = operating profit divided by market cap plus net debt.

Fair value estimate

$63model spread $63 – $63

Data under review +0.0% to fair value

Equal blend of three models: peer multiples, a fundamentals-adjusted multiple (growth, ROIC and margin) and a 10-year DCF scaled to the market's average. Earnings-power value (no growth) is a floor and not part of the blend. Model uncertainty is High, so the safety margin is 40%.

Multiples use through-the-cycle earnings (0.30x of the last twelve months)

Peak-cycle earnings: the current operating margin is more than 1.5x its 7-year average, so the fair value range is widened

Price $254

Undervalued < $38Fair $38 – $88Overvalued > $88

10-year DCF (market-scaled) · excluded

$241

Peer multiples

$57

Earnings power floor (not blended)

$23

Fundamentals-adjusted multiple

$69

Growth the price implies

15.7%/yr

A model estimate, not a price target or recommendation. Inputs: risk-free 5.09%, equity risk premium 4.23% (Damodaran). How it works.

What this means

Read the lenses below

The price sits inside our fair-value band. A high score does not guarantee a good outcome; it shifts the odds a little. Use the checklist as a prompt for your own research.

Before you invest · decision checklist

I understand how this company makes money Business quality is average or better ✓ 53 The price is not above fair value $63 fair value Debt looks manageable 1.8× EBITDA Revenue has been growing 7.4% a year Profits are backed by cash There are no red flags 1 raised I know what share of my savings this would be

Ticked boxes are filled in from our data; the rest are yours to answer.

The five-lens scan

Every score explained in one sentence, ranked against Health Care peers. Open a lens to see the numbers behind it.

Valuation Weak

40/100

Expensive against its sector on earnings and cash flow.

See the numbers →

EBIT / EV yield3.8%

Free-cash-flow yield9.1%

Fair value vs price0.2×

Growth Fair

69/100

Growing at a typical pace for its sector.

See the numbers →

Revenue growth (3y)7.4%

EPS growth (3y)79.0%

Growth consistency80%

Profitability Fair

59/100

Returns on capital are typical for its sector.

See the numbers →

Return on invested capital55.4%

Operating margin1.0%

Gross profitability15.6%

Financial health Weak

47/100

Balance sheet is more stretched than most peers.

See the numbers →

Piotroski F-Score8 / 9

Net debt / EBITDA1.8×

Interest cover8.0×

Dividends Weak

41/100

Dividend is modest or less certain than peers.

See the numbers →

Dividend yield0.8%

Dividends vs free cash flow9%

Dividend growth-2.2%

Quarterly results: last 6 quarters

-4.3%

Sep '24

-3.8%

Dec '24

+0.0%

Mar '25

+0.5%

Jun '25

+22.4%

Sep '25

+18.8%

Dec '25

Revenue against the same quarter a year earlier. Latest quarter revenue $65.6B.

Compare with peers

MCK Mckesson Corp55 COR Cencora, Inc.49 HSIC Henry Schein Inc42

Other Health Care Distributors companies by X-Ray Score.

Fundamentals checklist

● 6 Good · ● 4 Average · ● 6 Bad

Cash quality

Earnings backed by cashGood

Free-cash-flow yieldGood

Risk models

Altman Z''Bad

Piotroski F-ScoreGood

Growth

EPS growth (3y)Good

Free-cash-flow growth (3y)Good

Revenue growth (3y)Average

Growth consistencyBad

Balance sheet

Current ratioBad

Net debt / EBITDAAverage

Interest coverAverage

Valuation

Fair value vs priceBad

EBIT / EV yieldAverage

Profitability

Return on invested capitalGood

Operating marginBad

Gross profitabilityBad

Each check is graded against the company's sector, not a fixed number. Checklist score 50/100.

Financials

	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26
Revenue	$181.3B	$205.0B	$226.8B	$222.6B	$254.2B
Operating income	−$607M	$752M	$1.2B	$2.3B	$2.6B
Net income	−$938M	$330M	$852M	$1.6B	$1.7B
Operating cash flow	$3.2B	$2.8B	$3.8B	$2.4B	$5.2B
Operating margin	-0.3%	0.4%	0.5%	1.0%	1.0%
Free cash flow	$2.8B	$2.4B	$3.3B	$1.9B	$4.5B
Diluted EPS	$-3.37	$1.26	$3.45	$6.45	$7.23

Fiscal years, from SEC filings.

Technical summary

Daily

Bullish

12 bullish · 0 neutral · 4 bearish

Weekly

Strongly bullish

11 bullish · 1 neutral · 0 bearish

Monthly

Strongly bullish

7 bullish · 0 neutral · 1 bearish

Moving averages (daily)

SMA 10	240.9	Bullish
EMA 10	242.4	Bullish
SMA 20	232.1	Bullish
EMA 20	237.3	Bullish
SMA 50	234.0	Bullish
EMA 50	233.3	Bullish
SMA 100	228.9	Bullish
EMA 100	228.0	Bullish
SMA 200	218.9	Bullish
EMA 200	216.1	Bullish

Oscillators (daily)

RSI (14)	74.30	Bearish
MACD (12, 26)	4.87	Bullish
Momentum (12)	14.45	Bullish
Stochastic %K (14)	96.19	Bearish
Williams %R (14)	-3.81	Bearish
CCI (20)	177.4	Bearish

Pivot points (classic, last session)

248.5

250.2

252.2

Pivot

253.9

255.8

257.5

259.4

Signals describe what the chart is doing, not what to do. Moving averages: price above the average is bullish. Oscillators use the usual thresholds (RSI 30/70, Stochastic 20/80, CCI ±100, Williams %R −80/−20; MACD and momentum above zero are bullish). Weekly and monthly views use closing prices only.

Dividends

Paid, last 12 months

2.05 USD

Yield on today's price

0.81%

Frequency

Quarterly

Next ex-dividend date

Not announced

Ex-dividend date	Amount per share
1 Oct 2026	0.5160
1 Jul 2026	0.5160
1 Apr 2026	0.5110
2 Jan 2026	0.5110
1 Oct 2025	0.5110
1 Jul 2025	0.5110
1 Apr 2025	0.5060
2 Jan 2025	0.5060
1 Oct 2024	0.5060
1 Jul 2024	0.5060
28 Mar 2024	0.5010
29 Dec 2023	0.5010