Cardinal Health vs McKesson
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Cardinal Health and McKesson side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- McKesson is the larger business, with $403.4B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $254.2B for Cardinal Health, about 1.6 times as much.
- Cardinal Health grew revenue faster (14.2%, against 12.4%).
- McKesson kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (1.5% operating margin, against 1.0%).
Who comes out ahead
Of the 9 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Cardinal Health
CAH
3/9
Revenue growthGross marginFCF margin
McKesson
MCK
5/9
5-year growthOperating marginNet marginNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CAH FY26 | MCK FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $59.6B | $118.4B |
| Revenue | $254.2B | $403.4B |
| Free cash flow | $4.5B | $5.7B |
| Net income | $1.7B | $4.8B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 14.2% | 12.4% |
| 5-year growth | 9.4% | 11.1% |
| Share count change | −2.1% | −3.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 3.8% | 3.6% |
| Operating margin | 1.0% | 1.5% |
| Net margin | 0.7% | 1.2% |
| FCF margin | 1.8% | 1.4% |
| Return on capital | — | — |
| Return on equity | — | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $4.0B | $2.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.1x | 0.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.8B | $5.1B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 26.6x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.