Cardinal Health vs McKesson
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The short version
- 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%).
| Latest fiscal year | CAH · FY26 | MCK · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $59.1B | $119.3B |
| 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 | — | 26.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
CAH $130.0B
MCK $198.5B
FY18
CAH $136.8B
MCK $208.4B
FY19
CAH $145.5B
MCK $214.3B
FY20
CAH $152.9B
MCK $231.1B
FY21
CAH $162.5B
MCK $238.2B
FY22
CAH $181.3B
MCK $264.0B
FY23
CAH $205.0B
MCK $276.7B
FY24
CAH $226.8B
MCK $309.0B
FY25
CAH $222.6B
MCK $359.1B
FY26
CAH $254.2B
MCK $403.4B
CAH
MCK
Operating margin
FY17
CAH 1.6%
MCK 3.6%
FY18
CAH 0.1%
MCK 0.4%
FY19
CAH 1.4%
MCK 0.4%
FY20
CAH −2.7%
MCK 1.1%
FY21
CAH 0.3%
MCK −2.1%
FY22
CAH −0.3%
MCK 0.8%
FY23
CAH 0.4%
MCK 1.6%
FY24
CAH 0.6%
MCK 1.3%
FY25
CAH 1.0%
MCK 1.2%
FY26
CAH 1.0%
MCK 1.5%
CAH
MCK
Free cash flow
FY17
CAH $797M
MCK $4.3B
FY18
CAH $2.4B
MCK $3.9B
FY19
CAH $2.4B
MCK $3.6B
FY20
CAH $1.6B
MCK $4.0B
FY21
CAH $2.0B
MCK $4.1B
FY22
CAH $2.8B
MCK $4.0B
FY23
CAH $2.4B
MCK $4.8B
FY24
CAH $3.3B
MCK $3.9B
FY25
CAH $1.9B
MCK $5.5B
FY26
CAH $4.5B
MCK $5.7B
CAH
MCK
Return on capital
FY17
CAH 13.6%
MCK 36.2%
FY18
CAH —
MCK 4.7%
FY19
CAH —
MCK 3.2%
FY20
CAH −36.7%
MCK 22.5%
FY21
CAH 9.2%
MCK —
FY22
CAH —
MCK —
FY23
CAH —
MCK —
FY24
CAH —
MCK —
FY25
CAH —
MCK —
FY26
CAH —
MCK —
CAH
MCK
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.