# Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) — Stock CV

Cardinal Health, Inc. is a $55.0B healthcare company. Revenue grew 14.2% over the last year, it keeps 1¢ of every dollar of sales as profit, and its net debt equals ~1.1 years of free cash flow. It trades at 32.1× earnings — in the most expensive third of its own history.

> Cardinal Health is one of three leading pharmaceutical wholesalers in the US, engaged in sourcing and distributing of branded, generic, and specialty pharmaceutical products to pharmacies (retail chains, independent, and mail order), hospital networks, and healthcare providers.

## Identity

- **Ticker**: CAH
- **Sector**: Healthcare
- **Industry**: Wholesale-Drugs, Proprietaries & Druggists' Sundries
- **Headquarters**: DUBLIN, OH
- **Employees**: 63 900
- **Website**: https://www.cardinalhealth.com
- **Market cap**: $55.0B
- **Last price**: $237.57
- **Financial profile**: Solid

## Vitals (TTM)

- **Revenue**: $254B
- **Net income**: $1.71B
- **Free cash flow**: $4.53B
- **Net debt**: $5.14B
- **P/E**: 32.1
- **Revenue growth (YoY)**: 14.2%

## Skills (profile scores, 0–100)

| Pillar | Score |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 67 |
| Growth | 62 |
| Profitability | 61 |
| Health | 69 |
| Quality | 97 |
| Moat | 43 |

## Qualifications (beginner checklist) — 11 of 11 passed

- [x] Revenue growing — +14.2% YoY
- [x] Profitable — $1.71B TTM
- [x] Profit growing — +93.6% YoY
- [x] Generates cash — $4.53B TTM
- [x] Debt under control — ~1.1y of cash flow to repay
- [x] Established company — $55.0B market cap
- [x] Not printing shares — -19.4% shares over ~5y
- [x] Proven track record — 9/11 profitable years
- [x] Financially stable — Altman Z 5.1 — safe
- [x] Pays a dividend — yield 0.89%
- [x] Valuation not extreme — P/E 32.1

## Experience (career milestones)

- **FY2026** — Best year on record: $1.71B net income
- **2025** — Cardinal Health announced that it would acquire a 75% stake in Solaris Health, the largest urology…
- **2024** — Cardinal Health announced the plan to acquire Advanced Diabetes Supply Group (ADSG), a leading…
- **FY2024** — Became debt-free: cash now exceeds total debt
- **2017** — Cardinal Health announced the plan to acquire the patient product portfolio from Medtronic for $6.1…
- **FY2016** — First recorded profitable year: $1.43B net income
- **FY2016** — Revenue already above $100B: $122B in first reported year
- **FY2016** — Positive free cash flow every year since: 11-year streak
- **2015** — Cardinal Health signed an agreement to acquire Johnson & Johnson's Cordis (medical) division, a…
- **Mar 18, 2013** — Cardinal Health acquired the Twinsburg, Ohio-based privately held medical supply distributor…
- **2010** — The company acquired Kinray, an independent pharmaceutical wholesaler, increasing Cardinal…
- **1995** — Medicine Shoppe International, the country's largest franchiser of retail pharmacies, was acquired
- **1994** — The company changed its name to Cardinal Health in 1994, and became the third-largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in…
- **1983** — The company went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1983
- **1971** — Founded in 1971 as Cardinal Foods by Robert D

## Strengths

- Revenue growing 14.2% year over year
- Could repay net debt from ~1.2 years of free cash flow
- Interest covered 7.2× by operating earnings
- High returns on invested capital (ROIC 82.3%)
- Piotroski F-Score 7/9 — fundamentally strong checklist

## Watch-outs

- Loss-making in 2 of the recent years

## Track record

| Year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | $181B | -$933M | $2.73B |
| FY2023 | $205B | $261M | $2.36B |
| FY2024 | $227B | $852M | $3.25B |
| FY2025 | $223B | $1.56B | $1.85B |
| FY2026 | $254B | $1.71B | $4.53B |

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Source: https://stockcv.com/CAH — derived from company filings; may be delayed or incomplete. Information, not investment advice.