Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH
Cardinal Health's FY2026 results confirm the operational recovery is intact — revenue grew 14.2% to $254.2B with EPS rising 12.1% to $7.23 and FCF margin expanding to 1.78% from 0.83% a year earlier. However, at 32.3x trailing earnings — a 3.4% premium to the peer median of 31.2x — the stock prices in much of this improvement despite negative stockholders' equity of -$2.88B and total debt of $9.95B.
Broad insider selling by the CEO, CFO, and multiple C-suite executives in August 2026, alongside a low smart-money score of 0.0384 as of Q2 2026, suggests limited conviction from those closest to the business at current levels.
What could go wrong
- Balance sheet fragility. Total debt rose to $9.95B in FY2026 from $5.61B in FY2024, while stockholders' equity remains deeply negative at -$2.88B, limiting financial flexibility.
- Broad insider selling. Over 24 months, insiders net sold $212.3M in value; in August 2026 alone the CEO, CFO, CAO, CIO, and segment leaders all divested shares near $234–238.
- Thin margins vulnerable to pricing pressure. Net margin of just 0.67% in FY2026 leaves little room for error; IRA pricing changes and GMPD challenges flagged by Zacks could compress already-slim profitability.
- Valuation offers limited cushion. At 32.3x trailing earnings, a 3.4% premium to the peer median, the market is pricing continued growth — any deceleration in the 14.2% revenue growth or 12.1% EPS growth could trigger a re-rating lower.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: FMP FY2026 fundamentals + derived_metrics · FMP FY2026 fundamentals + derived_metrics · derived_metrics · peer_relative. Orin's read on CAH; not advice.
Twelve months actual closes to 2026-09-24 · actual filings
50-day average 200-day average · volume below
On file
All CAH filingsLargest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Capital Management | $3.6B | 0.1% of fund |
| Wellington Management Group Llp | $3.5B | 0.6% of fund |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $3.3B | 0.1% of fund |
| State Street | $2.8B | 0.1% of fund |
| Geode Capital Management | $1.5B | 0.1% of fund |
| Invesco | $1.1B | 0.1% of fund |
107 filers · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 125 Form 4 filings, net −$212.3M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 31 sales— the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about CAH
Orin answers questions about CAH from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →Where it trades
| Metric | Now | Own median | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 30.6× | — | 26.4× |
| EV/EBITDA | 16.5× | 15.5× | — |
| P/S | 0.21× | 0.11× | — |
Its P/E sits 80th percentile of its own last 5 years (+0.09σ from its own mean).
0.1%
free-cash-flow growth every year for 10 years, discounted at 10%, is what today’s price implies — starting from $4.5B of trailing free cash flow. It is an assumption the market is making, not a forecast Orin is making.
What Wall Street published
$273
$250 – $292 · +24% against today's price
- 18 buy or overweight
- 15 hold
- 0 underweight or sell
The analysts’ consensus and their own ratings, not Orin’s. A target is a twelve-month opinion published by the firm that wrote it.
Against the companies it is compared to
| Company | Market cap | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross | Net | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAHCardinal Health, Inc. | $52B | 30.6× | 16.5× | 3.8% | 0.7% | -60% |
| AAgilent Technologies, Inc. | $49B | 34.0× | 25.9× | 53.7% | 19.5% | 20% |
| BDXBecton, Dickinson and Company | $49B | 54.0× | 16.8× | 46.1% | 4.5% | 4% |
| CORCencora, Inc. | $60B | 22.9× | 13.5× | 3.7% | 0.8% | 106% |
| EWEdwards Lifesciences Corporation | $49B | 49.3× | 30.6× | 78.0% | 15.4% | 10% |
| IQVIQVIA Holdings Inc. | $45B | 33.8× | 16.9× | 26.2% | 8.1% | 22% |
| RMDResMed Inc. | $32B | 21.3× | 14.7× | 61.2% | 26.9% | 24% |
The median is of the 6 peers listed above and nothing else — check it against the column. This company trades 9.6% below it. The peer set is the vendor’s, so a company can appear here that a person would not have chosen.
What it has traded at
What its sector has traded at
Two scales, drawn separately on purpose: a sector median and one company’s multiple are not the same number and putting them on one axis invites a comparison neither series supports.
Discounted cash flow
| Model | Fair value | Against | Computed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard DCF | $349 | $216.85 · +61% | 2026-06-10 |
| Levered DCF | $222 | $216.85 · +2% | 2026-06-10 |
The vendor’s intrinsic-value models. Treat them as a low-growth anchor — for a fast grower the market routinely pays well above a DCF. These were computed against the price in the “against” column, not today’s.
Every estimate on one scale
The vertical rule is the current price. Ranges and point estimates are the backend’s, published as they were calculated; an arrow means the estimate sits beyond this scale, and its number is on the right.