BTSG vs CAH Stock Comparison

BrightSpring Health Services and Cardinal Health Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAH Cardinal Health Inc
$251.63 +14.3% 1M +55.4% 1Y
Market cap
$59.00B
P/E
34.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$254.25B
Div. yield
0.01%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Cardinal Health leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Cardinal Health 6, BrightSpring Health Services 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBTSGCAHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $12.19B $59.00B CAH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.3x 34.4x BTSG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 34.0x 21.0x CAH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +26.4% +14.2% BTSG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.5% 0.7% BTSG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.6% 33.9% CAH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.6x 1.1x CAH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +75.6% +55.4% BTSG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +39.6%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.7% 29.4% CAH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 63/100 66/100 CAH

Percentile Scorecard

BTSGCAH

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBTSGCAH
Valuation 66 #32 of 93 75 #7 of 25
Growth 93 #7 of 88 78 #6 of 24
Profitability 56 #39 of 87 61 #10 of 24
Financial Health 41 #59 of 100 36 #17 of 26
Shareholder Returns 56 #25 of 56 80 #4 of 16
Overall 63 66
  • BTSG ranked among 103 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • CAH ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBTSGCAHSPY
1 month +4.0%+14.3% -0.8%
3 months -18.2%+9.7% +3.5%
6 months +21.2%+24.4% +7.0%
Year to date +57.2%+22.4% +12.2%
1 year +75.6%+55.4% +13.0%
3 years —+175.3% +86.3%
3 years, per year —+40.2% +23.1%
5 years —+430.4% +68.6%
5 years, per year —+39.6% +11.0%
10 years —+238.2% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+13.0% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureBTSGCAHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.7%29.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 51.7%24.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.30-0.09 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.691.89 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.6%-21.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.2%-2.3% -1.8%
52-week high $72.91$257.54 $779.14
52-week low $31.36$162.79 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBTSGCAH
P/E now vs peer median 33.1xmedian 25.1x 34.6xmedian 24.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 1.6x 0.2xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.4xmedian 14.5x 17.5xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.9xmedian 22.4x 12.9xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 3.1x -20.3xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.66 0.50median 1.33

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBTSGCAH
Revenue $14.37B $254.25B
Gross profit $1.78B $9.77B
Operating income $447.80M $2.61B
Net income $365.85M $1.72B
Free cash flow $402.35M $4.53B
EPS (diluted) $1.66 $7.23
Cash & equivalents $550.38M $4.86B
Total debt $2.19B $8.89B
Shares (diluted) 220.28M 237.00M
Enterprise value $10.52B $42.84B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBTSGCAH
P/E 33.1x 34.6x
P/FCF 28.9x 12.9x
P/Operating cash flow 23.0x 11.3x
P/S 0.8x 0.2x
P/B 5.7x -20.3x
P/Tangible book 7.6x -20.3x
EV/EBITDA 21.4x 17.5x
EV/EBIT 29.6x 23.9x
EV/Revenue 0.9x 0.2x
EV/FCF 33.0x 13.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.2x 12.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBTSGCAH
Revenue growth (1Y) 26.4% 14.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 7.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 29.4% 19.7%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 12.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 143.5% 14.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 50.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 472.6% 9.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 63.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 448.6% 12.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 69.2%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 88.6% 115.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 22.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 110.5% 144.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 24.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBTSGCAH
Gross margin 12.4% 3.8%
EBITDA margin 4.3% 1.4%
Operating margin 3.1% 1.0%
Pretax margin 2.1% 0.9%
Net margin 2.5% 0.7%
FCF margin 2.8% 1.8%
Operating cash flow margin 3.5% 2.0%
Return on equity 18.2% –
Return on assets 6.0% 3.0%
Return on invested capital 8.6% 33.9%
Return on capital employed 9.9% 20.0%
Asset turnover 2.4x 4.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x 3.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBTSGCAH
Debt / assets 36.6% 15.5%
Debt / equity 1.1x -3.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 2.6x 1.1x
Debt / FCF 5.4x 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 65.8% 105.0%
Equity / assets 34.2% -5.0%
Interest coverage 2.9x 7.5x
Current ratio 1.6x 0.9x
Quick ratio 1.1x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.61 5.11

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBTSGCAH
Dividend yield – 0.8%
Net buyback yield 0.6% 2.3%
Shareholder yield 0.6% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 28.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 10.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) – -0.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -2.2%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBTSGCAH
Forward P/E 34.0xFY2026 21.0xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $1.73FY2026 $12.00FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +73.0%FY2026 +6.6%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +41.6% +13.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.99BFY2026 $272.89BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +23.9%FY2026 +7.3%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +1.3% -3.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBTSGCAH
Held by institutions 100.0% 87.4%
Institutions holding 421 1,491
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.7% +2.8%
Institutions buying 309 711
Institutions selling 83 556
Buyers to sellers 3.72 1.28

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BTSGCAH
BTSG 1.00 0.07
CAH 0.07 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BTSG and CAH?

Cardinal Health (CAH) is the largest by market capitalisation: BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) $12.19B, Cardinal Health (CAH) $59.00B.

Which stock is cheaper, BTSG and CAH?

BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) 33.3x, Cardinal Health (CAH) 34.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cardinal Health (CAH) is cheapest (BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) 34.0x, Cardinal Health (CAH) 21.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) +26.4%, Cardinal Health (CAH) +14.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) has the highest net margin (BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) 2.5%, Cardinal Health (CAH) 0.7%). On return on invested capital, Cardinal Health (CAH) leads (BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) 8.6%, Cardinal Health (CAH) 33.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) returned the most: BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) +75.6%, Cardinal Health (CAH) +55.4%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) 0.00%, Cardinal Health (CAH) 0.01%. BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cardinal Health (CAH) has been the steadiest (BrightSpring Health Services (BTSG) 44.7%, Cardinal Health (CAH) 29.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do BTSG and CAH move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.07, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, BTSG and CAH?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cardinal Health (CAH) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.