CAH vs HSIC Stock Comparison

Cardinal Health and Henry Schein Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CAH Cardinal Health Inc
$249.64 +12.8% 1M +56.8% 1Y
Market cap
$59.43B
P/E
34.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$254.25B
Div. yield
0.01%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
7 wins
HSIC Henry Schein Inc
$84.96 -0.1% 1M +33.6% 1Y
Market cap
$9.59B
P/E
23.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.60B
Div. yield
–
Drug Distribution Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cardinal Health leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Cardinal Health 7, Henry Schein 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCAHHSICLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $59.43B $9.59B CAH
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.7x 23.8x HSIC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.8x 14.8x HSIC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.2% +6.5% CAH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.7% 3.0% HSIC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 33.9% 7.1% CAH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.1x 3.3x CAH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +56.8% +33.6% CAH
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +38.2%/yr +1.2%/yr CAH
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.4% 25.6% HSIC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 55/100 CAH

Percentile Scorecard

CAHHSIC

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

AxisCAHHSIC
Valuation 79 #6 of 25 33 #17 of 25
Growth 78 #6 of 24 39 #15 of 24
Profitability 70 #8 of 24 83 #5 of 24
Financial Health 36 #17 of 26 20 #21 of 26
Shareholder Returns 75 #5 of 17 100 #1 of 17
Overall 68 55
  • CAH ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • HSIC 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

PeriodCAHHSICSPY
1 month +12.8%-0.1% -1.0%
3 months +9.5%-0.6% +2.9%
6 months +24.9%+9.6% +6.4%
Year to date +21.5%+12.4% +11.4%
1 year +56.8%+33.6% +13.1%
3 years +167.2%+26.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +38.8%+8.1% +21.5%
5 years +403.6%+6.3% +67.7%
5 years, per year +38.2%+1.2% +10.9%
10 years +232.2%+42.0% +255.2%
10 years, per year +12.8%+3.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureCAHHSICSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.4%25.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.5%24.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.080.46 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.941.31 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -21.0%-32.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -3.1%-6.5% -2.5%
52-week high $257.54$90.86 $779.14
52-week low $159.16$62.32 $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.

MultipleCAHHSIC
P/E now vs peer median 34.4xmedian 24.5x 23.9xmedian 24.5x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 0.3x 0.7xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.4xmedian 14.4x 12.7xmedian 14.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.8xmedian 15.8x 16.7xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median -20.1xmedian 2.5x 2.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.50median 1.35 50.09median 1.35

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 monthsCAHHSIC
Revenue $254.25B $13.60B
Gross profit $9.77B $4.26B
Operating income $2.61B $680.00M
Net income $1.72B $426.00M
Free cash flow $4.53B $569.00M
EPS (diluted) $7.23 $3.52
Cash & equivalents $4.86B –
Total debt $8.89B $3.46B
Shares (diluted) 237.00M 114.39M
Enterprise value $43.27B $9.43B

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
MetricCAHHSIC
P/E 34.4x 23.9x
P/FCF 12.8x 16.7x
P/Operating cash flow 11.2x 13.6x
P/S 0.2x 0.7x
P/B -20.1x 2.5x
P/Tangible book -20.1x 3.3x
EV/EBITDA 17.4x 12.7x
EV/EBIT 23.8x 18.8x
EV/Revenue 0.2x 0.9x
EV/FCF 13.7x 22.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.0x 18.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.50 50.09

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCAHHSIC
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.2% 6.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 2.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 19.7% 6.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 3.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 14.9% 6.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 50.2% 1.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 9.8% 6.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 63.8% -4.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 12.1% 11.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 69.2% 0.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 115.9% 36.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 22.1% 2.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 144.6% 50.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 24.2% 2.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCAHHSIC
Gross margin 3.8% 31.3%
EBITDA margin 1.4% 7.4%
Operating margin 1.0% 5.0%
Pretax margin 0.9% 4.1%
Net margin 0.7% 3.0%
FCF margin 1.8% 4.2%
Operating cash flow margin 2.0% 5.1%
Return on equity – 11.0%
Return on assets 3.0% 3.8%
Return on invested capital 33.9% 7.1%
Return on capital employed 20.0% 8.7%
Asset turnover 4.5x 1.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.0x 1.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCAHHSIC
Debt / assets 15.5% 30.4%
Debt / equity -3.1x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.1x 3.3x
Debt / FCF 2.0x 6.1x
Liabilities / assets 105.0% 66.5%
Equity / assets -5.0% 33.5%
Interest coverage 7.5x 4.3x
Current ratio 0.9x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 5.11 2.66

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCAHHSIC
Dividend yield 0.8% –
Net buyback yield 2.3% 7.6%
Shareholder yield 3.2% 7.6%
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.

ConsensusCAHHSIC
Forward P/E 20.8xFY2027 14.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $12.00FY2027 $5.75FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.6%FY2027 +15.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +13.7% +8.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $272.89BFY2027 $13.38BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.3%FY2027 +1.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -3.5% +4.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCAHHSIC
Held by institutions 87.4% 100.0%
Institutions holding 1,491 564
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.8% +2.1%
Institutions buying 711 245
Institutions selling 556 216
Buyers to sellers 1.28 1.13

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.

CAHHSIC
CAH 1.00 0.29
HSIC 0.29 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CAH and HSIC?

Cardinal Health (CAH) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cardinal Health (CAH) $59.43B, Henry Schein (HSIC) $9.59B.

Which stock is cheaper, CAH and HSIC?

Henry Schein (HSIC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cardinal Health (CAH) 34.7x, Henry Schein (HSIC) 23.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Henry Schein (HSIC) is cheapest (Cardinal Health (CAH) 20.8x, Henry Schein (HSIC) 14.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Cardinal Health (CAH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cardinal Health (CAH) +14.2%, Henry Schein (HSIC) +6.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Henry Schein (HSIC) has the highest net margin (Cardinal Health (CAH) 0.7%, Henry Schein (HSIC) 3.0%). On return on invested capital, Cardinal Health (CAH) leads (Cardinal Health (CAH) 33.9%, Henry Schein (HSIC) 7.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Cardinal Health (CAH) returned the most: Cardinal Health (CAH) +56.8%, Henry Schein (HSIC) +33.6%. Over five years, Cardinal Health (CAH) compounded fastest (Cardinal Health (CAH) +38.2%/yr, Henry Schein (HSIC) +1.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cardinal Health (CAH) 0.01%, Henry Schein (HSIC) 0.00%. Henry Schein (HSIC) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Henry Schein (HSIC) has been the steadiest (Cardinal Health (CAH) 29.4%, Henry Schein (HSIC) 25.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do CAH and HSIC move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.29, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, CAH and HSIC?

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 7. 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.