COR vs GRDN Stock Comparison

Cencora and Guardian Pharmacy Services Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
COR Cencora, Inc.
$330.24 +7.6% 1M -0.7% 1Y
Market cap
$62.79B
P/E
23.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$332.77B
Div. yield
0.01%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
3 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Guardian Pharmacy Services leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Guardian Pharmacy Services 5, Cencora 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCORGRDNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $62.79B $5.02M COR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.9x 0.1x GRDN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.3x 30.9x COR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.1% +10.3% GRDN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.8% 4.5% GRDN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.4% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 2.2x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.7% +37.4% GRDN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +22.6%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 32.8% 40.6% COR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 94/100 GRDN

Percentile Scorecard

CORGRDN

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

AxisCORGRDN
Valuation 54 #12 of 25 100 #1 of 25
Growth 74 #7 of 24 87 #4 of 24
Profitability 57 #11 of 24 100 #1 of 24
Financial Health 24 #20 of 26 88 #4 of 26
Shareholder Returns 47 #9 of 16 –
Overall 51 94
  • COR ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • GRDN 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

PeriodCORGRDNSPY
1 month +7.6%-4.8% -0.8%
3 months +6.1%-5.5% +3.5%
6 months +6.5%+3.3% +7.0%
Year to date -2.2%+30.3% +12.2%
1 year -0.7%+37.4% +13.0%
3 years +76.0%— +86.3%
3 years, per year +20.8%— +23.1%
5 years +176.2%— +68.6%
5 years, per year +22.6%— +11.0%
10 years +316.1%— +258.0%
10 years, per year +15.3%— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureCORGRDNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 32.8%40.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.6%38.6% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.150.57 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.020.92 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.6%-27.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.9%-15.7% -1.8%
52-week high $374.75$46.49 $779.14
52-week low $252.74$27.03 $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.

MultipleCORGRDN
P/E now vs peer median 24.3xmedian 24.3x 0.1xmedian 24.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 0.3x 0.0xmedian 0.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 17.5xmedian 13.5x -0.8xmedian 13.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.5xmedian 15.6x 0.1xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 19.5xmedian 2.5x 0.0xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 1.36median 1.33 —median 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 monthsCORGRDN
Revenue $332.77B $1.46B
Gross profit $13.22B $316.58M
Operating income $3.04B $85.44M
Net income $2.65B $65.91M
Free cash flow $4.06B $75.29M
EPS (diluted) $13.53 $1,032.46
Cash & equivalents $2.82B $89.81M
Total debt $11.72B –
Shares (diluted) 193.94M 63.84K
Enterprise value $51.69B -$251.79M

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
MetricCORGRDN
P/E 24.3x 0.1x
P/FCF 15.5x 0.1x
P/Operating cash flow 13.1x 0.1x
P/S 0.2x 0.0x
P/B 19.5x 0.0x
P/Tangible book -23.4x 0.0x
EV/EBITDA 17.5x -0.8x
EV/EBIT 23.6x -1.0x
EV/Revenue 0.2x -0.1x
EV/FCF 17.7x -1.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.9x -0.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.36 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCORGRDN
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.1% 10.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.4% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.0% 21.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 15.0% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 11.1% 237.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 9.5% –
Net income growth (1Y) 38.9% 172.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 16.2% –
EPS growth (1Y) 39.3% 142,625%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 17.9% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 176.7% 71.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 14.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 255.7% 206.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCORGRDN
Gross margin 4.0% 21.6%
EBITDA margin 1.2% 7.4%
Operating margin 0.9% 5.8%
Pretax margin 1.1% 6.5%
Net margin 0.8% 4.5%
FCF margin 1.2% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 1.4% 6.8%
Return on equity 77.4% 27.1%
Return on assets 3.2% 15.3%
Return on invested capital 14.4% –
Return on capital employed 12.9% 30.4%
Asset turnover 4.0x 3.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% 0.7%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCORGRDN
Debt / assets 14.0% –
Debt / equity 3.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA 2.2x –
Debt / FCF 2.9x –
Liabilities / assets 96.1% 41.9%
Equity / assets 3.9% 58.1%
Interest coverage – 135.4x
Current ratio 0.9x 1.7x
Quick ratio 0.5x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 4.66 4.54

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCORGRDN
Dividend yield 0.7% –
Net buyback yield 1.6% –
Shareholder yield 2.3% –
Payout ratio (earnings) 17.7% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 11.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 8.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 5.7% –

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.

ConsensusCORGRDN
Forward P/E 19.3xFY2026 30.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.08FY2026 $1.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +6.7%FY2026 +18.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +11.8% +17.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $328.56BFY2026 $1.41BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.2%FY2026 -2.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +2.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCORGRDN
Held by institutions 94.7% 46.1%
Institutions holding 1,342 189
Change in shares held, QoQ +15.7% +3.8%
Institutions buying 542 109
Institutions selling 609 54
Buyers to sellers 0.89 2.02

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.

CORGRDN
COR 1.00 0.10
GRDN 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, COR and GRDN?

Cencora (COR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Cencora (COR) $62.79B, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) $5.02M.

Which stock is cheaper, COR and GRDN?

Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Cencora (COR) 23.9x, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 0.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cencora (COR) is cheapest (Cencora (COR) 19.3x, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 30.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Cencora (COR) +5.1%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) +10.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) has the highest net margin (Cencora (COR) 0.8%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 4.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) returned the most: Cencora (COR) -0.7%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) +37.4%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Cencora (COR) 0.01%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 0.00%. Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cencora (COR) has been the steadiest (Cencora (COR) 32.8%, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 40.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do COR and GRDN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.10, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, COR and GRDN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) leads on 5. 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.