GRDN vs MCK vs MDLN Stock Comparison

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Mckesson and Medline Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MCK Mckesson Corp
$967.03 +11.6% 1M +19.2% 1Y
Market cap
$112.75B
P/E
25.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$410.98B
Div. yield
0.35%
Drug Distribution Healthcare
5 wins
MDLN Medline Inc.
$32.38 -6.7% 1M
Market cap
$42.57B
P/E
33.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$28.57B
Div. yield
–
Medical Supplies Healthcare

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

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

QuestionGRDNMCKMDLNLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.01M $112.75B $42.57B MCK
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.1x 25.0x 33.2x GRDN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 31.1x 20.5x 22.5x MCK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.3% +8.8% — GRDN
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 4.5% 1.1% 2.9% GRDN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 107.9% 5.4% MCK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.6x 3.2x MCK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.35% — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +36.2% +19.2% — GRDN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +36.4%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.5% 30.7% 44.6% MCK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 94/100 57/100 67/100 GRDN

Percentile Scorecard

GRDNMCKMDLN

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

AxisGRDNMCKMDLN
Valuation 100 #1 of 25 50 #13 of 25 84 #37 of 227
Growth 87 #4 of 24 65 #9 of 24 –
Profitability 100 #1 of 24 61 #10 of 24 73 #57 of 206
Financial Health 88 #4 of 26 52 #13 of 26 41 #140 of 238
Shareholder Returns – 57 #7 of 15 71 #39 of 134
Overall 94 57 67
  • GRDN ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • MCK ranked among 27 companies in Healthcare Payers and Distributors
  • MDLN ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodGRDNMCKMDLNSPY
1 month -4.0%+11.6%-6.7% -0.2%
3 months -5.5%+8.7%-20.1% +3.9%
6 months +5.2%+15.8%-26.8% +8.2%
Year to date +31.5%+17.9%-22.9% +12.9%
1 year +36.2%+19.2%— +12.3%
3 years —+115.8%— +87.4%
3 years, per year —+29.3%— +23.3%
5 years —+371.7%— +67.9%
5 years, per year —+36.4%— +10.9%
10 years —+502.5%— +261.1%
10 years, per year —+19.7%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureGRDNMCKMDLNSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.5%30.7%44.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.6%27.4%48.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.57-0.270.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.890.62— 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -27.2%-27.2%-36.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.9%-6.1%-35.2% -1.2%
52-week high $46.49$1,030.18$49.99 $779.14
52-week low $27.03$725.17$31.64 $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.

MultipleGRDNMCKMDLN
P/E now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 23.9x 25.0xmedian 23.9x 33.2xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 0.3x 0.3xmedian 0.3x 1.5xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -0.8xmedian 13.4x 16.2xmedian 13.4x 17.0xmedian 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 15.5x 17.6xmedian 15.5x 26.8xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 2.5x -26.6xmedian 2.5x 2.2xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.34 2.09median 1.34 —median 1.04

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 monthsGRDNMCKMDLN
Revenue $1.46B $410.98B $28.57B
Gross profit $316.58M $14.96B $7.79B
Operating income $85.44M $6.50B $2.03B
Net income $65.91M $5.30B $1.03B
Free cash flow $75.29M $6.42B $1.59B
EPS (diluted) $1,032.46 $38.52 $0.97
Cash & equivalents $89.81M $5.16B $2.33B
Total debt – $9.73B $12.58B
Shares (diluted) 63.84K 119.20M 861.00M
Enterprise value -$239.77M $99.21B $43.02B

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
MetricGRDNMCKMDLN
P/E 0.1x 25.0x 33.2x
P/FCF 0.1x 17.6x 26.8x
P/Operating cash flow 0.1x 16.5x 21.2x
P/S 0.0x 0.3x 1.5x
P/B 0.0x -26.6x 2.2x
P/Tangible book 0.0x -13.7x 7.7x
EV/EBITDA -0.8x 16.2x 17.0x
EV/EBIT -1.0x 18.1x 25.8x
EV/Revenue -0.1x 0.3x 1.8x
EV/FCF -1.1x 18.3x 33.0x
EV/Operating cash flow -0.9x 17.1x 26.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 2.09 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricGRDNMCKMDLN
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.3% 8.8% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 13.1% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 21.5% 11.2% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 6.6% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 237.2% 46.6% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 13.5% –
Net income growth (1Y) 172.0% 58.1% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 10.7% –
EPS growth (1Y) 142,625% 52.8% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 12.0% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 71.4% 4.7% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 10.7% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 206.9% 6.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 11.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricGRDNMCKMDLN
Gross margin 21.6% 3.6% 27.3%
EBITDA margin 7.4% 1.8% 10.8%
Operating margin 5.8% 1.6% 7.1%
Pretax margin 6.5% 1.6% 4.3%
Net margin 4.5% 1.1% 2.9%
FCF margin 5.1% 1.6% 5.6%
Operating cash flow margin 6.8% 1.7% 7.0%
Return on equity 27.1% – 5.4%
Return on assets 15.3% 6.2% 2.6%
Return on invested capital – 107.9% 5.4%
Return on capital employed 30.4% 43.4% 5.6%
Asset turnover 3.4x 4.8x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 1.3x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricGRDNMCKMDLN
Debt / assets – 11.0% 32.0%
Debt / equity – -2.3x 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.6x 3.2x
Debt / FCF – 1.5x 7.9x
Liabilities / assets 41.9% 104.8% 51.5%
Equity / assets 58.1% -4.8% 48.5%
Interest coverage 135.4x 23.6x –
Current ratio 1.7x 0.9x 4.3x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.5x 2.3x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.1x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 4.54 5.89 2.44

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricGRDNMCKMDLN
Dividend yield – 0.4% –
Net buyback yield – 5.9% 0.0%
Shareholder yield – 6.2% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 7.4% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 6.1% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 11.3% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 10.0% –

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.

ConsensusGRDNMCKMDLN
Forward P/E 31.1xFY2026 20.5xFY2026 22.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.27FY2026 $47.15FY2026 $1.44FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +18.7%FY2026 +20.6%FY2026 +0.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.3% +11.0% +13.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.41BFY2026 $444.47BFY2026 $32.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -2.8%FY2026 +10.2%FY2026 +14.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +2.1% +1.5% +8.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersGRDNMCKMDLN
Held by institutions 46.1% 89.1% 85.5%
Institutions holding 189 2,009 407
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.8% -0.7% +17.9%
Institutions buying 109 881 322
Institutions selling 54 791 68
Buyers to sellers 2.02 1.11 4.74

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.

GRDNMCKMDLN
GRDN 1.00 0.16 0.09
MCK 0.16 1.00 0.19
MDLN 0.09 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, GRDN, MCK and MDLN?

Mckesson (MCK) is the largest by market capitalisation: Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) $5.01M, Mckesson (MCK) $112.75B, Medline (MDLN) $42.57B.

Which stock is cheaper, GRDN, MCK and MDLN?

Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 0.1x, Mckesson (MCK) 25.0x, Medline (MDLN) 33.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Mckesson (MCK) is cheapest (Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 31.1x, Mckesson (MCK) 20.5x, Medline (MDLN) 22.5x). 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: Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) +10.3%, Mckesson (MCK) +8.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) has the highest net margin (Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 4.5%, Mckesson (MCK) 1.1%, Medline (MDLN) 2.9%). On return on invested capital, Mckesson (MCK) leads (Mckesson (MCK) 107.9%, Medline (MDLN) 5.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) returned the most: Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) +36.2%, Mckesson (MCK) +19.2%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mckesson (MCK) 0.35%. Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) and Medline (MDLN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mckesson (MCK) has been the steadiest (Guardian Pharmacy Services (GRDN) 40.5%, Mckesson (MCK) 30.7%, Medline (MDLN) 44.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, GRDN, MCK and MDLN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Mckesson (MCK) 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.