Cardinal Health

CAH · NYSE

$257.55+$4.90 (+1.94%)TodayMarket closed · Oct 20, 4:05 PM ET

Prev close $252.65

CAH analyst rating

BuyConsensus of 13 analysts over the last 12 months. 92% rate it a buy.

Strong buy0
Buy12
Hold1
Underperform0
Sell0

12-month price target · 18 analysts

Average $276.94 (+7.5% upside)

Low: $242.10
Now: $257.55
High: $306.60

Upgrades and downgrades

The latest rating actions, newest first

CAH analyst upgrades, downgrades and rating actions
Firm	Date	Action	Rating	Price target	Hit rate
Mizuho	Oct 20, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$250.00 → $280.00	54%
UBS	Oct 16, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$280.00 → $295.00	70%
RBC Capital	Aug 19, 2026	Initiates	Outperform	$276.00	67%
TD Cowen	Aug 13, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$275.00 → $280.00	62%
JP Morgan	Aug 13, 2026	Maintains	Neutral	$215.00 → $260.00	54%
Barclays	Aug 13, 2026	Maintains	Overweight	$258.00 → $275.00	53%
Citigroup	Aug 12, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$265.00 → $280.00	44%
Evercore ISI Group	Aug 12, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$265.00 → $270.00	60%
Morgan Stanley	Aug 12, 2026	Maintains	Overweight	$255.00 → $265.00	62%
Mizuho	Aug 12, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$240.00 → $250.00	54%

The case for and against

Updated Oct 18, 2026

Bull case

Cardinal Health is supported by a durable U.S. pharmaceutical distribution moat, with Cardinal, Cencora, and McKesson controlling over 90% of the market, while its scale, 99.8% on-time delivery, and 70,000-plus daily deliveries reinforce customer stickiness and pricing power. Its outlook is further strengthened by a shift toward higher-margin services, including Sonexus, MSO, biosimilars, and nuclear medicine, which are expected to expand the “Other” segment’s mix and drive higher operating income from about $3 billion of high-margin MSO revenue and growing theranostics exposure. Financially, fiscal 2025 revenue of $222.6 billion, adjusted EBIT of $2.8 billion, and $8.24 in adjusted EPS, plus a 2.5x gross-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio and robust free cash flow, give it flexibility to invest, repurchase shares, and compound earnings.

Bear case

Cardinal Health is facing a fundamentally fragile earnings profile because its core Pharmaceutical and Specialty Distribution business still operates on razor-thin margins, with low-single-digit gross margins that are highly vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, input cost inflation, and weaker pricing power as competition and customer concentration intensify. While management is trying to offset these pressures with higher-margin services and growth segments, the company’s outlook is constrained by legislative uncertainty around drug pricing reform, slower expected top-line growth in core distribution, and the risk that biosimilars, GLP-1 mix, and alternate fulfillment models compress economics rather than expand them. Additional downside comes from execution and regulatory risk in nuclear operations, reliance on radioisotope supply and CDMO partnerships, and exposure to large customer relationships, including CVS at roughly 30% of fiscal 2025 sales, leaving earnings growth fragile even if adjusted gross margin improved to 3.7% in fiscal 2025.

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