Cardinal Health
Cardinal Health is a very large, thin-margin U.S. drug and medical-products distributor whose profit growth is being led by brand and specialty pharmaceuticals and a set of smaller, faster-growing businesses, while its medical-products distribution arm lags.
What the filings point to next
Our analysis of the moves the company's own disclosures point to, with the signals that would confirm them.
Keep share repurchases as the main use of excess cash through FY27, likely executing additional programs under the $5.0 billion authorization.
- Announcement of a new accelerated or open-market repurchase program in coming quarters
- Diluted share count trend in quarterly releases
- Any change in management commentary on capital deployment priorities
- Tilt growth investment and possibly tuck-in acquisitions toward the 'Other' businesses (nuclear/precision health, at-home, OptiFreight), where guidance was raised most.Medium confidence
- Push GMPD further from commodity distribution toward Cardinal Health Brand products, with possible cost actions or restructuring in distribution.Medium confidence
- Expand internal software, data and security engineering, centered on Ohio, to support commercial technology platforms and regulatory work.Low confidence
Relationship map
Who it buys from, sells to, partners with and competes against, as its disclosures describe it.
Customers Suppliers Partners (top) Competitors (bottom) · solid = disclosed, dashed = inferred · tap a highlighted company to open it
Business at a glance
Operating-health scores describe reported fundamentals on a 0–100 scale. They are not a rating of the stock. How they work
Key ratios and five-year financials
| Fiscal year ending | FY 2022-06 | FY 2023-06 | FY 2024-06 | FY 2025-06 | FY 2026-06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $181.3B | $205.0B | $226.8B | $222.6B | $254.2B |
| Gross profit | $6.5B | $6.9B | $7.4B | $8.2B | $9.8B |
| Operating income | -$607M | $752M | $1.2B | $2.3B | $2.6B |
| Net income | -$938M | $330M | $852M | $1.6B | $1.7B |
| Operating cash flow | $3.2B | $2.8B | $3.8B | $2.4B | $5.2B |
| Capital expenditure | $387M | $481M | $511M | $547M | $649M |
| Free cash flow | $2.8B | $2.4B | $3.3B | $1.9B | $4.5B |
| Stock-based comp | $81M | $96M | $121M | $244M | $367M |
| Buybacks | $1.0B | $2.0B | $750M | $765M | $1.4B |
| Dividends | $559M | $525M | $499M | $494M | $491M |
| Cash | $4.7B | $4.1B | $5.1B | $3.9B | $4.9B |
| Total debt | $4.7B | $3.9B | $4.7B | $8.0B | $7.0B |
| Equity | -$709M | -$3.0B | -$3.2B | -$2.8B | -$2.9B |
Built from the company's disclosures: 10-K (2026-08-11), 8-K (2026-11-05), 8-K (2026-08-11), 8-K (2026-08-11), DEF 14A (2026-09-21).
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