BSX vs. CAH: Boston Scientific vs. Cardinal Health Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH) both fall under the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group, but BSX is classified in Health Care Equipment & Supplies while CAH is classified in Health Care Providers & Services.

Company profile comparison for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Profile Item	BSX	CAH
Name	Boston Scientific Corp.	Cardinal Health, Inc.
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Health Care	Health Care
GICS Industry Group	Health Care Equipment & Services	Health Care Equipment & Services
GICS Industry	Health Care Equipment & Supplies	Health Care Providers & Services
GICS Sub-Industry	Health Care Equipment	Health Care Distributors
Market Capitalization	61.96 billion USD	62.80 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	NYSE
Listing Date	May 19, 1992	August 4, 1983
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

BSX

CAH

GSPC

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
Total Return (1Y)	-55.98%	35.44%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	-5.05%	40.52%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	0.57%	43.73%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

BSX

CAH

GSPC

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	40.16%	25.91%
Beta (5Y)	0.57	0.49
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-61.55%	-20.95%
Avg. Volume (3M)	19.73M	1.77M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

BSX and CAH are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-1.50	1.20
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-1.80	1.90

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: Boston Scientific (BSX) earns 14.12% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; Cardinal Health (CAH) has no ROE this period.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

14.12%

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
BSX: 14.12%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

Max: 47.61%
Q3: 14.36%
Median: 5.45%
Q1: -10.67%
Min: -47.01%
CAH: --

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): CAH does not report ROE, so it has no value marker; BSX is benchmarked against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group.

Net Margin (TTM)

Boston Scientific (BSX) at 16.62% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of Cardinal Health (CAH) at 0.71%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

16.62%

Max: 29.35%
BSX: 16.62%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.71%

Max: 29.35%
Q3: 9.33%
Median: 2.18%
CAH: 0.71%
Q1: -6.29%
Min: -28.46%

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their net margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Boston Scientific (BSX) at 19.05% operates in the top operating margin quartile, ahead of Cardinal Health (CAH) at 1.34%, which runs around its industry’s norm.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

19.05%

Max: 35.43%
BSX: 19.05%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.34%

Max: 35.43%
Q3: 14.14%
Median: 6.81%
CAH: 1.34%
Q1: -0.28%
Min: -16.29%

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their operating margin against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
ROE (TTM)	14.12%	--
ROA (TTM)	5.87%	3.72%
Net Margin (TTM)	16.62%	0.71%
Operating Margin (TTM)	19.05%	1.34%
Gross Margin (TTM)	67.98%	3.90%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Boston Scientific (BSX) at 19.87% and Cardinal Health (CAH) at 14.23% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Boston Scientific (BSX) at 55.20% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while Cardinal Health (CAH) at 12.09% is closer to the peer norm — faster per-share earnings growth for BSX.

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
Revenue Growth (YoY)	19.87%	14.23%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	16.54%	7.44%
EPS Growth (YoY)	55.20%	12.09%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	62.75%	93.37%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Both Boston Scientific (BSX) at 1.37 and Cardinal Health (CAH) at 0.89 run current ratio in the tighter-liquidity quartile of industry peers, leaving thinner cushions against current liabilities than typical competitors.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

1.37

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
Q1: 1.37
BSX: 1.37
Min: 0.30

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.89

Max: 7.59
Q3: 4.00
Median: 1.98
Q1: 1.37
CAH: 0.89
Min: 0.30

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their current ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Only one side’s leverage can be read here: Boston Scientific (BSX) carries debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46 against its industry range, while Cardinal Health (CAH) reports no figure this period.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.46

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
Median: 0.58
BSX: 0.46
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

Max: 1.88
Q3: 0.91
Median: 0.58
Q1: 0.16
Min: 0.00
CAH: --

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): CAH does not report debt-to-equity ratio, so it has no value marker; BSX is benchmarked against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.37	0.89
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.46	--
Net Debt / EBITDA	2.04	0.81

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Boston Scientific (BSX) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Cardinal Health (CAH) reports a yield of 0.77%, ranking against industry peers normally.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

BSX: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.77%

CAH: 0.77%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Boston Scientific (BSX) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile Cardinal Health (CAH) reports a payout of 26.56%, ranking against industry peers normally.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.00%

BSX: 0.00%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

26.56%

CAH: 26.56%
Max: 0.00%
Q3: 0.00%
Median: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.00%	0.77%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	0.00%	26.56%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Boston Scientific (BSX) at 18.04 sits in the cheaper P/E ratio quartile, while Cardinal Health (CAH) at 35.15 is closer to its industry’s usual earnings multiple — a discount for BSX, though growth and earnings durability still matter.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

18.04

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
BSX: 18.04
Min: 4.21

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

35.15

Max: 80.41
Q3: 47.62
CAH: 35.15
Median: 29.93
Q1: 21.19
Min: 4.21

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Cardinal Health (CAH) at 0.24 sits in the cheaper P/S ratio quartile while Boston Scientific (BSX) at 2.94 prices around its industry’s middle — CAH costs less per dollar of sales, though read it alongside growth and margins.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.94

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
BSX: 2.94
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.03

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

0.24

Max: 8.80
Q3: 4.32
Median: 2.13
Q1: 1.10
CAH: 0.24
Min: 0.03

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Cardinal Health (CAH) reports a negative P/B ratio of -20.84, meaning negative book equity — the multiple itself is not meaningful for valuation. Meanwhile Boston Scientific (BSX) reports 2.42, ranking against industry peers normally.

BSX

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

2.42

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
Median: 3.00
BSX: 2.42
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31

CAH

Health Care Equipment & Services industry group

-20.84

Max: 11.68
Q3: 6.12
Median: 3.00
Q1: 1.73
Min: -1.31
CAH: -20.84

Boston Scientific (BSX) vs. Cardinal Health (CAH): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Boston Scientific (BSX) and Cardinal Health (CAH)
Metric	BSX	CAH
P/E Ratio (TTM)	18.04	35.15
P/S Ratio (TTM)	2.94	0.24
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	2.42	-20.84
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	4.02%	7.99%