CAH vs. MDLN: Cardinal Health vs. Medline Stock Comparison

Company Profile

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

Cardinal Health (CAH) has been public since August 4, 1983, giving it decades of market history across multiple cycles, while Medline (MDLN) listed only on December 17, 2025 and lacks comparable through-cycle data.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Medline (MDLN) reports a negative beta of -0.93, suggesting inverse market sensitivity over the measurement window. That is uncommon for ordinary equities and can reflect commodity-linked or hedge-like exposure, but it can also come from statistical noise. Cardinal Health (CAH) has a non-negative beta of 0.49.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Both CAH and MDLN need 1-year volatility and 1-year return to plot risk-return positioning.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Capital efficiency shows on one side only: Medline (MDLN) earns 4.85% on shareholders’ equity, ranked against its industry; Cardinal Health (CAH) has no ROE this period.

Both Cardinal Health (CAH) at 0.71% and Medline (MDLN) at 1.85% keep about the typical share of revenue as profit for their industries — neither bottom line stands out from peers.

Both Cardinal Health (CAH) at 1.34% and Medline (MDLN) at 5.22% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Only one side can be read here: Cardinal Health (CAH) reports revenue growth of 14.23%, ranked against its industry; Medline (MDLN) has no revenue growth figure this period.

Medline (MDLN) at 117.38% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than Cardinal Health (CAH) at 12.09%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Medline (MDLN) at 4.04 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while Cardinal Health (CAH) at 0.89 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

Only one side’s leverage can be read here: Medline (MDLN) carries debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65 against its industry range, while Cardinal Health (CAH) reports no figure this period.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Medline (MDLN) 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.

Medline (MDLN) 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.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

Cardinal Health (CAH) at 35.15 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Medline (MDLN) at 90.09 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for MDLN’s trailing earnings.

Cardinal Health (CAH) at 0.24 sits in the cheaper P/S ratio quartile while Medline (MDLN) at 1.70 prices around its industry’s middle — CAH costs less per dollar of sales, though read it alongside growth and margins.

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 Medline (MDLN) reports 2.95, ranking against industry peers normally.

Valuation Metrics