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Cardinal Health (CAH) Increases Yet Falls Behind Market: What Investors Need to Know

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Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $124.71, demonstrating a +0.55% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.83%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.65%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.45%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the prescription drug distributor had gained 7.09% over the past month. This has outpaced the Medical sector's loss of 3.48% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.31% in that time.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Cardinal Health in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on January 30, 2025. In that report, analysts expect Cardinal Health to post earnings of $1.74 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 4.4%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $54.84 billion, indicating a 4.53% downward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $7.82 per share and a revenue of $219.02 billion, signifying shifts of +3.85% and -3.51%, respectively, from the last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Cardinal Health. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.06% higher. At present, Cardinal Health boasts a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note Cardinal Health's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 15.86. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 18.14.

It is also worth noting that CAH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.51. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. CAH's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.95 as of yesterday's close.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, positioning it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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