McKesson
McKesson's revenue rose 12.4% to $403.4 billion in fiscal 2026. Its operating margin was 1.5%, up from 1.2% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $5.7 billion, up 3.1%. It paid out $5.1 billion in dividends and buybacks, 90% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 3.1%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on equity is net income as a share of shareholders' equity. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What McKesson does
McKesson is a healthcare distribution and services company whose business roots go back to 1833. Its fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. It supplies drugs, medical products and services to drugstores, hospitals, physician practices, care providers and drug makers. Since the second quarter of fiscal 2026 it reports four segments.
North American Pharmaceutical distributes branded, generic, specialty, biosimilar and over-the-counter drugs and other health products to customers in the United States and Canada, and sells software and consulting services to pharmacies. Oncology & Multispecialty provides specialty drug distribution, group purchasing, infusion services and technology to cancer and other specialty practices, and supports the U.S. Oncology Network of physician-led cancer practices. Prescription Technology Solutions offers tools that help patients get and afford medicine, such as electronic prior authorization and patient enrollment. Medical-Surgical Solutions supplies medical-surgical products, lab equipment and drugs to doctors' offices, surgery centers, nursing homes and home health agencies.
During fiscal 2026 McKesson announced it intends to separate the Medical-Surgical Solutions segment into an independent company. It also lists a split-off of Change Healthcare among past deals. The separation depends on conditions being met and may not happen as planned.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Costly legal disputes and government actions over its role in distributing controlled substances.
- Extensive and changing healthcare, fraud and abuse and environmental laws.
- Possibly losing its ability to buy, store or distribute drugs, including controlled substances.
- The planned separation of Medical-Surgical Solutions may not be completed on current terms or timing.
- Cybersecurity incidents and failures of its information systems.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2017 to 2026, earnings per share grew 6.0% a year and net income fell 0.7% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 44%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value McKesson yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from McKesson's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from McKesson's cash from operations minus depreciation in fiscal 2026 (free cash flow before spending to grow: capital spending was 1.5 times depreciation, which holds its free cash flow down) of $5.9B, net cash of −$2.7B at March 31, 2026 and 124 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to McKesson: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 13.4% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 7% for a stable business (Health Care Distributors); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $992.87
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from McKesson's earnings per share of $37.31 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 26.6×, the middle of McKesson's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (McKesson's own P/E today) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 8%, 7% and 6%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $992.87
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- McKesson's P/E at the last close
- 26.6×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal HealthCAH | $251.54 | $7.23 | 34.8× |
| McKessonMCK | $992.87 | $37.31 | 26.6× |
| Henry ScheinHSIC | $84.51 | $3.43 | 24.6× |
| CencoraCOR | $330.00 | $13.47 | 24.5× |
| CVS HealthCVS | $92.53 | $3.80 | 24.4× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 3.5 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 6.1 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 2.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.7 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.1x | 0.2x | 0.3x | 0.0x | 0.4x |
| Debt to equity | — | — | — | — | — |
| Interest coverage | 11.4x | 17.7x | 15.5x | 16.7x | 25.1x |
| Current ratio | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.8x |
| Quick ratio | 0.6x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x | 0.5x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought McKesson shares on the open market, and 8 insiders sold $29.1 million, $28.5 million of it under trading plans set up in advance.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2026 | Francisco FragaEVP, CIO and CTO | Sold plan | 800 | $995.80 | $797,129 | Form 4 |
| Sep 8, 2026 | Napoleon B Rutledge JRSVP, Controller & CAO | Sold plan | 111 | $891.45 | $98,951 | Form 4 |
| Aug 10, 2026 | Bradley E LermanDirector | Sold | 301 | $892.33 | $268,591 | Form 4 |
| Jul 7, 2026 | Brian S. TylerChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 8,463 | $793.56 | $6.7 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 17, 2026 | Brian S. TylerChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 8,463 | $775.13 | $6.6 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 9, 2026 | Brian S. TylerChief Executive Officer, Director | Sold plan | 4,929 | $763.00 | $3.8 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 5, 2026 | Napoleon B Rutledge JRSVP, Controller & CAO | Sold plan | 133 | $764.00 | $101,612 | Form 4 |
| Jun 2, 2026 | Thomas L RodgersEVP, Chief Strategy & BDO | Sold plan | 699 | $735.27 | $513,954 | Form 4 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | LeAnn B SmithEVP & Chief HR Officer | Sold plan | 1,810 | $735.50 | $1.3 million | Form 4 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Thomas L RodgersEVP, Chief Strategy & BDO | Sold plan | 123 | $735.50 | $90,466 | Form 4 |
| May 26, 2026 | Michele LauEVP and Chief Legal Officer | Sold plan | 3,550 | $761.09 | $2.7 million | Form 4 |
| May 26, 2026 | Thomas L RodgersEVP, Chief Strategy & BDO | Sold plan | 2,388 | $761.09 | $1.8 million | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| F-score | 6 of 9 | 7 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −2.0% | −3.9% | −1.8% |
Compare
Put McKesson side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McKesson | FY26 | 12.4% | 1.5% | 1.4% | — | 0.4x | 6 | |
| Cencora | FY25 | 9.3% | 0.8% | 1.0% | — | 0.9x | 7 | Compare |
| Cardinal Health | FY26 | 14.2% | 1.0% | 1.8% | — | 1.1x | 6 | Compare |
| Henry Schein | FY25 | 4.0% | 5.0% | 4.3% | 7.5% | 3.1x | 6 | Compare |
| CVS Health | FY25 | 7.8% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 5.8x | 7 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 198.5 | 208.4 | 214.3 | 231.1 | 238.2 | 264.0 | 276.7 | 309.0 | 359.1 | 403.4 |
| Revenue growth | 4.0% | 5.0% | 2.9% | 7.8% | 3.1% | 10.8% | 4.8% | 11.7% | 16.2% | 12.4% |
| Gross profit | 11.3 | 11.2 | 11.8 | 12.0 | 12.1 | 13.1 | 12.4 | 12.8 | 13.3 | 14.6 |
| Research and development | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 7.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 2.5 | −5.0 | 2.0 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 6.2 |
| Net income | 5.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.9 | −4.5 | 1.1 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 4.8 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 22.73 | 0.32 | 0.17 | 4.95 | −28.26 | 7.23 | 25.03 | 22.39 | 25.72 | 38.38 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 223 | 209 | 197 | 182 | 161 | 154 | 142 | 134 | 128 | 124 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 4.7 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 6.1 | 6.2 |
| Capital expenditure | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Free cash flow | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| Dividends paid | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Share buybacks | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 4.8 |
| Acquisitions | 4.2 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.4 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 2.8 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 6.3 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 4.0 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 8.5 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 6.7 |
| Total assets | 61.0 | 60.4 | 59.7 | 61.2 | 65.0 | 63.3 | 62.3 | 67.4 | 75.1 | 82.3 |
| Total liabilities | 49.7 | 50.3 | 51.4 | 55.9 | 64.8 | 65.1 | 63.8 | 69.0 | 76.8 | 84.1 |
| Shareholders' equity | 11.1 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 5.1 | −0.0 | −2.3 | −1.9 | −2.0 | −2.1 | −2.2 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 5.7% | 5.4% | 5.5% | 5.2% | 5.1% | 5.0% | 4.5% | 4.2% | 3.7% | 3.6% |
| Operating margin | 3.6% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 1.1% | −2.1% | 0.8% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.5% |
| Net margin | 2.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | −1.9% | 0.4% | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Free cash flow margin | 2.2% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.4% |
| Return on capital | 36.2% | 4.7% | 3.1% | 22.5% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on equity | 50.6% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 13.7% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on assets | 8.6% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 1.5% | −7.2% | 1.7% | 5.7% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 6.0% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.7x | 3.0x | 3.8x | 1.2x | — | 1.1x | 0.2x | 0.3x | 0.0x | 0.4x |