Cardinal Healthvs.UnitedHealth
CAH vs UNH · both in Distribution & pharmacy infrastructure, part of the Medicine, pharma & life science value chain: Wholesalers, distribution and pharmacy chains that get medicines to patients.
UnitedHealth is about 6.2× larger than Cardinal Health by market cap; UnitedHealth trades at the lower P/E (23.7 vs 31.4).
Supply-chain link: Cardinal Health supplies UnitedHealth.
Side by side
| CAH | UNH | |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $53.8B | $335B |
| Price | $238.96 | $370.95 |
| Today | +2.9% | −1.3% |
| Return YTD | +13.0% | +13.9% |
| Return 1Y | +48.2% | +3.4% |
| Since July 2, 2026 | +0.0% | −12.8% |
| P/E | 31.4 | 23.7 |
| P/S | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| P/B | 53.9 | 3.2 |
Data as of 2026-10-08 · updates daily after U.S. close
Since July 2, 2026: the change in the closing price from the first session with a close for both companies. Sectivia records these closes itself, starting June 26, 2026.
The two companies
Cardinal HealthCAH
Two businesses sit under one roof. One distributes medicines through the healthcare system, the other manufactures medical products and consumables, with pharmacy services alongside.
Full CAH profile →UnitedHealthUNH
Insurance is UnitedHealthcare's job. Optum is everything else: clinics on the ground, Optum Rx managing pharmacy benefits and a health data business behind both. Insurer and care provider sit under a single owner.
Full UNH profile →More CAH & UNH comparisons
Other head-to-heads in the Distribution & pharmacy infrastructure segment.