In the latest market close, Cardinal Health (CAH) reached $111.76, with a -0.2% movement compared to the previous day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.96% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.94%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.18%.

Coming into today, shares of the prescription drug distributor had gained 0.19% in the past month. In that same time, the Medical sector lost 3.69%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.3%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Cardinal Health in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on November 1, 2024. On that day, Cardinal Health is projected to report earnings of $1.64 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 5.2%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $51.26 billion, showing a 6.4% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.61 per share and revenue of $215.84 billion. These totals would mark changes of +1.06% and -4.91%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Cardinal Health. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.13% higher. Cardinal Health is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Cardinal Health is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 14.71. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 16.68, so one might conclude that Cardinal Health is trading at a discount comparatively.

We can also see that CAH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.53. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The average PEG ratio for the Medical - Dental Supplies industry stood at 1.79 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Medical - Dental Supplies industry is part of the Medical sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 171, finds itself in the bottom 33% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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