CVS vs MCK Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare CVS Health's pharmacy-insurance-clinic model against McKesson's high-volume, low-margin drug distribution business.
Use this CVS Health vs McKesson comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
CVS holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CVS leads on both 1-year return (+31.94%) and forward P/E quality (10.94x vs 17.67x for MCK), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, MCK is growing revenue faster (7.70%), while CVS maintains the higher operating margin (3.86%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for CVS (+24.74%) than for MCK (+10.47%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | CVS | MCK |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 42.9 | 54.7 |
| AI ranki | #876 | #287 |
| Latest closei | $96.74 | $907.99 |
| 1M returni | -2.40% | +3.51% |
| 6M returni | +22.94% | -2.51% |
| 1Y returni | +31.94% | +31.43% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CVS | MCK |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $13.13K (+31.3%) started 2025-09-04 | $13.13K (+31.3%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $14.41K (+44.1%) started 2021-09-07 | $45.97K (+359.7%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $18.33K (+83.3%) started 2016-09-06 | $56.69K (+466.9%) started 2016-09-06 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CVS | MCK |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $119.02B | $104.16B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 24.55 | 23.98 |
| Forward P/Ei | 10.94 | 17.67 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 0.44 | 0.28 |
| Analyst targeti | $116.08 | $986.94 |
| Target upsidei | +24.74% | +10.47% |
| Metric | CVS | MCK |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 7.10% | 7.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 188.80% | -17.60% |
| EPS growthi | +188.80% | -17.60% |
| FCF margini | +1.96% | +1.65% |
| Operating margini | 3.86% | 1.35% |
| Profit margini | 1.18% | 1.12% |
| ROIC proxyi | 6.21% | N/A |
| Return on equityi | 6.21% | N/A |
| Dividend yieldi | 2.86% | 0.42% |
| Betai | 0.60 | 0.31 |
| Debt/equityi | 95.50 | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 0.87 | 0.89 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.62 | 0.50 |
Over the past year, CVS and MCK have moved barely in the same direction (correlation of 0.07), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CVS | MCK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +31.28% | +31.32% |
| CAGRi | +31.33% | +31.37% | |
| Volatilityi | 31.07% | 31.17% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.89 | 0.88 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.21 | 1.48 | |
| Max drawdowni | 16.44% | 27.17% | |
| Current drawdowni | 12.53% | 8.81% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.45% | 10.00% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.21% | 12.89% | |
| Max daily dropi | 14.15% | 7.16% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.46% | 10.23% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +26.46% | +350.64% |
| CAGRi | +4.81% | +35.20% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.24% | 24.89% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.16 | 1.16 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.22 | 1.75 | |
| Max drawdowni | 56.79% | 27.17% | |
| Current drawdowni | 12.53% | 8.81% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 23.99% | 5.33% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 27.93% | 8.07% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.84% | 11.34% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.15% | 14.15% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +35.27% | +427.23% |
| CAGRi | +3.07% | +18.10% | |
| Volatilityi | 29.46% | 29.09% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.10 | 0.57 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.14 | 0.80 | |
| Max drawdowni | 56.79% | 40.25% | |
| Current drawdowni | 12.53% | 8.81% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 21.79% | 11.72% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 24.98% | 15.55% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.84% | 22.67% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.15% | 22.93% |
| Category | CVS | MCK |
|---|---|---|
| Company | CVS | MCK |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Healthcare Plans | Medical Distribution |
| Core business | CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. | McKesson Corporation provides healthcare services in the United States and internationally. |
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