Cardinal Health, Inc.

The reported numbers show growth in revenue, operating income, net income, and operating cash flow for fiscal 2026. Net income rose to $1.71 billion from $1.56 billion, about 9.6%, which is slower than the 15% rise in operating income. The Beneish M-Score is -2.751, which the label places outside the elevated manipulation-risk zone, below the -1.78 threshold. That is a screening result, and it does not confirm that the filings are free of problems. The Piotroski F-Score is 7 of 8 computable signals, meaning seven of the eight signals that could be computed were favorable; it is not a score out of 9. The Altman Z"-Score is -0.22, in the distress zone by its label, and this reading is consistent with the negative equity on the balance sheet. The Fog Index is 16.81, in the hard-to-read band of 14 to 18, so the MD&A text, which was not included in the excerpt, may take effort to follow. Taken together, the scores do not show a manipulation flag, but they do point to a balance sheet with a deficit and a very large gap between cash flow and reported earnings. The filing text needed to explain that gap, including the MD&A discussion of cash flow drivers and the risk factors, is not in this data, so this synthesis cannot assess management's explanation. Readers may want to look at the cash flow statement, the balance sheet equity section, and the full Item 7 and Item 1A text in the 10-K to understand the drivers behind the negative equity and the operating cash flow increase.

Catalyst.The excerpt provided for this filing does not contain the MD&A narrative. It includes only the table of contents, incorporation-by-reference notes, and signature pages, so management's stated drivers cannot be read here. The reported figures show revenues of $254.25 billion in fiscal 2026, up from $222.58 billion in fiscal 2025, a 14.2% increase. Operating income rose to $2.61 billion from $2.27 billion, and operating cash flow rose to $5.17 billion from $2.40 billion. Readers may want to look at the full Item 7 text in the 10-K to see which businesses and programs drove these results.

Hidden risk.Shareholders' equity was negative at -$2.88 billion at fiscal year-end 2026, and it has been negative in every year since fiscal 2022 (-$709 million), after $1.79 billion at fiscal 2021. Total assets were $57.3 billion. The Altman Z"-Score of -0.22 falls in the distress zone under its label. The operating cash flow figure of $5.17 billion is about 3.02 times net income of $1.71 billion, a gap that the excerpt does not explain. No risk-factor text is on file, so the 10-K's own risk disclosures cannot be checked against these numbers.