Cencora Inc (COR) stock analysis
Cencora Inc (COR) clears 4 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 5 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 3 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $338.48 it trades 41.5% below this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of +41.5%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +1.1% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Cencora do?
Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen) distributes prescription drugs and provides services to drugmakers, pharmacies and health systems, including specialty drugs and animal-health products.
Brands and businesses it owns
- World Courier
- Alliance Healthcare
- MWI Animal Health
What stands out about Cencora?
- The share price implies shrinking cash flow. At $338.48, COR's free cash flow of $33.90 per share would have to shrink 5.1% a year at first, then recover to 2.5% growth by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8% growth, so the price asks for less growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 2 of the 8 value filters. It fails PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.27) and Price/Book < 8 (21.12); the other 4 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: return on equity. At 106% (peer median 15%) it ranks 3rd of 34 among health care stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: net margin. At 0.8% (peer median 9.3%) it ranks 31st of 34 among health care stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Balance sheet in the distress zone. Its Altman Z″-Score is 0.05; below 1.1 is the distress zone, 1.1 to 2.6 the grey zone. See the Altman Z″-Score list.
How has Cencora's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Cencora undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) +41.5%
- P/E vs. its own history 24.5x · the middle Real range: 16.2x–39.3x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.90/5 20 analysts this month: 4 strong buy, 10 buy, 6 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Down from 3.95 last month.
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) 0.05 · Distress zone
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.54 · accruals −3.2% of assets · 234% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.0% of revenue · share count −2.3% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Sep 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +1.1% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.7% + buybacks 0.7% − stock comp 0.2%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 30%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $2.09 per $1 of new profit · FlightSafety-like Operating profit $1.3B → $2.4B, capital needed $6.3B → $8.5B, 2016–2025 (3-year averages); return on capital now 28% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 2.27 · Well above fair P/E 24.5× ÷ 10.8% a year of growth behind it. 254th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light, price Capital-light growth: not cleared (profit grew 1.8×, under 2×); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 2.27, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 1 flag
- Standing vs. sector peers 3 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 33 other health care stocks this site tracks: 2 in the top third, 4 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 1/6 flags
How does Cencora compare with its peers?
3 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 33 other health care stocks tracked here, 2 in the top third and 4 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 24.6× 24.5× –16th of 32
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 5.5% 10.0% ✓4th of 34
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 15% 106% ✓3rd of 34
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 9.3% 0.8% ✕31st of 34
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 8.6% 5.1% ✕29th of 34
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.69 3.84 ✕31st of 34
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.10% 0.73% ✕17th of 21
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and COR doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: COR is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: COR carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, runs thinner pretax margins than he'd like to see, and hasn't grown earnings per share fast enough over five years to impress him.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✕
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✕
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2025
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and COR falls short of his bar. In its favor: COR is growing earnings 20-50% a year, his classic fast-grower zone, isn't asking too much even by a fast grower's usual richer multiple, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: COR doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, and is leaning on more debt than he liked a growth story to carry.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- P/E < 40 ✓
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Cencora pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $64.4B
- Trailing P/E < 25 24.55
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 2.27
- Price/Book < 8 21.12
- Price/Sales < 7 0.19
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +11.8%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Cencora's margin of safety?
+46% on 2026-10-07 → +42% on 2026-10-23 (5 weekly readings).
Where is Cencora in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Cencora?
3,919,355 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Cencora? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case +65%
- Short interest under 5% of float 2.1%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 4/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +34% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2016 1.97 → 5.08
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Cencora shareholders gained per year?
Not enough clean earnings history to compute this for COR yet - a loss year in the window breaks the growth math rather than faking a number through it.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from COR's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Cencora's 10-year financials show?
From COR's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Cencora
What kind of company is Cencora?
Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen) distributes prescription drugs and provides services to drugmakers, pharmacies and health systems, including specialty drugs and animal-health products. Brands and businesses it owns include World Courier, Alliance Healthcare and MWI Animal Health. This site groups it with Health Care stocks.
Is Cencora trading above or below its DCF value?
At $338.48, COR trades 41.5% below this site's neutral DCF value of $578.95 per share, a margin of safety of +41.5%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Cencora pass?
COR passes 4 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($64.4B), Trailing P/E < 25 (24.55), Price/Sales < 7 (0.19) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+11.8%). It misses PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.27) and Price/Book < 8 (21.12). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
How much cash does Cencora return to shareholders?
COR's net shareholder yield is +1.1%: the cash it returns through dividends and buybacks, minus stock-based compensation, as a share of its market value. Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.7% + buybacks 0.7% − stock comp 0.2%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 30%. Its trailing dividend yield is 0.73%, paid out of 7% of its free cash flow; the dividend-sustainability check raises 1 of 6 flags (high leverage). See Shareholder Yield Leaders and the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
How risky is Cencora's balance sheet?
COR's Altman Z″-Score is 0.05, which falls in the distress zone. Altman's own thresholds are above 2.6 for the safe zone, 1.1 to 2.6 for the grey zone and below 1.1 for the distress zone; the score blends working capital, retained earnings, operating profit and equity against liabilities. Its debt-to-equity ratio is 3.84, against a sector median of 0.69. See the Altman Z″-Score list.
When does Cencora report earnings next?
Cencora's next earnings report is expected on November 4, 2026 after the market closes, with analysts expecting earnings of $4.62 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 2 times, by an average of −0.5%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Cencora's 10-K annual report for the year ended Sep 30, 2025, filed Nov 25, 2025 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Cencora Inc analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Cencora Inc (COR) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.