Medtronic PLC (MDT) stock analysis
Medtronic PLC (MDT) clears 5 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 3 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 4 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $96.59 it trades 14.4% above this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of -14.4%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +3.5% 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 Medtronic do?
Medtronic is one of the largest medical-device makers, selling heart-rhythm devices, diabetes products, spine and surgical tools, and heart and brain devices. It is incorporated in Ireland and operates from Minneapolis.
Brands and businesses it owns
- Micra
- Evolut
- Hugo
- PillCam
- MiniMed
What stands out about Medtronic?
- The share price implies 11.4% yearly growth. At $96.59, MDT's free cash flow of $4.95 per share would have to grow 11.4% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8%, so the price asks for more growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 1 of the 8 value filters. It fails PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.79); the other 5 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- The margin of safety is falling. It went from -7% on Oct 7 to -14% on Oct 23 across 5 weekly readings. See the trend.
- Strongest against peers: dividend yield. At 3.05% (peer median 1.10%) it ranks 1st of 21 among health care stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: return on equity. At 11% (peer median 15%) it ranks 24th of 34 among health care stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
How has Medtronic's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Medtronic 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) -14.4%
- P/E vs. its own history 22.9x · near the cheap end Real range: 22.4x–31.8x 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 · 3.94/5 33 analysts this month: 9 strong buy, 13 buy, 11 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Down from 3.97 last month.
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.58 · accruals −2.7% of assets · 161% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 1.3% of revenue · share count −1.6% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Apr 2026) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +3.5% net Latest fiscal year (2026): dividends 3.0% + buybacks 0.9% − stock comp 0.4%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count rose 22%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) Profit did not grow in 10 years Operating profit $6.1B → $5.9B, capital needed $70B → $65B, 2017–2026 (3-year averages); return on capital now 9% 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) 2.79 · Well above fair P/E 22.9× ÷ 8.2% a year of growth behind it. 321st 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 1.0×, under 2×); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 2.79, 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 0 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 5 of 7 measures above the median Compared with the 33 other health care stocks this site tracks: 4 in the top third, 1 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 0/6 · clean
How does Medtronic compare with its peers?
5 of 7 measures sit above the median of the 33 other health care stocks tracked here, 4 in the top third and 1 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 24.6× 22.9× ✓10th of 32
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 5.5% 5.1% –20th of 34
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 15% 11% ✕24th of 34
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 9.3% 13.9% ✓10th of 34
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 8.6% 9.8% –15th of 34
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.69 0.56 ✓10th of 34
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.10% 3.05% ✓1st 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 MDT doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: MDT converts sales into profit at healthy margins, earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry, 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: MDT isn't clearing the return-on-equity bar he'd want to see right now, and its five-year average return on equity falls short too, so this isn't just a one-off dip, carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, hasn't grown earnings per share fast enough over five years to impress him, and is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now.
- 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 FY2026
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and MDT falls short of his bar. In its favor: MDT is growing earnings at the steady 10-20% pace of a proper Stalwart, isn't over-leveraged for a company of its type, isn't asking investors to overpay for that growth, and is backing its growth up with real free cash flow. Where it comes up short: MDT fails his signature PEG test, he'd call this pricey for the growth on offer.
- PEG < 1 ✕
- EPS growth 10%-20% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.6 ✓
- P/E < 27 ✓
- Price/FCF < 30 ✓
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 Medtronic pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $119.8B
- Trailing P/E < 25 22.89
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 2.79
- Price/Book < 8 2.38
- Price/Sales < 7 3.19
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +41.7%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Medtronic's margin of safety?
-7% on 2026-10-07 → -14% on 2026-10-23 (5 weekly readings).
Where is Medtronic in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Medtronic?
39,974,230 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 Medtronic? 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 +32%
- Short interest under 5% of float 3.1%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 5/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +30% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2017 0.67 → 0.56
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Medtronic shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from MDT'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 Medtronic's 10-year financials show?
From MDT'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 Medtronic
What kind of company is Medtronic?
Medtronic is one of the largest medical-device makers, selling heart-rhythm devices, diabetes products, spine and surgical tools, and heart and brain devices. It is incorporated in Ireland and operates from Minneapolis. Brands and businesses it owns include Micra, Evolut, Hugo, PillCam and MiniMed. This site groups it with Health Care stocks.
Is Medtronic trading above or below its DCF value?
At $96.59, MDT trades 14.4% above this site's neutral DCF value of $84.46 per share, a margin of safety of −14.4%. 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 Medtronic pass?
MDT passes 5 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($119.8B), Trailing P/E < 25 (22.89), Price/Book < 8 (2.38), Price/Sales < 7 (3.19) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+41.7%). It misses PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.79). 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.
What growth is Medtronic's share price pricing in?
At $96.59, MDT's free cash flow of $4.95 per share would have to grow 11.4% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8%, so the price asks for more growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
Does Medtronic pass the Buffett-style and Lynch-style checklists?
On this site's Buffett-style checklist MDT clears 3 of 8 checks and leans no; it misses ROE (TTM) > 11%, ROE (5yr avg) > 11% and Debt/Equity < 0.5 and 2 more. On the Lynch-style checklist it clears 4 of 5 and leans no, with Stalwart as its Lynch category; it misses PEG < 1. These are this site's own rules written in the style of each investor, not their personal views; the rules are in the Editorial Standards.
How much cash does Medtronic return to shareholders?
MDT's net shareholder yield is +3.5%: the cash it returns through dividends and buybacks, minus stock-based compensation, as a share of its market value. Latest fiscal year (2026): dividends 3.0% + buybacks 0.9% − stock comp 0.4%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count rose 22%. Its trailing dividend yield is 3.05%, paid out of 58% of its free cash flow; the dividend-sustainability check raises 0 of 6 flags (a yield far above its sector's). See Shareholder Yield Leaders and the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Medtronic's 10-K annual report for the year ended Apr 24, 2026, filed Jun 18, 2026 (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 Medtronic PLC analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Medtronic PLC (MDT) 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.