# How McKesson (MCK) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/mck
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on MCK alone. It places MCK (McKesson Corporation) against 12 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where MCK stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: MCK's full trading record, from November 1994 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** MCK has run far ahead of the market, rising 24.0% over the past 3 months against 3.9% for the S&P 500 and 3.2% for the Nasdaq 100. After a 27.2% loss from March 2026 to May 2026, MCK has bounced 37.3% off the low.
- **Stock or market?:** More than an industry move: MCK rose 24.0% over the past 3 months, against 7.1% for the health care distribution ETF IHF (iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF). The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Last month cut against the tape: MCK rose 16.2% while the S&P 500 fell 0.6%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, MCK rose 31.3% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (131% against 89.3%).
- **Long term:** MCK turned $10,000 into $68,600 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. MCK's 10-year return of 586% puts it ahead of 89% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** The 2015 China and oil sell-off took 30.8% off MCK, against 12.8% for the S&P 500, and more than health care distribution peers such as CVS (CVS Health, 16.9%).
- **Diversification:** MCK is a real diversifier: a correlation of 0.18 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.19 with the total US market, less closely than 88% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Over 10 years, MCK's beta versus the S&P 500 was 0.56: 72% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 27% of its losses in falling ones.
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** CAH (Cardinal Health) earned more than MCK over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, against 38.7% a year at 25.0%.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** LLY (Eli Lilly and Company, pharmaceuticals) was ahead of MCK in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (32.8% volatility against 25.0%).
  - **Whole market:** Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than MCK with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## How much would $10,000 in MCK have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in MCK over the past 29 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of MCK over the same span and MCK's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in MCK at the end of September 1997 would have grown to $208,304 by September 2026, more than the $132,907 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of MCK, and VLO finished highest, at $1,019,941.

## MCK at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- MCK's deepest decline since it began trading in 1994 was 82.8%, from October 1998 to May 2000. It took about 11 years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- MCK is trading within 1% of its all-time high.
- Over 29 full calendar years, MCK's best was 1997, when it returned 96.3%, and its worst was 1999, when it lost 71.3%. It lost money in eight of those years.

- Type: Stock, Healthcare (Medical - Distribution)
- Trading since: November 10, 1994
- Market value: $120B
- Volatility (5 years): 25.0%; Sharpe ratio: 1.44
- Worst decline ever: −82.8%, from October 6, 1998 to May 26, 2000; back at its high by May 18, 2011

| Period | MCK total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +16.2% |
| 3 months | +24.0% |
| 6 months | +20.2% |
| year to date | +25.5% |
| 1 year | +31.3% |
| 3 years | +131% |
| 5 years | +413% |
| 10 years | +586% |

## MCK against the whole market

Where MCK ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does MCK rank among all stocks?

This section ranks MCK on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- On return for the risk taken (the Sharpe ratio), MCK ranks in the top 1% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million.

| Measure | MCK | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +31.3% | 936 of 3,287 (top 29%) |
| 3-year return | +131% | 702 of 3,017 (top 24%) |
| 5-year return | +413% | 97 of 2,893 (top 4%) |
| 10-year return | +586% | 249 of 2,202 (top 12%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 25.0% | 326 of 2,893 (top 12%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 1.44 | 4 of 2,893 (top 1%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −38.1% | 105 of 2,187 (top 5%) |

### What has beaten MCK on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- None of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than MCK over the past 5 years with less volatility: nothing sits in the green region.

### Is there a better investment than MCK?

The table below lists investments that beat MCK over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among MCK's popular alternatives, CAH earned more than MCK over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, against 38.7% a year at 25.0%.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, LLY (pharmaceuticals) was ahead of MCK in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (32.8% volatility against 25.0%).
- Nothing in the whole market did better on both counts: none of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than MCK with less volatility over the past 5 years.

## MCK against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against MCK, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do MCK's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only CAH was both more rewarding and calmer than MCK over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Eight of the 11 popular alternatives earned less than MCK over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, MCK returned 38.7% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (25.0% against 17.1%).

### Has MCK consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares MCK with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 12 popular alternatives outperformed MCK in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was CAH.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of MCK | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MCK: McKesson Corporation (this page) | +31.3% | +131% | +413% | +586% |  |  | 1.44 |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | +65.3% | +191% | +479% | +349% | 2/5 short-term, 2/3 long-term |  | 1.55 |
| [VEEV](https://easycompare.io/research/veev): Veeva Systems Inc. | +11.5% | +59.0% | −0.4% | +715% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.19 |
| HIMS: Hims & Hers Health, Inc. | −43.1% | +387% | +252% | — | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.72 |
| BTSG: BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. Common Stock | +105% | — | — | — | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | — |
| [UNH](https://easycompare.io/research/unh): UnitedHealth Group Incorporated | +18.1% | −15.3% | +5.5% | +241% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.20 |
| [HCA](https://easycompare.io/research/hca): HCA Healthcare, Inc. | +8.3% | +97.6% | +93.6% | +513% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.59 |
| [BMY](https://easycompare.io/research/bmy): Bristol-Myers Squibb Company | +47.8% | +25.8% | +30.6% | +74.8% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.34 |
| [CVS](https://easycompare.io/research/cvs): CVS Health Corp. | +18.5% | +52.5% | +29.2% | +47.0% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.32 |
| HSIC: Henry Schein, Inc. | +32.5% | +24.0% | +7.9% | +41.3% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.19 |
| [COR](https://easycompare.io/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | +5.7% | +86.5% | +195% | +406% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 1.07 |
| [PFE](https://easycompare.io/research/pfe): Pfizer Inc. | +30.5% | +19.2% | −8.3% | +55.0% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.06 |
| OMCL: Omnicell, Inc. | +20.8% | −7.9% | −77.9% | +1.5% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.34 |

### How did MCK do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 1997, along with where MCK ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- None of the 11 popular alternatives came out ahead of MCK in most of the years they have in common.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, MCK finished in the top quarter in eight of 29 years and in the bottom quarter in three. In 2025, it ranked 6 of 13.
- MCK finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 15 of its 29 full calendar years.

| Year | MCK | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +44.5% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +23.7% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +24.1% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | +51.8% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +44.2% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +27.1% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +26.7% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −28.4% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +12.0% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | −28.3% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How MCK has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were MCK's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of MCK's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: MCK fell 82.8% from October 1998 to May 2000, while the S&P 500 rose 42.3%.
- The slowest recovery came after MCK fell 82.8% from October 1998 to May 2000; it did not regain that peak until May 2011, 11 years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −82.8% | October 6, 1998 | May 26, 2000 | May 18, 2011 | +42.3% | dot-com bust |
| −54.1% | May 18, 2015 | December 24, 2018 | December 9, 2021 | +18.6% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −27.2% | March 3, 2026 | May 11, 2026 | October 15, 2026 | +9.0% |  |
| −25.7% | March 11, 1996 | July 26, 1996 | November 11, 1996 | +0.2% |  |
| −23.9% | August 2, 2024 | September 26, 2024 | February 28, 2025 | +7.7% |  |

### How did MCK do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far MCK, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- Among its popular alternatives, BMY held up best, falling less than MCK in six of the ten crashes they both traded through.
- MCK fell less than the S&P 500 in five of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2022 bear market, when MCK fell 10.5% and the S&P 500 fell 24.5%.

| Crash | Dates | MCK fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −39.4% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −57.7% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | −3.5% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −14.2% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −30.8% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −6.5% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −20.7% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −32.1% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −10.5% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −0.9% | −3.4% |

### How closely does MCK move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- None of the ten popular alternatives with the same record had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than MCK's 2.71.
- Over the past 10 years, MCK captured 72% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 27% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 0.56. That is a defensive profile: it gave up some of the market's upside in exchange for smaller losses.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MCK: McKesson Corporation (this page) | 72.0% | 27.0% | 0.56 |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | 71.0% | 51.0% | 0.75 |
| [VEEV](https://easycompare.io/research/veev): Veeva Systems Inc. | 113% | 89.0% | 0.87 |
| [UNH](https://easycompare.io/research/unh): UnitedHealth Group Incorporated | 81.0% | 82.0% | 0.70 |
| [HCA](https://easycompare.io/research/hca): HCA Healthcare, Inc. | 135% | 140% | 1.37 |
| [BMY](https://easycompare.io/research/bmy): Bristol-Myers Squibb Company | 55.0% | 75.0% | 0.41 |
| [CVS](https://easycompare.io/research/cvs): CVS Health Corp. | 59.0% | 99.0% | 0.70 |
| HSIC: Henry Schein, Inc. | 72.0% | 124% | 0.85 |
| [COR](https://easycompare.io/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | 80.0% | 58.0% | 0.56 |
| [PFE](https://easycompare.io/research/pfe): Pfizer Inc. | 52.0% | 81.0% | 0.54 |
| OMCL: Omnicell, Inc. | 93.0% | 187% | 1.03 |

### What diversifies MCK?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in MCK into SMH would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+34.4% for MCK alone, +37.0% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and HDV have moved largely independently of MCK over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.43 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- FIX made money in five of the eight calendar years in which MCK lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with MCK | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in MCK's 8 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.34 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 0 of 8 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.31 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 8 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.43 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 1 of 8 |
| MLPX: Global X - MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF | 0.48 | +135% | 19.7% | 0.97 | 1 of 8 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | -0.08 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 1 of 8 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.23 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 2 of 8 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.20 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 3 of 8 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.06 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 1 of 8 |

## Common questions

### What was MCK's worst drawdown?

MCK's deepest decline since it began trading in 1994 was 82.8%, from October 1998 to May 2000. It took about 11 years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were MCK's best and worst years?

Over 29 full calendar years, MCK's best year was 1997, when it returned 96.3%. Its worst was 1999, with a return of -71.3%.

### Is there a better investment than MCK?

Among MCK's popular alternatives, CAH earned more than MCK over the past 5 years with similar volatility: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, against 38.7% a year at 25.0%. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, LLY (pharmaceuticals) was ahead of MCK in most short and long periods, though with much bigger swings (32.8% volatility against 25.0%).

### Is MCK more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. MCK's volatility over the past 5 years was 25.0%, 1.5 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, MCK's return lands within 25.0% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is MCK's Sharpe ratio?

MCK's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 1.44, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so MCK earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is MCK with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, MCK's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.18 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against MCK instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a MCK holding.

### What are the best alternatives to MCK?

None of the 12 popular alternatives we compared outperformed MCK in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about MCK's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did MCK outperform the S&P 500?

MCK finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 15 of 29 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +44.5%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did MCK do in stock market crashes?

MCK fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in five of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in four. The clearest case was the 2022 bear market, when MCK fell 10.5% and the S&P 500 fell 24.5%.

### What diversifies MCK?

These had a low correlation with MCK over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.34), DXJ (correlation 0.31) and HDV (correlation 0.43); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.48), CLS (correlation 0.08) and FIX (correlation 0.16). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [Cardinal Health (CAH) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cah)
- [Veeva Systems (VEEV) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/veev)
- [UnitedHealth Group (UNH) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/unh)
- [HCA Healthcare (HCA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/hca)
- [Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/bmy)
- [CVS Health (CVS) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cvs)
- [Cencora (COR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cor)
- [Pfizer (PFE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/pfe)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/mck
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against MCK live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=MCK&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research