MDT · Health care(electromedical & electrotherapeutic apparatus) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2026-04-24
Medtronic plc reported revenue of $36.4 billion in fiscal 2026, after growing 2.3% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin held steady at about 17.8% from 2017, and it earned 9.9% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $66.6 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 47.3% went to dividends and 30.3% to buybacks; the share count fell 7.4%. On the accounting screens, it passes 8 of 9 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 3.75 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202636.4B+2.3% a year over 9 years
Operating margin17.8%gross margin 65.0%
Return on invested capital9.9%8.9% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay5.0B13.7% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDANet cash161.0M more cash than debt
Piotroski F-score8/9tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
010.0B20.0B30.0B40.0B
2017Revenue 29.7BOperating income 5.4B
2018Revenue 30.0BOperating income 6.6B
2019Revenue 30.6BOperating income 6.3B
2020Revenue 28.9BOperating income 4.8B
2021Revenue 30.1BOperating income 4.5B
2022Revenue 31.7BOperating income 5.8B
2023Revenue 31.2BOperating income 5.5B
2024Revenue 32.4BOperating income 5.1B
2025Revenue 33.5BOperating income 6.0B
2026Revenue 36.4BOperating income 6.5B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+5.2%
+3.8%
+2.3%
Operating income
+5.6%
+7.6%
+2.1%
Net income
+8.5%
+5.9%
+2.0%
Earnings per share
+9.7%
+7.0%
+2.8%
Free cash flow per share
+7.0%
+3.1%
+0.5%
Dividend per share
+1.4%
+4.2%
+5.8%
Shares
-1.1%
-1.0%
-0.9%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%
2017Return on invested capital 5.6%
2018Return on invested capital 4.7%
2019Return on invested capital 7.4%
2020Return on invested capital 5.2%
2021Return on invested capital 8.1%
2022Return on invested capital 9.4%
2023Return on invested capital 7.5%
2024Return on invested capital 7.7%
2025Return on invested capital 9.8%
2026Return on invested capital 9.9%
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Economic profit
Economic profit
-6.0B-4.0B-2.0B0
2017Economic profit -3.8B
2018Economic profit -4.2B
2019Economic profit -2.1B
2020Economic profit -3.8B
2021Economic profit -1.1B
2022Economic profit -458.2M
2023Economic profit -1.4B
2024Economic profit -1.3B
2025Economic profit -220.5M
2026Economic profit -123.2M
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
9.7%
Return on assets
5.2%
Asset turnover
0.39×
Research & development
7.9% of revenue
Overheads (SG&A)
32.4% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2017Net income 4.0BFree cash flow 5.6BAfter stock-based pay 5.3B
2018Net income 3.1BFree cash flow 3.6BAfter stock-based pay 3.3B
2019Net income 4.6BFree cash flow 5.9BAfter stock-based pay 5.6B
2020Net income 4.8BFree cash flow 6.0BAfter stock-based pay 5.7B
2021Net income 3.6BFree cash flow 4.9BAfter stock-based pay 4.5B
2022Net income 5.0BFree cash flow 6.0BAfter stock-based pay 5.6B
2023Net income 3.8BFree cash flow 4.6BAfter stock-based pay 4.2B
2024Net income 3.7BFree cash flow 5.2BAfter stock-based pay 4.8B
2025Net income 4.7BFree cash flow 5.2BAfter stock-based pay 4.8B
2026Net income 4.8BFree cash flow 5.4BAfter stock-based pay 5.0B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2026
66.6B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 21%14.2B
Acquisitions 11%7.4B
Dividends 47%31.5B
Share buybacks 30%20.2B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -10%-6.7B
Over the same years it paid 3.6B in stock. The share count fell 7.4%. 16.6B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$2.00$4.00$6.00
2017Earnings per share $2.89Free cash flow per share $4.04Dividend per share $1.71
2018Earnings per share $2.27Free cash flow per share $2.64Dividend per share $1.82
2019Earnings per share $3.41Free cash flow per share $4.33Dividend per share $1.98
2020Earnings per share $3.54Free cash flow per share $4.46Dividend per share $2.14
2021Earnings per share $2.66Free cash flow per share $3.61Dividend per share $2.30
2022Earnings per share $3.73Free cash flow per share $4.42Dividend per share $2.50
2023Earnings per share $2.82Free cash flow per share $3.44Dividend per share $2.71
2024Earnings per share $2.76Free cash flow per share $3.91Dividend per share $2.76
2025Earnings per share $3.61Free cash flow per share $4.02Dividend per share $2.78
2026Earnings per share $3.73Free cash flow per share $4.21Dividend per share $2.83
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
1.2B1.3B1.4B1.4B
2017Diluted shares 1.4B
2018Diluted shares 1.4B
2019Diluted shares 1.4B
2020Diluted shares 1.4B
2021Diluted shares 1.4B
2022Diluted shares 1.4B
2023Diluted shares 1.3B
2024Diluted shares 1.3B
2025Diluted shares 1.3B
2026Diluted shares 1.3B
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-10.0B010.0B20.0B30.0B
2017Net debt 28.4B
2018Net debt 22.1B
2019Net debt 21.0B
2020Net debt 20.8B
2021Net debt -3.6B
2022Net debt 28.0M
2023Net debt -1.5B
2024Net debt -192.0M
2025Net debt 656.0M
2026Net debt -161.0M
2017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-0.0×
Interest coverage
9× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
2.13 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
162 days collects in 67d, stock 171d, pays in 76d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
8of 9 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✓Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellpassed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✕Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforefailed
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
3.75safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.14 × 6.56+0.93
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.35 × 3.26+1.14
Operating income ÷ assets 0.07 × 6.72+0.47
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.15 × 1.05+1.21
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.55below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 0.94+0.87
Gross margin slipping 1.00+0.53
Soft assets 0.98+0.40
Sales growth 1.08+0.97
Slower depreciation 1.03+0.12
Overheads vs sales 1.00-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.03-0.13
Leverage rising 0.89-0.29
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Capital spending (1,904M) is well below depreciation (2,958M).
Benign
Mature assets, or a business that has become less capital-intensive.
Worrying
Under-investing: today's profit is being held up by consuming tomorrow's capacity.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$56.92discounted at 10.2% a year · 49% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
15.3×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
7.8×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
2.0×
Free cash flow yield
6.8%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today37.2B
Everything after, today35.9B
The whole business73.2B
Plus net cash161.0M
What belongs to shareholders73.3B
Divided among 1.3B shares: <strong>$56.92</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
02.0B4.0B6.0B8.0B
2017Reported 5.3B
2018Reported 3.3B
2019Reported 5.6B
2020Reported 5.7B
2021Reported 4.5B
2022Reported 5.6B
2023Reported 4.2B
2024Reported 4.8B
2025Reported 4.8B
2026Reported 5.0B
2027Projected 5.4B
2028Projected 5.6B
2029Projected 5.8B
2030Projected 6.0B
2031Projected 6.2B
2032Projected 6.4B
2033Projected 6.6B
2034Projected 6.8B
2035Projected 6.9B
2036Projected 7.1B
2017201920212023202520272029203120332035
Year by year
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
Revenue
37.8B
39.3B
40.7B
42.1B
43.5B
44.9B
46.3B
47.6B
48.8B
50.1B
Growth
4.0%
3.8%
3.7%
3.5%
3.3%
3.2%
3.0%
2.8%
2.7%
2.5%
Cash margin
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
14.2%
Free cash flow
5.4B
5.6B
5.8B
6.0B
6.2B
6.4B
6.6B
6.8B
6.9B
7.1B
Worth today
4.9B
4.6B
4.3B
4.1B
3.8B
3.6B
3.3B
3.1B
2.9B
2.7B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
59
62
65
70
75
9.7%
55
58
61
64
69
10.2%
52
54
57
60
63
10.7%
49
51
53
56
59
11.2%
46
48
50
53
55
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
11.4%
41
45
48
52
57
12.8%
45
49
53
57
62
14.2%
48
52
57
62
67
15.6%
52
56
61
66
72
17.0%
55
60
65
71
77
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.1%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$43.74
Median$57.05
90th percentile$76.33
$40.00$60.00$80.00$100.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$49.44</b> and <b>$65.84</b>; one in ten below $43.74, one in ten above $76.33.
Does the long run make sense?
7.3×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 7.3 times that year's EBITDA.
Free growthIn year 10 free cash flow is at or above after-tax operating profit, yet the model grows 2.5% forever. Growth needs reinvestment; this assumes it comes for free, which flatters the terminal value.
49%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 13.18% × (1 − 21.2%) = <strong>10.39%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.19%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.