By Connor Hart

Cardinal Health once again raised its outlook for the year, citing broad-based growth across its business and continued momentum in pharmaceutical distribution.

Chief Executive Jason Hollar said in an interview that strength across all of the healthcare-services company's operating segments, coupled with resilient healthcare utilization and operational efficiency, gave it confidence to lift guidance again.

"To string a couple of quarters together like this, where every one of our five operating segments saw significant, at least double-digit-percent growth year-over-year, is really outstanding," he said, noting those gains were irrespective of M&A.

Investors seemed to agree, sending Cardinal Health's stock to an all-time high of $229.76 on Thursday after the company reported higher profit and revenue in its fiscal second quarter. Shares have since pared back some of the gain, recently trading 9.2% higher, at $225.80, extending their 77% climb over the past year.

Revenue in Cardinal Health's pharmaceutical and specialty-solutions segment jumped 19% during the recent quarter, to $60.7 billion, driven by higher demand for specialty drugs and growth from both existing and newly won customers. Specialty remains the fastest-growing and highest-margin part of the market and has been the focus of the majority of the company's investments in recent years, Hollar said.

The pharmaceutical segment also benefited from higher sales of GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes drugs, though Hollar noted the products drive revenue more than profit.

"We don't make a tremendous margin on those products, but they're important products to patients, which means they're important products for our customers," he said.

Second-quarter revenue in Cardinal Health's global medical products and distribution business rose 3% to $3.3 billion, boosted by volume growth from existing customers. Overall revenue increased 19% to $65.63 billion, slightly above the $65.08 billion analysts had forecast, according to FactSet.

The Dublin, Ohio, company--which distributes pharmaceutical and medical supplies and provides healthcare services--now expects adjusted earnings of $10.15 to $10.35 a share for the year, up from a prior outlook of at least $10 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $10.02 a share.

The company previously lifted its adjusted earnings outlook during its fiscal first-quarter report in October, and again last month.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, Cardinal Health reported profit of $467 million, or $1.97 a share, compared with $400 million, or $1.65 a share, a year earlier. Stripping out one-time items, earnings were $2.63 a share, topping analyst expectations for adjusted earnings of $2.43 a share.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2026 14:24 ET (19:24 GMT)

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