By Mackenzie Tatananni
Less than a month after raising its fiscal-year outlook, Cardinal Health hiked it again.
The company, which distributes pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies to customers like CVS Health, said Thursday that it now expects adjusted earnings in the range of $10.15 to $10.35 a share for the current fiscal year.
The company's previous forecast called for profit of at least $10 a share, which the company provided at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last month. The new range also is above the $10.02 a share analysts are expecting, according to FactSet.
Cardinal Health in October had guided for earnings of $9.65 to $9.85 a share, making Thursday's update the second guidance raise in the span of several months.
The stock rose 8.8% to $225.14.
CEO Jason Hollar said Thursday that Cardinal Health's "ongoing momentum" and "consistent execution against our strategic priorities" emboldened the company to boost its guidance yet again.
Cardinal Health also reported fiscal second-quarter earnings ahead of the opening bell. Adjusted earnings came to $2.63 a share, beating analysts' calls for $2.43. Revenue surged 19% to $65.6 billion in the quarter, above the $65.1 billion that Wall Street had forecast.
The company's pharmaceutical and specialty solutions business logged $60.7 billion in revenue, a 19% increase from last year. The change was driven by sales growth for existing and new clients, Cardinal Health said. Segment profit increased to $687 million from $531 million in 2024.
Revenue rose 3% to $3.3 billion within Cardinal Health's global medical products and distribution business, fueled by volume growth from existing customers, the company said.
Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com
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February 05, 2026 11:13 ET (16:13 GMT)
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