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Cardinal Health Lifts 2026 Profit Outlook After Q3 Beat Despite Sales Miss

The move signals confidence in a specialty‑drug strategy that can grow earnings even when distributor sales totals fluctuate.

Overview

  • Cardinal Health raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $10.70–$10.80 per share, up from $10.15–$10.35.
  • Adjusted earnings per share reached $3.17 for the quarter, topping the $2.79 Wall Street estimate.
  • Total revenue rose 11% to $60.9 billion but missed the $62.1 billion forecast as pass‑through drug pricing lowered reported sales without hurting margins.
  • Net earnings declined to $399 million from $506 million due to a $184 million pretax goodwill impairment linked to the Integrated Oncology Network acquisition.
  • Shares gained about 1.6% in premarket trading after Evercore ISI called the quarter solid and said the sales shortfall reflected pricing pass‑through rather than operational weakness.