Cardinal Health Q4 profit beats estimates on tariff refund

Cardinal Health

11/08/2026 11:59

Overview
U.S. distributor's Q4 revenue rose 6% yr/yr but missed analyst expectations
Adjusted EPS for Q4 grew 40% and beat analyst expectations, aided by one-time tariff refund
Company completed $1.4 bln share repurchases in FY26, board authorized additional $5.0 bln

Outlook
Cardinal Health sees FY27 non-GAAP EPS of $12.40 to $12.60
Company expects FY27 Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions revenue growth of 3%-5%
Company expects FY27 Global Medical Products and Distribution revenue growth of 2%-4%

Result Drivers
PHARMACEUTICAL SALES - Revenue and profit growth in Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions segment driven by brand and specialty pharmaceutical sales and positive generics program performance
TARIFF REFUND IMPACT - One-time IEEPA tariff refund boosted Q4 adjusted EPS and Global Medical Products and Distribution segment profit
DISTRIBUTION VOLUMES - Lower distribution volumes reduced Global Medical Products and Distribution segment revenue

Company press release: ID:nPn28TCzha

Key Details
Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q4 Revenue
Miss
$63.70 bln
$65.03 bln (13 Analysts)
Q4 Adjusted EPS
Beat
$2.91
$2.42 (16 Analysts)
Q4 EPS
 
$1.70
 

Analyst Coverage
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 17 "strong buy" or "buy", 2 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"
The average consensus recommendation for the pharmaceuticals peer group is "buy"
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Cardinal Health, Inc. is $260.00, about 9.6% above its August 10 closing price of $237.18
The stock recently traded at 20 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 17 three months ago

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Aug 11 - Hims & Hers' shift to branded obesity drugs drives wider quarterly loss

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)