Cardinal Health's stock rises into record territory after profit beat, raised outlook

Shares of Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) climbed 1.3% into record territory in premarket trading Friday, after the drug distributor reported fiscal first-quarter profit that beat expectations and raised its full-year outlook, while revenue came up a bit shy. Net income for the quarter to Sept. 30 dropped to $5 million, or 2 cents a share, from $110 million, or 40 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as a $581 million goodwill impairment related to the medical business, adjusted earnings per share rose 44% to $1.73, well above the FactSet consensus of $1.40. Revenue grew 10.4% to $54.76 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $54.85 billion. Pharmaceutical revenue increased 11.4% to $51.0 billion, but that missed the FactSet consensus of $51.3 billion, while medical revenue was flat at $3.8 billion to match expectations. For fiscal 2024, the company raised its adjusted EPS guidance range to $6.75 to $7.00 from $6.50 to $6.75. The stock has been little changed over the past three months through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has slipped 4.1%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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11-03-23 0707ET

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