Yahoo Finance Is a Beat Likely for Cardinal Health (CAH) in Q3 Earnings?
Cardinal Health, Inc. CAH is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 4, before the opening bell.
In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 16.81%. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the same twice, the average surprise being 6.43%.
Q3 Estimates
For the fiscal third quarter, the consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $1.48 per share, indicating an improvement of 2.1% from the prior-year quarter’s figure. The same for revenues stands at $49.42 billion, implying growth of 10.2% from the year-ago reported number.
Factors to Note
Cardinal Health's Pharmaceutical segment is the second largest pharmaceutical distributor in the United States. In the second quarter, pharmaceutical revenues amounted to approximately $47.7 billion, up 15% on a year-over-year basis. The performance reflects branded pharmaceutical sales growth in the Pharmaceutical Distribution and Specialty Solutions segment. This momentum is likely to have continued in the fiscal third quarter.
The company’s generics program sales were also strong during the last reported quarter and its upcoming results are expected to gain from this trend.
Last year, Cardinal Health announced the addition of a new distribution center in the Columbus, OH area, lending support to its at-Home Solutions business.
These developments are likely to have favored the company's fiscal third-quarter performance. However, rising supply-chain costs might have curtailed growth rate.
Cardinal Health, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Cardinal Health, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Cardinal Health, Inc. Quote
For the Medical segment, decrease in product and distribution volumes led to a decline in revenues in the previously reported quarter. Earnings were also hit by net inflationary impacts. The trend is expected to have continued in the soon-to-be-reported quarter.
However, demand for CAH’s at-Home Solutions remained strong during the second quarter. The company had launched a supply-chain network and last-mile fulfillment solution — Velocare — for providing critical products and services required for hospital-level care at home. This strong performance is likely to have continued in the fiscal third quarter.
Earnings Beat Likely
Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Cardinal Health this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate ($1.56 per share) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is +5.17% for Cardinal Health.
Zacks Rank: Cardinal Health currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
Other Stocks Worth a Look
Here are a few other medical stocks worth considering, as these too have the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this reporting cycle:
Henry Schein HSIC has an Earnings ESP of +0.99% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
HSIC has an estimated long-term growth rate of 8.1%.
Henry Schein’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and met the me once, delivering an average surprise of 2.97%.
McKesson MCK has an Earnings ESP of +1.22% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. MCK has an estimated long-term growth rate of 10.4%.
McKesson’s earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the same twice, delivering an average surprise of 3.42%.
Align Technology ALGN has an Earnings ESP of +1.60% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. ALGN has an estimated long-term growth rate of 17.2%.
Align Technology’s earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the same twice, delivering an average negative surprise of 5.65%.
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Align Technology, Inc. (ALGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
