Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $206.85, but opened at $217.00. Cardinal Health shares last traded at $227.2750, with a volume of 627,667 shares changing hands.

The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.32. Cardinal Health had a net margin of 0.68% and a negative return on equity of 92.50%. The business had revenue of $65.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Key Cardinal Health News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cardinal Health this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results and raised outlook — Cardinal reported Q2 FY2026 revenue up ~19% to $65.6B and non‑GAAP EPS of $2.63 (beat), and raised fiscal‑year non‑GAAP EPS guidance to $10.15–$10.35; management cited strong specialty medicine demand and improved segment performance. PR Newswire
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and price‑target lift — Leerink Partners raised its price target from $240 to $268 and kept an outperform rating, signaling more upside from current levels. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Street commentary and momentum coverage — Multiple outlets (Barron’s, Reuters, Zacks, TipRanks, 24/7 Wall St.) highlight the beat, raised guidance and accelerating specialty drug volumes, which has driven momentum interest in the stock. Examples: Reuters coverage on the outlook and Barron’s note on guidance lifts. Reuters
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call & transcripts available — Management commentary and slides from the Q2 call confirm the drivers behind the beat (specialty medicine, margin expansion, buybacks); these provide detail but no new surprises beyond the release. MSN Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum stock analysis — Zacks highlights style‑score based momentum attributes, which can attract technical and quant funds but also increase volatility. Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and historical ROE signal — After the rally the stock trades at an elevated P/E (~34x) and company data show a negative trailing return on equity metric, which could concern value‑focused investors and limit upside absent continued execution. Background valuation metrics

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CAH shares. Barclays began coverage on Cardinal Health in a research note on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cardinal Health from $221.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Cardinal Health from $220.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cardinal Health from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Cardinal Health in a research note on Thursday. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cardinal Health by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,441,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,461,179,000 after purchasing an additional 617,775 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,069,005,000 after buying an additional 205,539 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Cardinal Health by 153.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,804,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $911,010,000 after buying an additional 3,511,579 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Cardinal Health by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,592,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,922,000 after buying an additional 111,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cardinal Health by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,483,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,724,000 after acquiring an additional 445,425 shares in the last quarter. 87.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cardinal Health Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $53.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $206.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.97.

About Cardinal Health

Cardinal Health is a multinational healthcare services and products company headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. Tracing its roots to the early 1970s, the company has grown into a major provider of supply chain and distribution services for the healthcare sector. Cardinal Health operates across a range of service lines that support hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, physician offices and clinical laboratories.

The company’s core activities include the wholesale distribution of branded and generic pharmaceuticals, the supply and distribution of medical-surgical products, and the provision of logistics and inventory management solutions.