Cardinal Health reported a 5% increase in Q1 revenue, beating Wall Street’s forecast, while analysts raised Edwards Lifesciences’ price target after a better-than-expected Q3 print.
- Cardinal Health’s Q1 earnings per share rose 28% to $3.26.
- The firm raised its full-year 2027 adjusted EPS forecast to $12.8 to $13 from $12.4 to $12.6
- Bernstein raised EW’s price target to $106 from $99.
Shares of Cardinal Health (CAH) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) recorded new milestones on Thursday, outperforming a broader market selloff, as Cardinal Health raised its full-year earnings outlook following strong first-quarter results, while Edwards attracted a wave of bullish analyst calls on encouraging clinical trial data and growth prospects.
At the time of writing, CAH stock rallied 3.3% to an all-time high, while EW stock edged up 0.5%, hitting its highest level since August 2022.
CAH Raises FY2027 EPS Forecast
On Thursday, Cardinal Health reported a 5% increase in first-quarter (Q1) 2027 revenue to $67.5 billion, beating Wall Street’s forecast of $66.5 billion, as per Fiscal.ai. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) jumped 28% to $3.26, comfortably above consensus estimates of $2.94.
Growth was primarily driven by strong demand for branded and specialty medicines, with revenue from its Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions division rising 6% to $62.6 billion. First-quarter revenue for the Global Medical Products and Distribution segment was little changed compared to the previous year at $3.2 billion.
Cardinal Health raised its full-year adjusted EPS forecast to $12.8 to $13 from $12.4 to $12.6 and increased its profit growth expectations for the Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions to 10% to 12%.
Retail sentiment surrounding CAH on Stocktwits remained ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours. The stock has gained more than 30% so far this year.
Brokerages See Beyond EW’s Q3 Beat
Edwards Lifesciences saw bullish Wall Street coverage after reporting a 10.5% jump in Q3 revenue to $1.72 billion and a 19% EPS growth to $0.80, both beating analysts’ estimates. The company also raised its adjusted EPS outlook to $2.97 to $3.05.
Following the results, Bernstein raised the price target to $106 from $99, adding that the trial results presented at the TCT conference earlier this week were more important than its quarterly earnings.
The trial for Edwards’ transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) met its main safety and effectiveness goals, with management expecting the findings to change treatment practices and drive future growth.
RBC Capital raised the price target to $115 from $100 and kept an ‘Outperform’ rating, highlighting the company’s strong quarter performance and encouraging results in TAVR procedures.
Retail sentiment surrounding EW on Stocktwits remained ‘neutral’ over the past 24 hours. The stock has gained more than 16% so far this year.
Also read: Madrigal’s MASH Drug Shows Improvements In Liver Health Across 4 Studies, Days After Company Disclosed $1.1B Rezdiffra Sales
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<