CONSHOHOCKEN, Pennsylvania, May 6, 2026, 12:02 (EDT)
Cencora shares tumbled roughly 13.5% to $264.49 late Wednesday morning, after the company trimmed its full-year revenue growth projection following sluggish U.S. sales and a quarterly revenue miss. Still, the drug distributor bumped up its profit forecast.
The miss stings: U.S. Healthcare Solutions is Cencora’s main engine, pulling in the most revenue by far. For the quarter ended March 31, that division’s sales climbed 2.9% to $68.8 billion—short of the $71.26 billion analysts had penciled in, LSEG numbers show, per Reuters. Companywide revenue reached $78.4 billion. Wall Street had been looking for $81.09 billion.
Cencora is working to reassure investors on profits. The company bumped up its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS outlook, now targeting $17.65 to $17.90, compared to the prior $17.45 to $17.75 range. It’s also planning to buy back $1 billion in stock by the end of calendar 2026, alongside a 60-cent quarterly dividend. Adjusted EPS, as defined by management, excludes certain items they say aren’t tied to ongoing business.
Cencora posted a 3.8% gain in revenue from the same quarter last year, with adjusted diluted EPS up 7.5% to $4.75. That didn’t quite meet the $4.81 per share analysts expected, according to Reuters.
The U.S. slowdown, the company said, boiled down to a few factors: branded drug manufacturer prices came down, a big mail-order client shifted more toward branded meds, and last year saw the exit of both an oncology and a grocery customer. Cencora also pointed to a jump in GLP-1 drug sales — those used for diabetes and weight loss — but noted these bring slimmer gross profit margins.
J.P. Morgan’s Lisa Gill flagged the “deceleration” in U.S. Healthcare Solutions growth as disappointing, saying the latest numbers “fall short of investor expectations.” CFO James Cleary, quoted by Reuters, acknowledged the company hadn’t seen just how fast a major mail-order pharmacy client would shift to branded drugs over generics. Reuters
Cencora found some positives in other parts of its business. Revenue from International Healthcare Solutions climbed 13.0% to $7.6 billion, boosted by stronger distribution in Europe. Operating income for that segment also improved, up 13.7% to $175.8 million.
Deal accounting played a role in the profit story. Cencora booked a $1.1 billion gain from remeasuring its OneOncology stake. Interest expense increased, too, after the company took on debt and used variable-rate term loans for the February acquisition.
Cencora submitted its earnings release to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in an 8-K filed Wednesday, according to the document. The company’s results call kicked off at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, as indicated in the filing.
This update hits a drug-wholesale sector where a handful of big players dominate. Cencora points to McKesson and Cardinal Health as key rivals. Last week, Reuters reported Cardinal fell short on revenue projections for the quarter but still lifted its profit outlook.
Still, there’s a chance the sales drag won’t fade as quickly as management hopes. If Cencora pushes through additional brand price cuts, faces more mail-order mix changes, or can’t win back lost customers fast enough, the company may end up relying more heavily on tightening costs, squeezing more from its OneOncology unit, and repurchasing shares to keep earnings afloat.
“Solid results” was how Chief Executive Robert P. Mauch described the quarter. He also said Cencora is “in a position to resume opportunistic share repurchases.” But Wednesday morning, investors reacted to the revenue guidance cut. Cencora Investor Relations
