New York, Feb 6, 2026, 13:26 EST — Regular session underway.
McKesson shares dropped roughly 2.1% to $937.31 in early afternoon trading Friday, pulling back after soaring about 16.5% the previous day. The stock hit $971.75 earlier in the session before falling to an intraday low of $935.85.
The pullback followed McKesson’s upgrade of its fiscal 2026 profit forecast and confirmation that it’s still on course to spin off its medical-surgical division, aiming for an IPO in the second half of 2027. The company now expects adjusted earnings per share between $38.80 and $39.20, narrowing above its previous guidance, Reuters reported.
Investors have been willing to pay more for drug distributors focused on specialty medicines and biosimilars — cheaper versions of complex biologic drugs — where profit margins tend to be higher. At Cardinal Health, CEO Jason Hollar dismissed GLP-1 weight-loss drugs as a major profit source, saying, “It’s just relatively unlikely that that’s going to be a big driver for underlying profitability.” Reuters
McKesson reported an 11% jump in quarterly revenue, hitting $106.2 billion for the period ending Dec. 31, 2025, according to its SEC filing. Adjusted earnings per share, a non-GAAP figure excluding certain items, climbed 16% to $9.34. The company generated $1.1 billion in free cash flow. It also noted a pre-tax credit related to the Rite Aid bankruptcy and returned $2.4 billion to shareholders in the first nine months of the fiscal year, mostly via buybacks.
After the report, analysts kept raising their targets. TD Cowen bumped McKesson’s price target to $1,012 from $1,000 on Friday, sticking with a buy rating. They pointed to solid performance in the company’s oncology and prescription-technology divisions.
Peer Cencora topped profit forecasts for the first quarter this week and raised its fiscal 2026 guidance following the $5 billion acquisition of OneOncology, pushing further into cancer-care networks. However, its shares dipped in premarket trading after revenue missed estimates by a small margin, Reuters reported.
Another SEC filing revealed that McKesson submitted an automatic shelf registration statement on Feb. 5. This type of registration lets a company register securities for potential future sales without locking in an immediate offering.
The two-day rally has tightened the margin for error. A drop in specialty-drug volumes, changes in reimbursement, or issues with the medical-surgical split could put pressure on a stock that recently raised its own bar.
Investors are keen to hear more details on the raised forecast and the timeline for the separation when McKesson’s management takes the stage at the Leerink Partners Global Healthcare Conference (March 8-11) and the Barclays Global Healthcare Conference (March 10-12).
