http://www.straightstocks.com Leading Stock Market News, Opinions and Commentary Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:12:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-eclipses-zacks-estimate-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-eclipses-zacks-estimate-analyst-blog/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:27 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/26940/Cardinal+Eclipses+Zacks+Estimate+-+Analyst+Blog Cardinal Health (CAH) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings per share of 54 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 43 cents and the year-ago earnings of 47 cents.
 
Sales
 
Total sales in the reported quarter increased 6% year over year to $24.8 billion. Growth was witnessed across all the business segments.
 
Pharmaceutical segment revenues increased 5% year over year to $22.6 billion. Growth was primarily due to higher sales to existing pharmaceutical distribution customers. Sales to bulk customers increased 6% year over year to $11.3 billion. Sales to non-bulk customers increased 5% year over year to $11.2 billion.
 
Medical segment revenues increased 10% year over year to $2.2 billion. Growth can be primarily attributed to higher sales to existing customers. In addition, the CareFusion Corp. (CFN) spin-off has resulted in immediate revenue recognition from international sales to CareFusion.
 
Margins
 
Cardinal Health registered a minimal contraction in margins. Gross margin declined 10 basis points (bps) year over year to 3.7%. Distribution, selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of sales declined 10 bps year over year to 2.4%. Operating margin declined 20 bps year over year to 1.0%.
 
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
 
Cardinal Health ended the reported quarter with cash and cash equivalents of roughly $1.6 billion, an increase of 30% sequentially. Cash flow from operations was $0.4 billion.
 
Guidance
 
Cardinal Health expects earnings per share to be at the higher end of its prior guidance of $1.90 to $2.
 
Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies that helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products. The company recently completed the spin-off of its Clinical and Medical Products business to form a subsidiary, CareFusion Corporation. The spin-off was completed through a pro rata distribution of roughly 81% of CareFusion’s common stock.
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]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-eclipses-zacks-estimate-analyst-blog/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinals-agreement-with-novation-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinals-agreement-with-novation-analyst-blog/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:58:55 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/25311/Cardinal%27s+Agreement+with+Novation+-+Analyst+Blog Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) yesterday entered into a five-year, laboratory products supply agreement with Novation, one of the largest group purchasing organizations (GPOs) in the U.S. Per the agreement, Cardinal Health will exclusively provide laboratory products to Novation's clinical members, such as hospital laboratories, blood banks, core laboratories and reference laboratories.

The agreement is effective from Oct. 1, 2009 and runs until 2014. Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Cardinal’s stock reacted positively to the news, with the price increasing roughly 1.4% to $27.70 at the end of Sept. 28, 2009.

Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies which helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products.

Cardinal Health recently completed the spin-off of its Clinical and Medical Products business to form a subsidiary, CareFusion Corporation (CFN). The company’s primary competitors include AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC) and McKesson Corporation (MCK).

Cardinal Health reported its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2009 results. For the quarter, earnings per share were 86 cents, compared to 96 cents in the year-ago quarter but in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. For the year, earnings per share were $3.48, lower than last year’s earnings per share of $3.75 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.50. Based on the company’s performance, we have assigned a Neutral rating to the stock.
Read the full analyst report on "CAH"
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Read the full analyst report on "ABC"
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Zacks Investment Research
]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinals-agreement-with-novation-analyst-blog/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-health-completes-spin-off-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-health-completes-spin-off-analyst-blog/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:10:41 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/24407/Cardinal+Health+Completes+Spin-Off+-+Analyst+Blog
Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) has completed the spin-off of its Clinical and Medical Products business to form a subsidiary, CareFusion Corporation (CFN). The spin-off was completed through a pro rata distribution of roughly 81% of CareFusion’s common stock.

Roughly 222 million shares of CareFusion common stock were outstanding on the date of distribution. Of this, 180 million shares (81%) were distributed to Cardinal Health shareholders on a pro rata basis.

Cardinal Health retained the balance 41 million shares, which will be divested within the next five years. Cardinal Health shareholders received 0.5 share of CareFusion common stock for each share of Cardinal Health they hold.

We think that the spin-off will help Cardinal Health unlock the value of the assets tied to CareFusion and concentrate more on its core Healthcare Supply Chain business. The company’s core Healthcare business constitutes roughly 96% of total revenues.

Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies that helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products.

The company recently released its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2009 results. For the quarter, earnings per share were 86 cents, compared to 96 cents in the year-ago quarter but in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. For the year, earnings per share were $3.48, lower than last year’s earnings per share of $3.75 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.50.

Based on the company’s performance, we have a Neutral recommendation on Cardinal stock.
Read the full analyst report on "CAH"
Read the full analyst report on "CFN"
Zacks Investment Research
]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-health-completes-spin-off-analyst-blog/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-healths-buyback-offer-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-healths-buyback-offer-analyst-blog/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:14:49 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/24237/Cardinal+Health%27s+Buyback+Offer+-+Analyst+Blog Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) has offered to buy back $1.2 billion of its long-term debt securities (notes) as part of its plan to reduce long-term debt after spinning off its CareFusion Corporation division on Aug 31, 2009. These securities carry maturity dates from 2011 to 2026. The offer expires on Sept. 24 and the owners of these securities must tender their notes by Sept 10 to receive the early tender premium.

The notes were issued by Cardinal Health and its subsidiary, Allegiance Corp., Cardinal will finance the buyback with a combination of both cash in hand and a $1.4 billion it is expecting to generate from the CareFusion spin-off. The amount remaining after financing the tender offer will be used for retiring notes due in Oct 2009.

We view the buyback as a good use of the company’s cash balance. Cardinal’s cash balance stood at roughly $1.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2009. The company’s long and short-term debt was approximately $3.3 billion and $0.4 billion, respectively. Assuming that the company does not take on any long-term debt during this interim period, the $1.2 billion of buy-back will reduce the company’s long-term debt by roughly 36%. 

Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies that helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products.

Cardinal Health recently released its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2009 results. For the quarter, earnings per share were 86 cents, compared to 96 cents in the year-ago quarter but in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. For the year, earnings per share were $3.48, lower than last year’s earnings per share of $3.75 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.50.
Read the full analyst report on "CAH"
Zacks Investment Research
]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinal-healths-buyback-offer-analyst-blog/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/positive-results-for-cahs-drug-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/positive-results-for-cahs-drug-analyst-blog/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:15:24 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/24142/Positive+Results+for+CAH%27s+Drug+-+Analyst+Blog
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) announced that the use of the preoperative skin preparation, ChloraPrep, is significantly more effective than both DuraPrep and povidone-iodine at eliminating overall bacteria from the shoulder region. After antisepsis with ChloraPrep, only 7% of skin cultures tested positive for bacteria compared to 19% for DuraPrep and 31% for povidone-iodine.
 
The data was published by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery recently. ChloraPrep is a product of Cardinal Health’s subsidiary, CareFusion, which the company will spin-off with effect from Aug 31.
 
ChloraPrep is a preoperative skin preparation that reduces bacteria and other microorganisms on the patients' skin before any medical and surgical procedures. The drug remains effective for at least 48 hours after its application and reduces the risk of dangerous bloodstream and surgical site infections. 
 
Bacteria on the skin is the primary cause of surgical site infections. These infections occur when bacteria and other microorganisms found on a patient’s skin or on the hands of a health care worker enter the patient’s body through an incision site. Infections following surgery are dangerous and can result in re-hospitalization and additional surgery/treatment.    
 
The newly published data is a shot in the arm for Cardinal Health as it will boost demand for ChloraPrep and will increase the company’s top-line. Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies that helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products.
Read the full analyst report on "CAH"
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]]> http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/positive-results-for-cahs-drug-analyst-blog/feed/ 0 http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinals-spin-off-unit-in-sp-500-analyst-blog/ http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/cardinals-spin-off-unit-in-sp-500-analyst-blog/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:00:07 +0000 Zacks Market Commentaries http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/24007/Cardinal%27s+Spin-off+Unit+in+S%26P+500+-+Analyst+Blog
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) announced that its spin-off subsidiary, CareFusion Corp., will be included in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Aug 31. CareFusion replaces The Manitowoc Co. Inc. (MTW) in the index and will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Health Care Equipment Sub-Industry index.
 
CareFusion is being formed by spinning off the Clinical and Medical Products business of Cardinal Health. The spin-off is expected to be completed on Aug 31. CareFusion Corp. is expected to generate earnings per share of $1.10 to $1.20 on a standalone basis.
 
The S&P 500 represents prices of the top 500 large-cap companies traded in the U.S. stock exchanges. It is one of the world’s most prestigious indices. Hundreds of billions of US dollars are invested in the S&P 500 index by different mutual funds, pension funds and exchange traded funds.
 
Cardinal Health is one of the largest global healthcare companies that helps pharmacies, hospitals and ambulatory care sites to focus on low-cost patient care. The company is also a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products.
 
Cardinal Health recently released its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2009 results. For the quarter, earnings per share were 86 cents, compared to 96 cents in the year-ago quarter but in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. For the year, earnings per share were $3.48, lower than last year’s earnings per share of $3.75 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.50.
Read the full analyst report on "CAH"
Read the full analyst report on "MTW"
Zacks Investment Research
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