Ohio healthcare giant Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) got no Wall Street love after posting estimate-beating earnings today.
The company posted a 10% top-line decline on its 4th quarter and full fiscal year 2014, citing difficulties in its star pharmaceuticals business. The division saw a 12% drop in revenue during the 3 months ended June 30, 2014, following the expiration of a major contract with Walgreens.
Cardinal’s smaller medical segment grew 4% during the quarter, driven by "growth in existing customers, including solid growth in strategic hospital network accounts, and acquisitions." The company threw down $320 million to acquire AccessClosure and its and its Mynx extravascular closure technology earlier this year.
In total the company reported $234 million in profits, or 68¢ per diluted share, on sales of $22.9 billion during the quarter. That compared with losses of $586 million, or $1.72 per share, on sales of $25.4 million during the same period last year.
Excluding special items, Cardinal reported per-share earnings of 83¢, beating analysts’ consensus estimates by 2¢.
For the full year Cardinal reported profits of $1.16 billion, or $3.37 per diluted share, on sales of $91.1 billion. That compared with profits of $335 million, or 97¢ per share, on sales of $101 billion in 2013. Adjusted earnings were $3.84, 3¢ higher than projected.
The company’s shares took a hit during today’s trading, down 3.7% by about 1:45 p.m. EST when they were going for $69.67 apiece. CAH shares have gained 3.6% since the start of the year.