Cardinal Health: Adjusted earnings up, but outlook remains same

Pharmaceuticals distributor Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) reported increased, adjusted first-quarter earnings, but investors showed only modest enthusiasm as the company’s full-year outlook remained the same.

Cardinal reported adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $256 million, or 73 cents per diluted share, compared with $231 million or 66 cents per diluted share a year earlier, according to a statement from the Dublin, Ohio-based company.

Cardinal’s results beat analysts’ projections by a penny.

However, a strong earnings report from rival McKesson (NYSE:MCK) took some luster off Cardinal’s financials, as did Cardinal’s reiteration of its fiscal 2012 outlook of earnings per share between $3.04 and $3.19.

“We believe investors may be disappointed, especially after the very strong quarter reported by McKesson yesterday, that management has maintained guidance for fiscal 2012,” JP Morgan analyst Lisa Gill wrote in a research note, according to Reuters.

In early afternoon trading, Cardinal’s shares were up 1 percent to $44.62, while McKesson’s had risen more than 3 percent to $84.52. For the sake of comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 3 percent.

Although investors may not have been thrilled with Cardinal’s performance, CEO George Barrett pronounced himself “pleased” with it.

“While we’re pleased with the performance of our business in this first quarter, we’re even more excited about the growth in strategic priority areas including specialty, positron emission tomography, generics, ambulatory, preferred medical products and China,” he said. “Our progress in these areas provides increasing confidence that we’re positioning well for future growth.”