COR US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
Cencora (COR) · Q2 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $349.88 · 2026-11-11
Cencora is a pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution company that provides products and services for human and animal health. It distributes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products, and medical supplies to healthcare providers and manufacturers in the United States and select global markets. The company also provides data analytics, consulting, and logistics services to support the pharmaceutical supply chain. Source: 10-K annual report (2025-11-25)
Results Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026 · previous quarter · fiscal Q3 2026 · published 5 Aug 2026 and 6 May 2026
Net income down 53.5% on the previous quarter. Management sounded about as positive as a typical company call, in its script and in answers to analysts.
1 · Numbers
−53.5%
Net income vs Q1 2026
Outlook given
Net income 763.5M vs 1.64B
Revenue +8.2%
Against the same quarter last year (Q2 2025) it is +11.1%, so the move on last quarter looks seasonal or timing-related rather than a trend.
Why Against the same quarter last year, net income rose primarily because of double-digit growth across reportable segments, the acquisition of OneOncology, a lower effective income tax rate of 19.9%, and $1 billion of share repurchases.
2 · How management spoke
Typical
More upbeat than 61% of company calls
Answers to analysts: typical, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
Cencora raised its adjusted EPS guidance for fiscal 2026 to a range of $17.75 to $17.95 based on year-to-date performance and confidence in execution.
Valuation
Is Cencora undervalued?
Reverse DCF. Free cash flow from the last full fiscal year (2025-09-30), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 10.4% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $403.27 a share — the stock trades 13% below it. Today's price assumes 8.5% growth a year.
Current price
$349.88
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+8.5% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$403.27
Buy below
$302.45
Price vs fair value
Undervalued 13%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued 16%
Read between the lines
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Guidance
The company raised its adjusted EPS guidance for fiscal 2026 to a range of $17.75 to $17.95 based on year-to-date performance and confidence in execution.
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Figure
Adjusted operating income grew 17% and adjusted earnings per share grew 12% due to U.S. Healthcare Solutions growth, the OneOncology acquisition, and share repurchases.
Source quote
“Adjusted operating income grew 17%, driven by strong execution in our U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment including the performance of our OneOncology acquisition and continued growth in our International segment, while share repurchases also contributed to the 12% adjusted earnings per share growth.”
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Guidance
Net interest expense is expected to increase to approximately $490 million from the previous estimate of $485 million due to lower interest income following $1 billion in share repurchases.
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Key theme
The company expects OneOncology to be neutral from an adjusted earnings per share net of financing on a 12-month basis.
Source quote
“As you think about it on a 12-month basis, we continue to expect OneOncology to be neutral from an adjusted earnings per share net of financing.”
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Figure
COR achieved 12% EPS growth in the quarter due to double-digit adjusted operating income growth and $1 billion of opportunistic share repurchases.
Source quote
“Our business performance drove double-digit adjusted operating income growth and supported by $1 billion of opportunistic share repurchases, we achieved 12% EPS growth in the quarter.”
4 more
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Figure
Sales of GLP-1 increased by $2.3 billion year-over-year, contributing to the company's revenue growth.
Source quote
“We also saw continued growth in sales of GLP-1, which increased by $2.3 billion year-over-year.”
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Figure
However, for modeling purposes, if the transaction were to close at the midpoint of its fiscal year, Cencora would have a $150 million operating income headwind within Other.
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Key theme
GLP-1s increased by 25%, which was in line with the company's expectations.
Source quote
“In terms of the GLP-1s, up 25%, that was generally in line with our expectations.”
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Guidance
The company's full year adjusted free cash flow guidance remains unchanged at approximately $3 billion.
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q2 2026. Ring: Q1 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“As I look to fiscal 2027 and beyond, I'm excited to further Cencora's strong track record of execution and disciplined capital stewardship to drive durable shareholder value creation.”
“Moving to our digital transformation, where we're combining business process improvement and technology advances to improve how we operate and work with partners across the health care system.”
“Our business performance drove double-digit adjusted operating income growth and supported by $1 billion of opportunistic share repurchases, we achieved 12% EPS growth in the quarter.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-06-30)
| Metric | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Q1 2026period end 2026-03-31 | Change | Q2 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 84.75B | 78.36B | +8.2% | 80.66B | +5.1% |
| Gross profit | 3.61B | 3.59B | +0.5% | 2.91B | +24.1% |
| Operating income | 1.12B | 1.14B | −2.0% | 867.7M | +29.1% |
| Net income | 763.5M | 1.64B | −53.5% | 687.4M | +11.1% |
| EPS | 3.94 | 8.40 | −53.1% | 3.52 | +11.9% |
| P/E today 24.8 | 21.0 | 24.1 | −3.1 | 30.8 | −9.8 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- Its capital deployment strategy remains focused on internal investments in the business, strategic M&A, opportunistic share repurchase, as…
- I look forward to closely working with Eva as Cencora continues building upon its track record of execution, growth and...
- As Cencora saw last quarter with its large mail order customer that may be in-sourced.
- There is a meaningful clinical trial activity within OneOncology, but there's significant opportunity for growth.
- You can think about analytics-type solutions and insights that Cencora will be providing.
Faded since Q1 2026
- Fading In other, Cencora saw 5% growth driven by MWI and pro forma and so you ask kind of what is...
- Fading Of all, with regard to growth drivers, Cencora saw continued volume growth, including specialty sales to health systems and...
- Dropped Every day, Cencora's teams move millions of medications through the supply chain to thousands of health care sites, creating significant...
- Fading As Cencora looks to the balance of the fiscal year and beyond, its focused strategy guided by its purpose, growth...
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Director or officer change; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Cencora, Inc. appointed Robert E. Sanchez to its Board of Directors effective October 1, 2026, increasing the total number of board members from ten to eleven.
- Director or officer change · SEC 8-K
Lorence H. Kim, M.D. resigned from the Board of Directors of Cencora, Inc. effective August 13, 2026, to become Chief Financial Officer of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Inc.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Cencora reaffirms its adjusted diluted EPS guidance range of $17.75 to $17.95 for fiscal year 2026 following the movement of certain Walgreens volume outside the company.
- Material agreement; New financial obligation · SEC 8-K
Cencora, Inc. entered into an amended credit agreement on July 31, 2026, increasing the multi-currency revolving credit facility commitment from $5.5 billion to $7.0 billion and extending the maturity date to July 2031.
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Cencora, Inc. issued a news release on August 5, 2026, regarding its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2026.