McKesson won OptumRx contract lost by Cardinal, says Evercore

Evercore ISI says that while neither OptumRx nor Cardinal Health (CAH) would confirm the winner of the contract, McKesson (MCK) confirmed it had won the contract beginning in July. Cardinal this morning announced that its pharmaceutical distribution contracts with OptumRx, which represented 16% of fiscal 2023 revenue, is expiring at end of June and will not be renewed. Evercore estimates the win would represent a 50c-65c earnings per share benefit to McKesson on a full-year basis or likely half of that given the contract does not start until July. The firm does not see Cardinal’s announcement as “heralding a broadly more competitive period for the distributors, but rather a one-off contract shift given what was likely an off-market contract.”