Cencora Inc (NYSE:COR) stock fell 3.75% (As on May 8, 11:22:45 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) though the company raised its annual profit forecast, driven by robust demand for costly specialty medicines and weight-loss drugs. The increasing U.S. demand for high-margin medicines that treat complex conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, has prompted Cencora and its peers Cardinal Health and McKesson to expand their footprint in the sector. Sales at Cencora’s U.S. healthcare business, its largest revenue-generating unit, reached $68.3 billion in the second quarter — an increase of 11.4% from a year earlier. The company said the growth was driven by heightened sales of GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and weight loss, along with strong sales of specialty medicines.

Further, gross profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 was $3.1 billion, a 20.6 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year, primarily due to the increase in gross profit in the U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment and larger gains from antitrust litigation settlements, offset in part by LIFO expense in the current year period in comparison to a LIFO credit in the prior year period and a decrease in gross profit in the International Healthcare Solutions segment. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue was 4.06 percent, an increase of 35 basis points from the prior year quarter due to the increase in U.S. Healthcare Solutions gross profit margin, primarily as a result of the January 2025 acquisition of Retina Consultants of America (RCA). In the second quarter of fiscal 2025, operating income was $1.0 billion, an increase of 87.3 percent compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Operating income as a percentage of revenue was 1.37 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to 0.81 percent in the prior year quarter.

COR in the first quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $4.42, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $4.11. This is driven by the pharmaceutical distribution footprint and complementary end-to-end services and solutions. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 10.3 percent to $75.5 billion in the first quarter of FY25, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $75.68 billion.

The company now expects its annual adjusted profit to be between $15.70 and $15.95 per share, up from its previous expectation of $15.30 to $15.60 per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of $15.46 per share, as per data compiled by LSEG.