IRVING, Texas, February 5, 2025 - McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) today announced results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2024.
Third Quarter Highlights:
- Consolidated revenues of $95.3 billion increased 18%.
- Earnings per diluted share of $6.95 increased $2.53.
- Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share of $8.03 increased 4%.
- McKesson signed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in PRISM Vision Holdings, LLC.
- McKesson closed the transaction to sell its Canada-based Rexall and Well.ca retail businesses on December 30, 2024.
Fiscal 2025 Outlook:
- Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share guidance range raised and narrowed to $32.55 to $32.95, from the previous range of $32.40 to $33.00.
- Fiscal 2025 Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share guidance range indicates 19% to 20% growth compared to prior year.
- The Company does not forecast GAAP earnings per diluted share1.
“McKesson reported strong third quarter operational results with broad-based Revenue growth of 18% and Adjusted Operating Profit growth of 16%. Our performance reflects the strength and momentum across the enterprise. I would like to thank the McKesson employees for their continued dedication to advancing our mission,” said Brian Tyler, chief executive officer. “We remain committed to our enterprise growth strategy, including our growth pillars within oncology and biopharma services. This strategy has enabled our strong results and is a foundation for balanced growth and value creation. Based on our third quarter performance, we are raising and narrowing our guidance range for fiscal 2025 Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share to $32.55 to $32.95.”
Mr. Tyler added, “We are also pleased to announce the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in PRISM Vision Holdings, in support of our leadership in community practice management and specialty solutions. With this transaction, we intend to develop a leading platform for retinal care, delivering differentiated solutions and value across providers, biopharma partners, and patients. McKesson has a long track record of leading practice management and clinical research outcomes with our differentiated Oncology platform, and we are excited to leverage this expertise to serve the high-growth area of retina and ophthalmology. We are executing against our strategy and expanding our suite of solutions to continue to pursue our purpose of advancing health outcomes for all.”
Fiscal 2025 Third Quarter Result Summary
Third quarter revenues were $95.3 billion, an increase of 18% from a year ago, primarily driven by growth in the U.S. Pharmaceutical segment, due to increased prescription volumes, including higher volumes from retail national account customers and specialty products, and growth in the oncology platform.
Third quarter earnings per diluted share was $6.95 compared to $4.42 a year ago, an increase of $2.53, due to the prior year increase of the provision for bad debts related to the Rite Aid bankruptcy within the U.S. Pharmaceutical segment.
Third quarter Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share was $8.03 compared to $7.74 a year ago, an increase of 4%, primarily driven by strong operational growth and a lower share count, partially offset by a higher tax rate. Third quarter Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share also included pre-tax gains of $6 million associated with McKesson Ventures’ equity investments, compared to pre-tax losses of $8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2024.
For the first nine months of the fiscal year, McKesson returned $3.1 billion of cash to shareholders, which included $2.8 billion of common stock repurchases and $254 million of dividend payments. During the first nine months of the fiscal year, McKesson used cash from operations of $1.7 billion, and invested $581 million in capital expenditures, resulting in negative Free Cash Flow of $2.2 billion.
Business Highlights
- McKesson elected Lynne Doughtie and Dr. Julie Gerberding as New Directors on February 3, 2025, increasing the board to 13 members, 12 of whom are independent.
- Lynne Doughtie brings accounting and finance expertise as the former Chair and Chief Executive Officer of KPMG U.S. Ms. Doughtie has depth of experience across various industries, including technology, healthcare, and financial services. Ms. Doughtie will serve on the Audit Committee and the Finance Committee.
- Julie Gerberding brings extensive executive experience in the healthcare industry and public policy as the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Previously, she served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer at Merck & Co. and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Gerberding will serve on the Compliance Committee and the Compensation and Talent Committee.
- McKesson signed a definitive agreement to acquire an 80% controlling interest in PRISM Vision Holdings, LLC, a leading provider of general ophthalmology and retina management services. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory clearance.
- On December 30, 2024, McKesson closed the transaction to sell its Canada-based Rexall and Well.ca retail businesses.
U.S. Pharmaceutical Segment
- Revenues were $87.1 billion, an increase of 19%, driven by increased prescription volumes, including higher volumes from retail national account customers and specialty products, and growth in the oncology platform.
- Segment Operating Profit was $854 million. Adjusted Segment Operating Profit was $944 million, an increase of 14%, driven by growth in the distribution of specialty products to providers and health systems.
Prescription Technology Solutions Segment
- Revenues were $1.4 billion, an increase of 14%, driven by increased prescription volumes in our third-party logistics and technology services businesses.
- Segment Operating Profit was $219 million. Adjusted Segment Operating Profit was $235 million, an increase of 22%, driven by growth in access and affordability solutions.
Medical-Surgical Solutions Segment
- Revenues were $2.9 billion, a decrease of 3%, driven by lower contributions from illness season vaccines and testing in the primary care channel.
- Segment Operating Profit was $269 million. Adjusted Segment Operating Profit was $294 million, an increase of 4%, driven by operational efficiencies from the cost optimization initiatives, partially offset by lower contributions in the primary care channel.
International Segment
- Revenues were $3.9 billion, an increase of 6%, driven by higher pharmaceutical distribution volumes in the Canadian business.
- Segment Operating Profit was $111 million. Adjusted Segment Operating Profit was $124 million, an increase of 18%, driven by higher pharmaceutical distribution volumes in the Canadian business and the discontinued recording of depreciation and amortization on Canada-based Rexall and Well.ca retail businesses, which were divested during the quarter.
Fiscal 2025 Outlook
McKesson does not provide forward-looking guidance on a GAAP basis as the company is unable to provide a quantitative reconciliation of forward-looking Non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP measure, without unreasonable effort. McKesson cannot reasonably forecast LIFO inventory-related adjustments, certain litigation loss and gain contingencies, restructuring, impairment and related charges, and other adjustments, which are difficult to predict and estimate. These items are generally uncertain and depend on various factors, many of which are beyond the company's control, and as such, any associated estimate and its impact on GAAP performance could vary materially.
McKesson is raising and narrowing fiscal 2025 Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share guidance to $32.55 to $32.95 from the previous range of $32.40 to $33.00.
Fiscal 2025 Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share guidance includes $0.57 related to year-to-date gains associated with McKesson Ventures' equity investments.
Additional modeling considerations will be provided in the earnings call presentation.
Conference Call Details
McKesson has scheduled a conference call for today, Wednesday, February 5th at 4:30 PM ET to discuss the company’s financial results. The audio webcast of the conference call will be available live and archived on McKesson's Investor Relations website at investor.mckesson.com.
Upcoming Investor Event
McKesson management will be participating in the following investor event:
- TD Cowen 45th Annual Healthcare Conference, March 4, 2025
The audio webcasts, and a complete listing of upcoming events for the investment community, including details and updates, will be available on McKesson's Investor Relations website.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
GAAP refers to the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. This press release includes GAAP financial measures as well as Non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Operating Expenses, Adjusted Other Income, Adjusted Interest Expense, Adjusted Income Tax Expense, Adjusted Earnings, Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share, Adjusted Segment Operating Profit, Adjusted Segment Operating Profit Margin, Adjusted Corporate Expenses, Adjusted Operating Profit, and Free Cash Flow which are financial measures not calculated in accordance with GAAP. Refer to the “Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information” section of the accompanying financial statement tables for the definitions and usefulness of the company’s Non-GAAP financial measures and the attached schedules for reconciliations of the differences between the Non-GAAP financial measures and their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.
Cautionary Statements
This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements may be identified by their use of terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “projects,” “plans,” “estimates,” “targets,” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. The discussion of anticipated transaction closings, synergies, litigation outcomes, financial outlook, guidance, trends, strategy, plans, assumptions, expectations, commitments, and intentions may also include forward-looking statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, such as financial performance forecasts, which speak only as of the date they are first made. Except to the extent required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise our forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, or implied. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such risks and uncertainties, we encourage investors to read the risk factors described in our publicly available filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and news releases.
These risk factors include, but are not limited to: we experience costly and disruptive legal disputes and settlements, including regarding our role in distributing controlled substances such as opioids; we might experience losses not covered by insurance or indemnification; we are subject to frequently changing, extensive, complex, and challenging healthcare and other laws; we might be adversely impacted by regulatory delays or other difficulties with acquisitions or divestitures such as the transactions described in this press release; we from time to time record significant charges from impairment to goodwill, intangibles, and other long-lived assets; we experience cybersecurity incidents that might significantly compromise our technology systems or might result in material data breaches; we may be unsuccessful in achieving our strategic growth objectives; we may be unsuccessful in our efforts to implement initiatives to reduce or optimize our costs; we are impacted by customer purchase reductions, contract non-renewals, payment defaults, and bankruptcies; our contracts with government entities involve future funding and compliance risks; we might be harmed by changes in our relationships or contracts with suppliers; our use of third-party data is subject to limitations that could impede the growth of our data services business; we might be adversely impacted by healthcare reform such as changes in pricing and reimbursement models; we might be adversely impacted by competition and industry consolidation; we are adversely impacted by changes or disruptions in product supply and have had difficulties in sourcing or selling products due to a variety of causes; we might be adversely impacted as a result of our distribution of generic pharmaceuticals; we might be adversely impacted by changes in the economic environments in which we operate; changes affecting capital and credit markets might impede access to credit, increase borrowing costs, and disrupt banking services for us and our customers and suppliers and might impair the financial soundness of our customers and suppliers; we might be adversely impacted by changes in tax legislation or challenges to our tax positions; we might be adversely impacted by events outside of our control, such as widespread public health issues, natural disasters, political events and other catastrophic events; we may be adversely affected by global climate change or by legal, regulatory, or market responses to such change; and governance issues and regulations, including those related to social issues, climate change, and sustainability, and stakeholder response thereto may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations and damage our reputation.
About McKesson Corporation
McKesson Corporation is a diversified healthcare services leader dedicated to advancing health outcomes for patients everywhere. Our teams partner with biopharma companies, care providers, pharmacies, manufacturers, governments, and others to deliver insights, products and services to help make quality care more accessible and affordable. Learn more about how McKesson is impacting virtually every aspect of healthcare at McKesson.com and read Our Stories.
1 See below under "Fiscal 2025 Outlook" for full explanation
Tables and full text of earnings release also available for viewing and download in PDF format: McKesson Corporation Reports Fiscal 2025 Third Quarter Results (PDF, 221 KB).