Cardinal Health's removal from the Russell 1000 Defensive, Russell 1000 Growth-Defensive and Russell 1000 Value-Defensive indices reflects Russell's periodic reclassification following a sharp share price appreciation rather than any deterioration in business performance. The stock soared more than 70% in 2025 and has added another 15.4% year to date, outperforming the industry's 0.2% decline and the S&P 500's 9.9% gain. While index-linked funds may trim holdings, creating potential short-term selling pressure, the removal does not signal weakening fundamentals, and several Wall Street analysts have recently raised their price targets. Cardinal Health continues to strengthen its position as one of the three dominant U.S. pharmaceutical distributors, with its Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions segment delivering double-digit revenue and profit growth and high-margin businesses such as at-Home Solutions, Nuclear & Precision Health Solutions and OptiFreight Logistics outgrowing the core distribution business. The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects fiscal 2026 earnings per share of $10.76, implying 30.6% year-over-year growth, and revenues of $256.24 billion, up 15.1%, while the average analyst target price still implies roughly 5.6% upside from current levels.
Cardinal Health IncRemoval from Russell indices may cause short-term selling by index funds, but fundamentals remain strong with raised analyst targets.
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