Here's Why You Should Retain Cencora Stock in Your Portfolio Now

Cencora, Inc. COR is well-poised for growth on the back of a robust U.S. Healthcare Solutions business and product launches. However, intense competition is a concern.Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have risen 13.4% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 12.1% gain. The S&P 500 Index has jumped 13.6% in the same time frame.Cencora is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical service companies. It is focused on providing drug distribution and related services to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. The company has a market capitalization of $67.15 billion.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchCOR’s bottom line is anticipated to improve 11.9% over the next five years. Its earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 5.51%.Positive Factors Driving COR’s ProspectsDurable Specialty Pharmaceutical and Utilization Tailwinds: Cencora continues to benefit from sustained pharmaceutical utilization trends, particularly within specialty drugs distributed to physician practices and health systems. Management highlighted strong demand across oncology and retina, supported by favorable demographics and ongoing innovation in pharmaceuticals.As a market-leading distributor aligned with top manufacturers, Cencora is structurally positioned to benefit regardless of which drug innovators ultimately win. This dynamic underpins management’s confidence in long-term organic operating income growth of 6-9%, even as near-term performance continues to outpace long-term averages.Expanding MSO Platform Enhances Growth and Strategic Moat: Cencora’s expansion into management services organizations (MSOs) represents a natural evolution of its specialty distribution leadership. Investments in OneOncology and Retina Consultants of America deepen relationships with physician practices while enabling higher-value services, such as practice management, clinical trials support and administrative optimization. These MSOs drive both organic growth and acquisition-led expansion while reinforcing Cencora’s pharmaceutical-centric strategy.Management emphasized that oncology and retina are the most pharma-intensive specialties, making them ideal platforms for sustainable, synergistic growth across distribution, services and GPO offerings.Biosimilars as a Structural Margin and Profitability Tailwind: Rising adoption of biosimilars in the Part B market remains a meaningful profitability driver for Cencora. While biosimilars may moderate reported revenue growth, management emphasized they generate higher margins than branded products, supporting operating income expansion.Strong physician adoption in oncology and retina reinforces this benefit, particularly within MSO and GPO channels. As additional biosimilars launch over time, Cencora is positioned to benefit from a recurring cycle of innovation, patent expirations, and product transitions that consistently favor gross profit dollars and return on invested capital.Negative Factors Hurting CORWeakness in International Healthcare Solutions: The international segment continues to face declines in global specialty logistics and consulting, caused by subdued clinical trial activity and slower-than-expected recovery in biotech services. The operating income for the segment was down 2% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, worse than previous expectations.GLP-1 Growth Moderation and Loss of Low-Margin Revenue Sources: Although GLP-1 sales remain strong, their growth has slowed to 19%, down from earlier periods, weakening one of the company’s major drivers of top-line expansion.Additionally, COR lost a large grocery-channel customer — high revenues but very low margin — which is weighing on reported revenue growth. These factors led the company to trim its U.S. revenue outlook to the lower end of the range.Cencora, Inc. Price Cencora, Inc. price | Cencora, Inc. QuoteEstimate TrendCOR has been witnessing a positive estimate revision trend for fiscal 2026. In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has increased from $17.59 to $17.62 per share.The consensus mark for first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenues is pegged at $85.88 billion, indicating a 5.4% improvement from the year-ago reported actuals. The bottom-line estimate is pinned at $4.04, implying year-over-year growth of 8.3%.Stocks to ConsiderSome better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Medpace Holdings MEDP, Intuitive Surgical ISRG and Boston Scientific BSX.Medpace, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), reported third-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of $3.86, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.29%. Revenues of $659.9 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.04%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy)stocks here.MEDP has an estimated earnings growth rate of 17.1% for 2025 compared with the industry’s 16.6% growth. The company beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.28%.Intuitive Surgical, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 at present, posted third-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.40, which exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.6%. Revenues of $2.51 billion topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.9%.ISRG has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 15.7% compared with the industry’s 11.9% growth. The company’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 16.34%.Boston Scientific, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2, reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS of 75 cents, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.6%. Revenues of $5.07 billion outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.9%.BSX has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 16.4% compared with the industry’s 13.5% growth. The company’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 7.36%.Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge GainsQuantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power.Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX): Free Stock Analysis Report Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (ISRG): Free Stock Analysis Report Cencora, Inc. (COR): Free Stock Analysis Report Medpace Holdings, Inc. (MEDP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks