Cowen analyst Charles Rihyee downgraded McKesson to Market Perform saying he sees limited growth drivers. Rihyee said the 15+ year supercycle of generic introductions is coming to an end and expects a deceleration in generic introductions in 2016, and turning into headwinds in 2017 and further in 2018. The analyst does not expect generic inflation to return anytime soon due to the FDA's recent clearance of the ANDA backlog, and does not think it will accumulate again. Rihyee lowered his price target on Cardinal Health shares to $173 from $208.

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."