Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Guardian Pharmacy Services beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.29 versus the $0.24 consensus and revenue of $336.6 million versus estimates of $329.9 million. Revenue rose 2.2% year over year, and net margin was 3.64%.
• Management said the business is still growing despite IRA-related pricing pressure, noting about a 60% decline in pricing on impacted branded drugs. Even so, resident counts and script volumes were each up roughly 10% year over year, and gross profit increased 19%.
• Full-year outlook improved as Guardian raised adjusted EBITDA guidance to $123 million-$127 million while leaving revenue guidance unchanged at $1.40 billion-$1.42 billion. The company also highlighted a strong balance sheet, recent secondary offering, and ongoing M&A activity.

Guardian Pharmacy Services (NYSE:GRDN - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $336.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $329.89 million. Guardian Pharmacy Services had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 32.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Guardian Pharmacy Services' conference call:

• Despite an approximately 60% decline in pricing on IRA-impacted branded drugs, Guardian delivered reported revenue growth of 2% (would be low-double-digit absent the IRA) and achieved double-digit gross profit growth through proactive, firm-wide payer negotiations and mitigation actions.
• The IRA introduced new operational complexity — branded drugs now flow through CMS's Medicare Transaction Facilitator and varied manufacturer data formats — causing a one-time working-capital reset and payment timing delays; management says this is temporary and manageable given its strong balance sheet, but it may strain smaller competitors.
• Underlying operating strength in Q1 included residents and script volumes each up ~10% YoY, revenue of $336.6M, gross profit of $76M (+19% YoY), and adjusted EBITDA of $29.8M (+27% YoY); management raised full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $123M–$127M while keeping revenue guidance at $1.40B–$1.42B.
• Guardian completed a non-dilutive secondary offering (6.9M shares at $31) that improved liquidity and investor breadth, plans to maintain its historical M&A pace with a robust pipeline, but recent acquisitions currently depress consolidated margins by roughly ~80 basis points.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of GRDN traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.01. 542,778 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,506. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.07 and a 200 day moving average of $32.28. Guardian Pharmacy Services has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $41.36.

Insider Transactions at Guardian Pharmacy Services

In other Guardian Pharmacy Services news, insider Fred Burke sold 671,432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $19,928,101.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 840,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,943,457.84. This trade represents a 44.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kendall Forbes sold 346,672 shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total value of $10,289,224.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 453,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,452,638.08. This trade represents a 43.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,726,405 shares of company stock worth $288,679,700 over the last ninety days. 32.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guardian Pharmacy Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Guardian Pharmacy Services by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,175 shares of the company's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $348,000. Valiant Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Valiant Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,232,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,085,000 after purchasing an additional 167,741 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP grew its position in shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 31,266 shares of the company's stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 15,218 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRDN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a report on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Bank of America started coverage on Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens increased their target price on Guardian Pharmacy Services from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Guardian Pharmacy Services in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.33.

Guardian Pharmacy Services Company Profile

Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc, a pharmacy service company, provides a suite of technology-enabled services designed to help residents of long-term health care facilities (LTCFs) in the United States. Its individualized clinical, drug dispensing, and administration capabilities are used to serve the needs of residents in lower acuity LTCFs, such as assisted living facilities and behavioral health facilities and group homes. The company's Guardian Compass includes dashboards created using data from its data warehouse to help its local pharmacies plan, track, and optimize their business operations; and GuardianShield Programs for LTCFs.

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