McKesson Corp (MCK)

Still likes it. The drug sector remains strong given an aging population and a flurry of new drugs.

One of the largest distributors of pharmaceuticals in USA.
Expecting to grow earnings 12-15% annual.
Trading at good share price for long term investors.
Beneficiary of domestic spending. 
Will continue to hold. 

Earnings are growing about 12-14% per year, revenues over 10%. Trades about 15x earnings. Exited European operations, so now a pure play on a domestic company and a hedge against international exposure. Yield is 0.59%.

This has been a very successful operation. The 5th largest corporation in the US, and doing extremely well. 60 Minutes recently did a profile on their distribution of opioids to pharmacies/dispensaries where the DVA thought they should have known there were some orders that were not legitimate and were going to cartels and illegal drug distribution networks. He thinks this has some legs, so he would not venture into this company.

Why is this down?60 Minutes did a story on the 3 large drug distributors, Mckesson, Cardinal Health (CAH-N) and Amerisourcebergen (ABC-N), that they are contributing to the opioid crisis. Or it could be that there hasn’t been much earnings growth over the past year because of pricing pressure, especially on generic drugs. He is bullish on drug distributors over the long run, and doesn’t think these stocks are going to turn around anytime soon.

He sold last year. They are one of the bigger drug distributors. They own Rexall. They diversified their business. They are mostly a wholesale drug distributor, taking the drug from the manufacturer to the hospital or retail pharmacy. He is bothered by generic pricing. Drug spending is about 10% of healthcare expenditures. The next leg of political rhetoric is the pharmacy benefit managers and distributors. This is his favourite, but he is on the sidelines.