Cardinal Health

RANK16

The Ohio-based drug wholesaler, which counts CVS Health and Kroger as customers, saw revenues rise 6.4% in its 2019 fiscal year due to growth in its drug and specialty pharmaceutical distribution business—and despite the 2018 divestiture of the business in China. While depressed prices of generic medications and the cost of opioid-related litigation weighed on Cardinal’s bottom line, the company’s profits rebounded from 2018, when the company took a $1.4 billion impairment charge. Like its two large competitors, Cardinal faces thousands of lawsuits over its alleged role in the nation’s opioid epidemic. In February, states rejected a proposed $18 billion settlement with the nation’s three largest drug distributors.