Q4 Earnings: These Buy-Rated Stocks Crushed Expectations

The 2025 Q4 earnings cycle keeps rolling along, with a wide array of S&P 500 companies already delivering results. The period has yet again been one of resilience, with overall growth remaining strong.

But more specifically, this cycle, several buy-rated companies – Cardinal Health CAH and Palantir PLTR – posted results that were notably strong.

Palantir Growth Remains Stellar

Palantir again continued to fire on all cylinders throughout the period, with overall sales of $1.4 billion flying 70% year-over-year. U.S. results were rock-solid again, underpinned by both commercial and government strength. Specifically, U.S. sales totaled $1.1 billion, growing 93% year-over-year and an even more impressive 28% sequentially.

Further, Palantir closed more than $4.2 billion of total contract value (TCV) overall, up more than 130% from the year-ago period. And its consumer base keeps snowballing, with customer count surging 34% from the year-ago period.

Below is a chart illustrating the company’s sales on a quarterly basis.

Shares have had a tough showing over recent weeks, with some profit-taking likely occurring after a massive run. While price action hasn’t been ideal, the company’s current fiscal year EPS outlook remains bullish, as shown below. The stock remains a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Cardinal Health Raises Guidance

Cardinal Health posted a double-beat relative to our consensus expectations, with sales soaring 18.8% from the year-ago period alongside a sizable 36.3% year-over-year growth rate in adjusted EPS.

Cardinal Health’s sales have seen great growth over recent periods after some stagnation throughout 2024, as shown in the chart below.

Strength was primarily broad-based across its segments, with sales in Pharmaceuticals and Specialty Solutions climbing 19% year-over-year. Keep in mind that its Pharmaceuticals and Specialty Solutions accounts for the vast majority of its sales, contributing roughly 90%.

Cardinal Health raised its FY26 outlook following the strong quarter, now expecting adjusted EPS in a band of $10.15 - $10.35, with the midpoint suggesting 24.5% year-over-year growth. The updated outlook is reflected in positive earnings estimate revisions, as shown below. The stock sports a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Bottom Line

The 2025 Q4 earnings season continues to roll along, with the period largely positive and resilient.

And throughout the period, several buy-rated companies – Palantir PLTR and Cardinal Health CAH – posted very strong quarterly results.   

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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