Start here if you're new
what it is
Guardian Pharmacy helps long-term care residents get the right drugs on time through a nationwide pharmacy network.
how it gets paid
Last year Guardian Pharmacy made $1.4B in revenue. Assisted living facilities was the main engine at $0.52B, or 37% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 17.9% last year. Gross profit rose 27% to $85.5M, and gross margin expanded to 21.5% from 19.8%.
what just happened
Guardian posted $397.6M in quarterly revenue and $0.37 adjusted EPS.
At a glance
n/a balance sheet
50.0x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
-$1.77 fy2024 eps est
$1B fy2024 rev est
5.0% operating margin
What they do
Guardian Pharmacy helps long-term care residents get the right drugs on time through a nationwide pharmacy network.
Guardian has 53+ pharmacies and serves about 204,000 residents. Leaving is painful because your meds, timing, and facility workflows are already wired into its system. More than two-thirds of annual revenue comes from assisted living and behavioral health, so the business sits where switching hurts most.
How they make money
$1.4B
annual revenue · their business grew +17.9% last year
Assisted living facilities
$0.52B
Behavioral health and group homes
$0.41B
Other long-term care facilities
$0.29B
Technology-enabled support services
$0.18B
The products that matter
dispenses medications to facilities
Long-Term Care Pharmacy
$1.2B · 83% of revenue
it is the core business, generating $1.2B and growing 18% from last year. If this segment slows, the whole story slows with it.
83% of revenue
runs workflow and client services
Technology & Services
$250M · 17% of revenue
this $250M segment grew 15% and sits closer to the daily operating routine inside client facilities. Smaller revenue base. Bigger role in keeping those clients from shopping around.
stickier than it looks
Key numbers
$1.4B
annual revenue
This is the size of the machine. It grew 17.9% vs. prior year, which matters more than the headline P/E.
19.7%
gross margin
You keep 19.7 cents of each sales dollar before overhead. That leaves room, but not much.
5.0%
operating margin
After overhead, only 5.0 cents survive per dollar. That is why small pricing mistakes matter.
204,000
residents served
This is the customer base. More residents means more recurring prescriptions and fewer empty trucks.
Financial health
n/a
strength
- balance sheet grade n/a
- long-term debt $27M (1% of capital)
n/a — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for GRDN right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Guardian posted $397.6M in quarterly revenue and $0.37 adjusted EPS.
Gross profit rose 27% to $85.5M, and gross margin expanded to 21.5% from 19.8%. The business got bigger and a little less messy at the same time.
$397.6M
revenue
$0.37
eps
21.5%
gross margin
the number that mattered
21.5% gross margin was the number that mattered. It moved up from 19.8%, which means the quarter got more profitable before overhead.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
Guardian is being priced like a compounding growth story. If the business starts looking more like a normal long-term-care pharmacy, you will feel that gap in the stock before you see it in the marketing copy.
med
valuation premium erosion
The stock trades at 115x trailing earnings versus a sector average near 22.7x. That spread is the entire tension. If growth looks more normal than special, the multiple can do plenty of damage even if the business stays decent.
A premium multiple needs premium execution every quarter. GRDN does not have much room to be merely fine.
med
organic growth slips below the story
Revenue grew 18%, but management's next organic growth target is closer to 13%. That is still good. It is also slower. If facility wins or script growth come in lighter than planned, investors will notice quickly.
When a fast grower starts to look like a normal grower, the stock usually figures it out before the headlines do.
med
margin gives back the recent improvement
Gross margin improved to 21.5% from 19.8%, and Q4 gross profit rose 27% to $85.5M. That helps justify the optimism. If that improvement fades, the case for paying up weakens in a hurry.
The market is paying for better profitability tomorrow, not just more revenue tomorrow.
A company guiding to $120M–$124M of EBITDA is being valued at roughly $2B. If growth slows and margin expansion stalls at the same time, the premium has less room to hide.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
adjusted ebitda against the $120M–$124M guide
The raised guide is the bull case in one line. If quarterly results stop tracking toward that range, the story gets more fragile.
next report
whether organic growth still holds near 13%
The company just posted 18% revenue growth. The next few quarters need to show that a move toward 13% is orderly, not the start of a sharper fade.
risk
gross margin after the move to 21.5%
Margin expanded from 19.8% to 21.5%. Watch whether that holds, because the valuation assumes this is a trend and not a one-quarter gift.
trend
how the market treats premium healthcare multiples
GRDN trades far above the sector's 22.7x average. If the market gets less generous with high-multiple healthcare names, this stock does not need bad company news to feel pressure.
Analyst rankings
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for GRDN is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$32
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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