MELBOURNE, March 23, 2026, 06:18 AEDT
Sigma Healthcare jumped 4.5% to A$2.78 on March 20, landing the Chemist Warehouse owner near the top of the blue-chip board. Jefferies bumped its rating to buy from hold, tagging a A$3.05 target price.
This one stood out—trading volume surged to 103 million shares, a sharp leap from the 10.9 million to 19.5 million range seen over the previous four sessions. Even with Friday’s bounce, the stock remained roughly 5.4% lower for the year.
David Stanton at Jefferies described Sigma as a “high-quality retail franchise”, adding that he anticipates growth will persist, even as the boost from GLP-1 drugs—used for obesity and diabetes—fades in the latter part of fiscal 2026. The Wall Street Journal
The group’s latest batch of numbers drove that view. On Feb. 26, Sigma reported a 14.9% jump in revenue to A$5.5 billion for the half-year ending Dec. 31. Normalised EBIT rose 18.7% to A$582.9 million. Sales at Chemist Warehouse-branded stores in Australia climbed 17.2%. Same-store sales moved up 15.0%, while the international retail network delivered a 24.5% gain. “The result underscores the strength of Sigma’s integrated model,” Chief Executive Vikesh Ramsunder said. Sigma Healthcare Limited
On Friday, Sigma paid out its interim dividend—2 Australian cents per share—delivering on its February promise to hand back nearly 60% of first-half profits to shareholders.
Sigma took on the role of Chemist Warehouse’s listed entity after shareholders signed off on the merger back in January 2025, forming a group valued at A$8.8 billion. Chemist Warehouse investors ultimately walked away with 85.8% of the new company, which now supplies roughly 1,200 pharmacies aligned with Sigma and runs over 658 Chemist Warehouse stores.
Scale has been both the selling point and the sticking point. The ACCC gave the go-ahead after Sigma committed to allowing franchisees out of their deals, penalty-free. Ebos Australia and the Pharmacy Guild pushed back, arguing the merger might tighten the grip on pharmacy supply and retail.
Friday’s rally could easily run out of steam. Jefferies is bullish, counting on fatter margins as rising volumes push through a largely fixed cost base, with a bigger slice of sales coming from higher-margin generics. Sigma claims it’s already banked A$13 million in early synergies and is aiming for A$100 million a year by fiscal 2029. But if demand for GLP-1 drugs fades more quickly, or the integration process stumbles, that outlook gets shakier.
