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. 1
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. 2
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. 3
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. 4
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. 5
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. 6
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. 7
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. 3
