Henry Schein finds fresh momentum in US dental volumes and raises 2026 outlook

Henry Schein, Inc. (NASDAQ:HSIC) has raised its 2026 earnings outlook after US dental merchandise sales grew 8.6% in the third quarter, with the company attributing the increase primarily to higher volumes and market share gains. The healthcare distributor reported US$3.471 billion in sales for the three months ended September 26, up 4.0% from a year earlier.

The upgraded outlook is for non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of US$5.50 to US$5.56, compared with the previous range of US$5.29 to US$5.39. Henry Schein also moved its adjusted EBITDA growth expectation to the high-single-digits from the previous mid-to-high-single-digit range, while leaving its full-year sales growth forecast unchanged at 4.5% to 5.5%.

US dental merchandise drives third-quarter growth

GAAP diluted EPS rose 26.2% to US$1.06, while non-GAAP diluted EPS increased 13.0% to US$1.56. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, reached US$321 million, up from US$295 million, and its margin expanded by 40 basis points to 9.24%.

The cleaner comparison was stronger than the headline adjusted EPS figure suggests. Henry Schein recorded a US$0.19 per-share net benefit from tariff refunds in the quarter, while the prior-year period included a US$0.23 per-share remeasurement gain. Excluding those items, adjusted non-GAAP diluted EPS rose 19.1% to US$1.37. That comparison is still based on the company’s non-GAAP presentation, which excludes items including restructuring, acquisition-related amortisation and selected value-creation costs.

Dental distribution outpaces medical and services

Global dental distribution merchandise sales increased 7.0%, compared with 1.1% growth in global medical distribution. Equipment sales rose 2.3%, while global technology revenue increased 5.2%. Value-added services were the weak spot, falling 4.8% globally and 7.6% in the US.

Henry Schein repurchased about 1.4 million shares for US$125 million during the quarter, taking year-to-date buybacks to roughly 5.7 million shares and US$450 million. About US$330 million remained authorised for future repurchases at quarter-end. The balance sheet showed US$184 million in cash, alongside US$1.0 billion in bank credit lines and US$2.382 billion in long-term debt.

Higher guidance carries defined exclusions

The raised full-year guidance includes the third-quarter tariff refund benefit and assumes targeted, limited growth investments in the final quarter, which management says are intended to contribute to 2027 growth. It assumes no significant further tariff refunds or remeasurement gains for the rest of 2026.

That leaves two questions intertwined: whether the US dental volume improvement can persist once the one-off tariff benefit drops out, and how much of the higher EBITDA outlook will be absorbed by the planned growth spending. Henry Schein’s guidance does not reconcile to GAAP because the company cannot reliably estimate the timing and scale of restructuring and related costs, which could be material.