There may not be enough time to make it to our target price of $82 for Cardinal Health (CAH) when our target holding period for it expires on Feb. 22, but the quarterly earnings results the company released today gave it a strong shove in that direction, rising above $79 this morning for the first time since last October. CAH easily beat its consensus per share (fully diluted) earnings forecast of $1.23 by posting a profit of $1.34.

But the news was not all good; the company came in a little below its top-line revenue estimate, and reduced earnings guidance for the year from $5.50 to $5.40 based on expected lower generic drug prices that may cut into profit margins. However, with so much uncertainty swirling around Trump’s replacement plan for the ACA, estimating future revenue for a healthcare business is at best a guessing game so nobody is putting much stock in those figures.

Given how little time is left in this trade, it is doubtful more unexpected good news will materialize over the next three weeks so I am raising our stop loss on it to $76 to lock in at least half of our targeted gain while giving it the opportunity to reach our target price. Those of you holding call options may want to consider cashing them in prior to expiration if you are satisfied with your gains.