United Parcel Service’s chief executive believes the company’s expanding prescription medication delivery operations will provide financial protection during economic turbulence, as global conflicts threaten to impact business conditions.
CEO Carol Tome explained that the specialized healthcare delivery sector offers better stability than traditional industries during economic downturns. The business involves careful handling of temperature-controlled medications and radioactive treatments, commanding premium pricing.
“There have been lots of challenges over the past several years – high inflation, contractions in markets – but healthcare continues to grow,” Tome told Reuters this week. “I would argue that healthcare is pretty recession-proof.”
The pharmaceutical shipping segment has become a cornerstone of UPS’s multi-year restructuring effort as the company competes with FedEx while shifting toward fewer but more profitable deliveries.
Through strategic acquisitions, UPS now controls the largest share of the outsourced healthcare logistics industry, valued at over $80 billion. Industry experts predict this market could more than double within ten years, while competitors FedEx and Germany’s DHL Group also seek expansion in this area.
Tome emphasized that companies pursue complex healthcare logistics due to the substantial fees and strong profit margins these specialized services command.
She noted that shipping expensive medications generates profit margins in the mid-to-high teen percentages, while online retail delivery margins fall into very low single-digit ranges.
This strategy is already producing positive results as lightweight package deliveries for retailers like Amazon and Walmart continue pressuring company profits.
“We’ve just reported our first $3 billion healthcare revenue quarter in our company history and we’ve taken share in this space since 2021,” Tome said.
UPS generated $11.2 billion in healthcare revenue for 2025, representing nearly 13% of total company revenue. Healthcare comprised more than 14% of UPS’s consolidated revenue during the first quarter of 2026.
When asked about impacts from the Iran conflict, Tome indicated UPS’s core operations remain stable despite rising fuel costs affecting consumer and business spending due to Strait of Hormuz disruptions.
Industry observers are monitoring one healthcare business segment that could face recession vulnerability – home delivery of weight-loss medications that patients purchase directly rather than through insurance coverage.
UPS recruited Tome from retirement in June 2020, bringing the former Home Depot financial chief aboard as the company’s first external CEO in over a century of operations.
Her “better, not bigger” approach has transformed the world’s largest package delivery service, reducing Amazon’s portion of UPS business from over 13% to 8.8% in the most recent quarter while funding acquisitions to expand healthcare capabilities.
The Atlanta-headquartered company has been shuttering facilities and reducing staff, including unionized drivers earning over $100,000 annually, to offset the loss of millions of Amazon shipments.
UPS transferred its budget-priced Ground Saver service to the U.S. Postal Service as tariff policies reduced millions of low-value shipments from Chinese-connected retailers like Temu and Shein.
The company has also invested in hub upgrades featuring automation, package monitoring systems and efficiency tools designed to reduce delivery costs.
Most transformation work is approaching completion, generating billions in operational savings and positioning the company for improved profitability. Stifel analyst Bruce Chan described the progress in a research report titled: “Home Stretch: Heaviest Lift of Transformation Complete … Now for the Benefits to Materialize.”
