Medline (MDLN) FY2025 results: revenue $28.4 billion, up 11.5% on the year

Medline is a provider of medical-surgical ("med-surg") products and supply chain services, which the company describes as the largest on total net sales of med-surg products. It was founded in 1966 and sells to hospitals, surgery centers, physician offices and post-acute facilities. Through two segments it offers approximately 335,000 med-surg products, including surgical and procedural kits, gloves and protective apparel, urological and incontinence care, wound care, and consumable lab and diagnostics products. It employs over 45,000 people worldwide.

How the business is organised

Medline reports two segments, Medline Brand and Supply Chain Solutions. Medline Brand made up 48.3% of total net sales and Supply Chain Solutions made up 51.7%. Both segments are supported by the Prime Vendor model, the distribution network and the commercial team.

As of 31 December 2025 it offered approximately 190,000 products. Supply Chain Solutions offered approximately 145,000 products from over 1,300 third-party suppliers. It also sells services such as consulting, outsourced warehouse and technology management, put-away-ready packaging, third-party logistics, inventory rationalization and route planning.

What it sells

Medline Brand products fall into three categories:

• Front Line Care: wound care, exam gloves, skin care and incontinence products, environment cleaning supplies, textiles, hand sanitizer, durable medical equipment, patient plastics, and decolonization and infection control products.
• Surgical Solutions: surgical procedure trays, drapes and gowns, personal protective equipment, sterile wraps, surgical instruments, surgeon's gloves, procedure kits and orthopedic implants.
• Laboratory and Diagnostics: point of care testing, analyzers and instrumentation, lab and diagnostic consumables, vital signs monitors, and anatomic pathology and phlebotomy products.

The filing names Medline, Curad, Microtek, Hudson and Proxima among its notable brands. The company holds more than 2,300 granted patents and more than 450 FDA 510(k) clearances, and it launched more than 250 new products over the last three years.

The Prime Vendor model

A Prime Vendor relationship is a multi-year distribution agreement under which a customer agrees to use Medline for the vast majority of its med-surg product needs. These agreements are typically structured with five-year terms. Medline had over 1,600 Prime Vendor relationships as of 31 December 2025, and the company reports a greater than 98% average Prime Vendor retention rate over the past five years.

As of that date, Prime Vendor agreements had an approximate average mix of 65% Supply Chain Solutions and 35% Medline Brand. The company says Medline Brand products carry lower prices than third-party alternatives and that it has historically earned higher margins when customers switch from third-party national brands to like-for-like Medline Brand products. It also says such a switch typically lowers net sales if volume stays constant.

How it makes and sources products

Medline manufactures approximately one-third of its Medline Brand products, mostly Class I and II medical devices, in 30 manufacturing facilities, 24 of them in North America. For most of the rest it works with more than 600 global partners across approximately 40 countries. No single sourcing partner accounted for more than 5% of total spend. The company uses ethylene oxide to sterilize certain products and has two primary sterilization facilities for it.

Distribution and sales force

The distribution network has 70 distribution centers, warehouses, cross-docks and transship facilities, 45 of them in the United States. It is set up to provide next-day delivery to 95% of the U.S. customer base. The company uses artificial intelligence and robotics in over 26 million square feet of U.S. warehouse space and runs more than 2,100 MedTrans trucks of its own. As of 31 December 2025 it had approximately 25% in incremental capacity across the platform.

A U.S. commercial team of approximately 4,000 people includes account managers, product specialists, clinical resources, customer service representatives, supply chain specialists and Prime Vendor analysts.

Competitors, regulators and people

Medline competes with other med-surg manufacturers, many of which depend on third-party distributors. It also competes with distributors such as McKesson, Cardinal Health, Owens & Minor and Henry Schein for Prime Vendor agreements. No international market represents more than 3% of net sales.

The business is regulated by the FDA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies. None of its products is currently approved under a premarket approval application.

Of its employees, over 26,000 are in the United States, and none of them are unionized. The largest non-U.S. employee populations are in Mexico, Dominican Republic, India, Canada, Slovakia, France, China, Japan, Germany and Australia.

From Medline's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. The filing

Written from the 10-K filed 25 February 2026: read the full 10-K.