Centene Swings to $71M Q3 Loss; Adjusted EPS $0.58 as Membership Falls 8%
CNC has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $31.63.
Summary
Centene posted a $71 million Q3 GAAP loss (adjusted EPS $0.58) on flat 92.7% medical costs, while membership fell 8% and Marketplace revenue shrank sharply. The 10-Q also flags a drop in 2027 Medicare Advantage star ratings and another $50-100 million of restructuring costs this year.
Key Events · Earnings and Guidance · CNC
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Q3 Swings to $71M GAAP Loss
Net loss attributable to Centene was $71 million, or $(0.14) diluted EPS, versus $(6,631) million a year ago when a $6,723 million goodwill impairment drove the loss. Adjusted diluted EPS rose to $0.58 from $0.50.
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Membership Down 8% Year Over Year
Managed care membership fell 2.3 million to 25.7 million; Marketplace dropped to 3,403,300 from 5,828,100, cutting Commercial revenue 21% to $8,700 million.
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Restructuring Costs Keep Climbing
Q3 2026 included $297 million of severance and third-party vendor costs from enterprise optimization, and management expects another $50 million to $100 million of severance in the remainder of 2026.
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2027 Medicare Star Ratings Deteriorate
October 2026 CMS ratings put about 42% of Medicare Advantage membership in 3.5-star-or-higher plans, down from roughly 60%, affecting 2028 plan-year revenue.
Analysis · CNC · Finance
Centene's third quarter flipped to a $71 million GAAP loss from a $6.6 billion loss a year ago, but the prior-year figure was almost entirely a $6.7 billion goodwill impairment, so the comparison flatters the trend rather than describing it. The cleaner read is adjusted diluted EPS of $0.58 versus $0.50, with the medical benefits ratio flat at 92.7% and the adjusted SG&A ratio down to 6.5% from 7.0% — cost control is working even as revenue growth stalls at 2%. The problem is the top line: membership fell 8% to 25.7 million, with Marketplace collapsing to 3.4 million from 5.8 million as enhanced subsidies expired, and Commercial revenue dropped 21%. Against that, the company is spending real money on restructuring — $297 million of severance and vendor costs in the quarter, with another $50-100 million expected this year — and burned $3.7 billion of operating cash in the quarter on pass-through payment timing. Management also disclosed that October's 2027 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings put only about 42% of MA membership in 3.5-star-or-higher plans, down from roughly 60%, which pressures 2028 revenue.
How filings like this one have moved
In the 30 days to Oct 27, 2026, 29.9% of the 1374 measured filings Wiseek scored 7 moved their stock by 5% or more by the next session's close. The median move was -0.12%. These are measured outcomes after filings of this importance, not a forecast for this one.
Measured one observation per ticker per day, after exclusions. Current figures: Filing Impact Tracker · open dataset
At the time of this filing, CNC was trading at $63.85 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $33.6B. The 52-week trading range was $31.63 to $72.50. This filing was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10.