Centene Raises Full-Year Outlook Again as Medicare Cost Ratio Improves
CNC has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $31.63.
Summary
Centene lifted full-year revenue guidance to $196.5B-$200.5B from $193.5B-$197.5B and adjusted EPS to $5.20 from $4.80, with GAAP EPS now above $3.46 versus a prior $3.11 floor. The driver is a lower health benefits ratio in Medicare plus better operating expense control, even as membership slid to 25.7 million from 27.97 million a year earlier. Q3 adjusted EPS of $0.58 crushed the $0.10 FactSet consensus, and revenue of $50.65B rose from $49.69B a year ago against expectations of a decline to $47.12B. The health benefits ratio came in at 92.7% versus the 92.9% analysts expected, and the company guided the full-year ratio to 90.4%-91.1%. This follows the 8-K filed last night and the earlier loss-per-share report; the guidance raise is the part that changes the earnings picture, coming after the August cut to the 2026 Medicaid outlook on work-rule membership declines.
At the time of this announcement, CNC was trading at $66.49 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 news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.