News

The consumer health company’s GLP-1 shelf strategy at CVS is paying off, and bigger retailers could follow.

The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who didn’t). Let’s take a look at how health insurance providers stocks fared in Q2, starting with CVS Health (NYSE:CVS).

The sale lets Ascension shed insurance risk while Aetna gains a stake in a profitable plan serving high-margin dual-eligible members.

A piece of the company is winding down its operations under CVS Health.

CVS Health (CVS) keeps a little over a penny of profit from every dollar it takes in. A net margin of 1.2% reads like a verdict on the business. On $415.1 billion of revenue, one point of net margin is worth over $4 billion, and 1.2% is closer to a floor than a peak. Management has been working on it through 2026.

Kroger (KR) has cut its 2026 same-store sales outlook and kept its 2026 profit outlook. If you own the stock, the easy comfort is that earnings held. The risk sits inside that comfort. The cost savings holding up profit are the same savings management plans to spend on lower shelf prices, and the stock is down 15% over the past six months.

BTSG faces a $200M 2026 IRA revenue headwind in Home Pharmacy, but efficiency gains and technology are helping protect profitability.

When the Federal Reserve lifts rates and signals they may stay elevated for years, the easy-growth playbook breaks. Cash flows today matter more than promises tomorrow, and investors start to care a lot about balance sheet strength, pricing power and dependable dividends. This article walks through three large cap quality defensive stocks that screen well under those rules and explains how the latest Fed move could affect each one. The three stocks below are a sample of what this quality...

At the WSJ Leadership Institute's Technology Council Summit, technology executives from McKinsey, FedEx and CVS Health discuss how they are navigating the rising costs of generative AI and finding real business value.

UnitedHealth's repair job is going to plan almost everywhere. The exception is the cost of its commercial health plans, where medical costs are running modestly above the 11% the company had been expecting. Medicare costs are coming in below what it planned for 2026, and Medicaid cost trend is in line, though management expects Medicaid margins to stay pressured for 2026. That cost divergence is what a holder should watch.

Cardinal Health expects IRA pricing changes to pressure Pharma revenues while protecting profitability through compensation and durable distribution agreements.

CVS trades at a forward multiple that screams cheap, yet the street's already bullish and our model runs even hotter. Before you trust either read, there are a few risks that could turn this setup into a trap.

CVS Health (CVS) concluded the recent trading session at $94.43, signifying a -1.17% move from its prior day's close.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) announced the rollout of updated 2026 to 2027 COVID-19 vaccines across CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations. The new vaccines are positioned for broad availability through CVS Health’s nationwide network of retail pharmacies and in store clinics. CVS Health highlighted the vaccines as part of its role in supporting ongoing COVID-19 management and wider public health efforts. This fresh 2026 to 2027 COVID-19 vaccine rollout at CVS Health sits against a wider backdrop...

CVS Health's Health Services arm is gaining from pharmacy strength and improving care delivery, with robust new sales and clinic economics supporting growth.

“No, I don’t think so,” answered Joon Sung Park, co-founder and CEO at “digital twin” startup Simile, on the opening day of the Leadership Institute’s WSJ Technology Council Summit yesterday. Twins created with Simile are currently helping CVS Health make decisions more quickly and confidently, executives said as part of the same discussion. When the pharmacy and insurance company wanted to encourage adoption of lower-cost biologic drug alternatives, twins of the consumer pool suggested that people wanted to hear recommendations from their healthcare providers, said Tilak Mandadi, executive vice president of ventures and chief experience and technology officer at CVS Health.

Tilak Mandadi, chief experience and technology officer at CVS Health, criticized the growing trend of appointing "Chief AI Officers," and explains what leaders should be focusing on instead.

At the WSJ Leadership Institute's Tech Council Summit, CVS Health’s Sri Narasimhan breaks down how AI simulations are disrupting traditional market research.

The health care giant showered its owners with cash, yet the stock spent years in the slow lane. Here’s the accounting of what that trade-off actually delivered.

Joon Sung Park, chief executive of AI startup Simile, and Tilak Mandadi and Sri Narasimhan of CVS Health discuss the practical applications, accuracy and enterprise potential of AI-driven human behavior simulations.

UnitedHealth (UNH) has spent the past year repairing margins rather than chasing growth. The shares rebounded well ahead of any actual margin recovery: up about 38% over the past six months, though down about 6% over the past three, and still behind the S&P 500 over the past twelve months, 12.2% for the stock against 18.6% for the index. What argues for owning them now shows up in cash running ahead of reported profit.

CVS Health is looking more attractive -- and it sports an appealing dividend, too, recently yielding 2.8%.

CVS is picking up the overflow as Walgreens closes 1,200 stores and goes private.

Older workers are forced to battle assumptions that they are slow learners and are baffled by technology.

Elevance Health (ELV) has returned more than 40% over the past six months, though it is down 6.5% over the past three while the S&P 500 gained 3.4%. The next leg will not come from selling more insurance. It will come from keeping more of the premium it already collects.

CVS is benefiting from pharmacy growth, AI investments and a discounted valuation, but reimbursement pressure and regulatory scrutiny remain key risks.

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX ) (SPY ) is down -0.54% today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI ) (DIA ) is down -0.32%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX ) (QQQ ) is down -0.96%. E-mini S&P futures (ESU26 ) are down -0.50%, and September E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQU26...

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) executives said the company is seeing improved momentum across its insurance, pharmacy, care delivery and balance-sheet priorities, while maintaining a cautious outlook on healthcare cost trends and several 2027 headwinds. Speaking at an investor conference, Chief Financial Of

UnitedHealth (UNH) runs the best operating margin of the three managed care companies in its peer group, and the slowest revenue growth of the three. It also carries a significant valuation premium over its peer, Cigna, trading at more than double its earnings multiple.

CVS Health noted a continuation of "high-trend" medical cost growth at a Wells Fargo investor conference on Wednesday, helping to put a spring in the step of hospital stocks including HCA Healthcare, while souring the mood of managed care investors. Shares of CVS stock came away relatively unscathed, while UnitedHealth slipped and Oscar Health stumbled. CVS management's comments about medical cost trends were brief and vague, while Wells Fargo conference presentations by HCA and Universal Health Services didn't appear to provide updates to Q3 trends since Q2 earnings calls.