WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Revenue at CVS Health hit $108.4 billion in the third quarter, the company said Wednesday in its own results release, a 5.4% increase from a year earlier, and management raised the outlook for all of 2026.
On a GAAP basis the company earned $1.68 a share in the three months through Sept. 30. A year ago it lost $3.13 a share. Strip out one-time items and earnings were $2.09 a share, against $1.60 last year.
That swing in the GAAP figure is mostly about what did not happen this year. Last year’s quarter absorbed a goodwill impairment charge of $5.7 billion. Nothing on that scale hit this one.
The bottom line swung with it — a profit of $2.17 billion this year after a $3.99 billion loss a year ago. A year ago, operations lost $3.2 billion. This time they made $3.6 billion. Adjusted operating income was up 21.2%, at $4.19 billion, with each of the three segments ahead of last year.
David Joyner, the company’s chairman and CEO, put it this way:
“Our colleagues build trust every day through delivering quality health care rooted in our purpose – to simplify health care one person, one family and one community at a time. Through their continued dedication, each of our businesses delivered another quarter of strong results.”
Guidance raised for the full year
For the full year, GAAP earnings should now come in at $6.98 a share or better. The old guidance topped out at $7.04 and started at $6.84. On an adjusted basis the floor is now $8.20 a share, up from a range of $7.90 to $8.10, and revenue for the year should reach at least $420 billion.
The cash-flow target moved the most. CVS now expects at least $15.5 billion from operations, up from at least $11.5 billion, having already generated $15.3 billion in the first nine months. Behind the raise sit stronger numbers in Health Care Benefits and in Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness. Costs are still running high, management warned, and the wider economy could yet cause trouble, so the company is keeping a cautious view of the rest of the year.
Insurance unit drives the improvement
Aetna sits inside Health Care Benefits, and that is where the improvement was sharpest. Revenue there rose 2.4% to $36.9 billion. Adjusted operating income jumped to $912 million — it was $314 million a year earlier — and the medical benefit ratio eased to 91.3% from 92.8%. Membership in medical plans was 26.1 million at Sept. 30, little changed from June 30.
The company said the segment’s revenue growth came mainly from its Government business, partly offset by its exit from the individual exchange business in 2026. Better underlying performance in that Government business also drove the segment’s earnings gain and the lower benefit ratio.
Health Services, which includes the pharmacy benefit manager, posted revenue of $54 billion, up 9.5% on pharmacy drug mix and brand inflation. Adjusted operating income rose 2.7% to $2.11 billion, and pharmacy claims processed increased 1.3% on a 30-day equivalent basis.
Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness went the other way on revenue. Sales fell 2% to $35.5 billion, which the company attributed to regulatory-related price reductions on some drugs, recent generic drug introductions and pharmacy reimbursement pressure. Adjusted operating income still rose 10.6% to $1.64 billion, and prescriptions filled increased 1.9%, helped by volume from the Rite Aid asset acquisitions completed in the third quarter of 2025.
The company also said more than 69% of Aetna Medicare Advantage members are in 2027 plans rated four stars or higher by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, putting Aetna second among large, publicly traded Medicare Advantage organizations in the program. CVS held its investor call on the results at 8 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday.
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