AP – COVID-19 vaccines and tests for the virus continue to boost CVS Health and the health care giant raised its annual forecast after a strong first quarter.
The drugstore chain and pharmacy benefit manager said yesterday it now expects earnings of USD8.20 to USD8.40 per share for 2022.
The new range mostly eclipses Wall Street projections of USD8.26 per share, according to FactSet.
CVS Health shares slipped in February when the company reported fourth quarter results that easily topped expectations but didn’t hike the annual forecast that it first laid out in December. Citing the pandemic’s unpredictable nature, the company said then that it still expected adjusted earnings of USD8.10 to USD8.30 per share for the year.
In the most recent quarter, net income climbed 89 per cent to USD2.31 billion. The company posted adjusted earnings of USD2.22 per share on USD76.83 billion in total revenue.
Analysts had forecast earnings of USD2.17 per share on USD75.54 billion in revenue.
CVS Health Corp operates one of the nation’s largest drugstore chains with nearly 10,000 retail locations. It also runs prescription drug plans for big clients like insurers and employers through a large pharmacy benefit management business.
It also provides health insurance for over 24 million people through its Aetna arm.
