CVS Earnings Beat Estimates

CVS Health Corp. reported first-quarter net income of $953.0 million, or 92 cents per share, down from $1.15 billion, or $1.04 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted EPS was $1.17, beating the $1.10 FactSet consensus. Revenue was $44.5 billion, up from $43.2 billion, and ahead of the $44.2 billion FactSet consensus. Revenue in pharmacy services was up 8.5% to $31.2 billion driven by claim volume, brand inflation and growth in specialty pharmacy. Pharmacy same-store sales fell 4.7%, impacted by about 480 basis points due to generic introductions and about 460 basis points by previously-discussed marketplace changes. Retail revenue was down 3.8% to $19.3 billion, driven largely by a 4.7% decline in same-store sales, reimbursement pressure and an increase in generic reimbursement rate. CVS confirmed its full-year EPS guidance of $5.02 to $5.18 and adjusted EPS of $5.77 to $5.93. It introduced second-quarter guidance of EPS of $1.15 to $1.19 and adjusted EPS of $1.29 to $1.33. CVS shares slipped 0.4% in Tuesday premarket trading and are down 19.2% for the past year. The S&P 500 index is up 14.7% for the last 12 months.