Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusBuy41 ratings
Bullish3585.4%
Neutral614.6%
Bearish00.0%
CVS Health Corp. · CVS · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026
CVS Health Q1 2026: EPS Beats by 18%, Guidance Raised as AI and Biosimilar Initiatives Accelerate
CVS Health delivered a decisive Q1 2026 beat, with adjusted EPS of $2.57 topping consensus by nearly 18% on revenue of $100.4 billion, a 6% year-over-year increase. The company raised full-year 2026 EPS guidance from $7.00-$7.20 to $7.30-$7.50, reflecting growing confidence in Aetna's margin recovery, pharmacy biosimilar conversions, and new AI-driven initiatives. Management struck a confident tone across all segments, earning a bullish score of 82. The stock rallied 7.6% on the report and has drifted an additional 9% higher since, with volume at 2.1x baseline. The quarter marks a clear inflection from the prior quarter's maintained guidance, driven by stronger-than-expected Medicare Advantage performance and accelerating operational leverage.
Reported Before market openNYSEHealthcare
$136.61B market cap
100quality score
Company context
Snapshot as of publicationCVS Health Corp. is a health solutions company, which engages in the provision of healthcare services. It operates through the following segments: Health Care Benefits, Health Services, Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness, and Corporate and Other. The Health Care Benefits segment operates as a health care benefits provider. The Health Services segment offers a full range of PBM solutions, delivers health care services in its medical clinics, virtually, and in the home. The Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segment dispenses prescriptions in its retail pharmacies and through its infusion operations. The Corporate and Other Segment is involved in management and administrative expenses. The company was founded by Stanley P. Goldstein and Ralph Hoagland in 1963 and is headquartered in Woonsocket, RI.
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$2.57
Consensus $2
EPS surprise
+17.9%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$100.43B
Consensus $94.99B
Revenue surprise
+5.7%
Reported versus consensus
Earnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$109.34Current
$66Low
$104.86Average
$125High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 29, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Truist Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 14, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 13, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jul 7, 2026 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jun 23, 2026 |
| Mizuho | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jun 8, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Jun 4, 2026 |
| Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | May 26, 2026 |
| Bernstein | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 13, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | May 12, 2026 |
| TD Cowen | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 11, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI Group | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 7, 2026 |
| Baird | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Apr 15, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Overweight | Overweight | Maintain | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jan 28, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Leerink Partners | Outperform | Market Perform | Upgrade | Feb 13, 2025 |
| Deutsche Bank | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Dec 3, 2024 |
| Goldman Sachs | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 2, 2024 |
| Wolfe Research | Outperform | Peer Perform | Upgrade | Sep 12, 2023 |
| Edward Jones | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Aug 18, 2023 |
| Raymond James | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Aug 4, 2023 |
| Credit Suisse | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | May 8, 2023 |
| Tigress Financial | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Dec 23, 2021 |
| BMO Capital | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | May 19, 2021 |
| Guggenheim | Neutral | Buy | Downgrade | Mar 17, 2021 |
| SVB Leerink | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Dec 14, 2020 |
| Citigroup | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 7, 2020 |
| SunTrust Robinson Humphrey | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Apr 13, 2020 |
| CFRA | Strong Buy | Strong Buy | Maintain | Feb 13, 2020 |
| Citi | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Nov 7, 2019 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Sep 12, 2019 |
| Oppenheimer | Perform | Outperform | Downgrade | Apr 15, 2019 |
| Leerink Swann | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Feb 9, 2018 |
| Needham | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Nov 10, 2017 |
| Loop Capital | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Nov 7, 2017 |
| Cowen & Co. | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jun 10, 2015 |
| FBR Capital | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Nov 5, 2014 |
| ISI Group | Strong Buy | Buy | Upgrade | Jan 22, 2014 |
| Macquarie | Outperform | Neutral | Upgrade | Dec 14, 2012 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $109.34. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $122 | $107.85 | +11.6% | Jul 24, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | David MacDonald | $118 | $105.9 | +7.9% | Jul 14, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $123 | $104.15 | +12.5% | Jul 13, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $113 | $104.83 | +3.3% | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Analyst unavailable | $110 | $102.08 | +0.6% | Jul 7, 2026 |
| HSBC | Analyst unavailable | $103 | $102.28 | -5.8% | Jul 6, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $115 | $95.93 | +5.2% | Jun 8, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $111 | $91.37 | +1.5% | Jun 4, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $108 | $90.98 | -1.2% | Jun 1, 2026 |
| Piper Sandler | Jessica Tassan | $113 | $90.98 | +3.3% | Jun 1, 2026 |
| Barclays | Andrew Mok | $106 | $91.63 | -3.1% | May 26, 2026 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $110 | $94.18 | +0.6% | May 20, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $106 | $97.85 | -3.1% | May 14, 2026 |
| Bernstein | Analyst unavailable | $106 | $95.15 | -3.1% | May 13, 2026 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $107 | $86.56 | -2.1% | May 7, 2026 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $92 | $87.46 | -15.9% | May 7, 2026 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $102 | $87.04 | -6.7% | May 7, 2026 |
| Barclays | Andrew Mok | $101 | $86.86 | -7.6% | May 7, 2026 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $94 | $77.62 | -14.0% | Apr 15, 2026 |
| Leerink Partners | Michael Cherny | $98 | $79.49 | -10.4% | Mar 5, 2026 |
| Argus Research | Analyst unavailable | $90 | $73.2 | -17.7% | Jan 28, 2026 |
| Bernstein | Analyst unavailable | $91 | $80.56 | -16.8% | Jan 6, 2026 |
| Bernstein | Analyst unavailable | $87 | $80.84 | -20.4% | Dec 12, 2025 |
| Mizuho Securities | Ann Hynes | $95 | $79.05 | -13.1% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Robert W. Baird | Analyst unavailable | $92 | $78.24 | -15.9% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Piper Sandler | Jessica Tassan | $101 | $78.24 | -7.6% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $93 | $78.24 | -14.9% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $93 | $78.24 | -14.9% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| UBS | Kevin Caliendo | $97 | $78.24 | -11.3% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Truist Financial | Analyst unavailable | $100 | $78.24 | -8.5% | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Bernstein | Analyst unavailable | $86 | $76.75 | -21.3% | Dec 4, 2025 |
| RBC Capital | Analyst unavailable | $93 | $77.56 | -14.9% | Oct 30, 2025 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $96 | $81.07 | -12.2% | Oct 24, 2025 |
| Truist Financial | David MacDonald | $92 | $79.26 | -15.9% | Oct 14, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Erin Wright | $89 | $78.82 | -18.6% | Oct 14, 2025 |
| Goldman Sachs | Analyst unavailable | $91 | $78.44 | -16.8% | Oct 14, 2025 |
| Mizuho Securities | Ann Hynes | $88 | $76.93 | -19.5% | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $103 | $76.84 | -5.8% | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Barclays | Andrew Mok | $87 | $73.32 | -20.4% | Sep 4, 2025 |
| UBS | Kevin Caliendo | $79 | $68.6 | -27.7% | Aug 18, 2025 |
| Robert W. Baird | Michael Ha | $82 | $66.58 | -25.0% | Aug 14, 2025 |
| Barclays | Andrew Mok | $79 | $63.6 | -27.7% | Jun 2, 2025 |
| Argus Research | Analyst unavailable | $77 | $65.57 | -29.6% | Feb 18, 2025 |
| Deutsche Bank | George Hill | $66 | $59.08 | -39.6% | Dec 3, 2024 |
| Wells Fargo | Stephen Baxter | $66 | $57.11 | -39.6% | Nov 18, 2024 |
| Mizuho Securities | Ann Hynes | $66 | $57.04 | -39.6% | Oct 24, 2024 |
| Truist Financial | David MacDonald | $76 | $58.2 | -30.5% | Oct 21, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Jessica Tassan | $72 | $59.15 | -34.2% | Oct 21, 2024 |
| Barclays | Andrew Mok | $82 | $66.63 | -25.0% | Oct 10, 2024 |
| Deutsche Bank | George Hill | $63 | $57.85 | -42.4% | Aug 8, 2024 |
| J.P. Morgan | Lisa Gill | $86 | $58.58 | -21.3% | Jun 28, 2024 |
| Barclays | Andrew Mok | $65 | $61.01 | -40.6% | Jun 20, 2024 |
| RBC Capital | Anton Hie | $68 | $56.31 | -37.8% | May 2, 2024 |
| Piper Sandler | Jessica Tassan | $94 | $77.4 | -14.0% | Mar 15, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Erin Wright | $100 | $73.76 | -8.5% | Dec 12, 2023 |
| Truist Financial | David Macdonald | $98 | $70.52 | -10.4% | Sep 13, 2023 |
| Wolfe Research | Justin Lake | $80 | $70.52 | -26.8% | Sep 12, 2023 |
| Truist Financial | David Macdonald | $103 | $71.27 | -5.8% | Jul 12, 2023 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $120 | $89.18 | +9.7% | Jan 13, 2023 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $101 | $92.91 | -7.6% | Jan 3, 2023 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $100 | $93.19 | -8.5% | Jan 3, 2023 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $119 | $100.22 | +8.8% | Nov 23, 2022 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $125 | $100.52 | +14.3% | Sep 7, 2022 |
| Mizuho Securities | Analyst unavailable | $120 | $106.39 | +9.7% | Aug 15, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | George Hill | $120 | $106.39 | +9.7% | Aug 14, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Analyst unavailable | $117 | $102.26 | +7.0% | Aug 8, 2022 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $127 | $103.14 | +16.2% | Aug 4, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $113 | $97.73 | +3.3% | May 5, 2022 |
| Tigress Financial | Ivan Feinseth | $125 | $104.45 | +14.3% | Apr 11, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | George Hill | $110 | $102.13 | +0.6% | Feb 21, 2022 |
| BMO Capital | Matt Borsch | $120 | $104.24 | +9.7% | Feb 13, 2022 |
| Goldman Sachs | Nathan Rich | $121 | $104.79 | +10.7% | Feb 9, 2022 |
| RBC Capital | Ben Hendrix | $119 | $104.79 | +8.8% | Feb 9, 2022 |
| Jefferies | Brian Tanquilut | $120 | $102.39 | +9.7% | Jan 20, 2022 |
| Bank of America Securities | Michael Cherny | $117 | $106.22 | +7.0% | Jan 16, 2022 |
| Bernstein | Lance Wilkes | $116 | $105.48 | +6.1% | Jan 11, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Steve Baxter | $111 | $102.04 | +1.5% | Jan 6, 2022 |
| Truist Financial | David S Macdonald | $124 | $105.25 | +13.4% | Jan 5, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Ricky Goldwasser | $125 | $98.37 | +14.3% | Dec 13, 2021 |
| Cowen & Co. | Charles Rhyee | $114 | $98.33 | +4.3% | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Credit Suisse | A.J. Rice | $120 | $98.33 | +9.7% | Dec 10, 2021 |
| Seaport Global | Joseph France | $110 | $88.31 | +0.6% | Dec 1, 2021 |
| UBS | Kevin Caliendo | $106 | $93.71 | -3.1% | Nov 11, 2021 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Steven Halper | $115 | $95.83 | +5.2% | Nov 3, 2021 |
| Wolfe Research | Justin Lake | $93 | $87.69 | -14.9% | May 19, 2021 |
Track every rating change on CVS the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeMarket reaction
prior-close to event-session close
Stock move
+7.6%
Event window
SPY move
+1.4%
Same window
Abnormal move
+6.3%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
2.1×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
+9.2%
Up to 20 sessions
CVSSPY benchmark
Follow CVS with an agent that reads every filing, transcript, and price print. Free to start.
Try FN2 freeTranscript intelligence
What changed
Adjusted EPS of $2.57 beat the $2.18 consensus by 17.9%. Revenue of $100.4B exceeded the $95.0B estimate by 5.7%. Full-year 2026 EPS guidance was raised to $7.30-$7.50 from $7.00-$7.20. Operating income reached $5.2B. CVS plans to remove branded STELARA from commercial formularies, targeting over 90% biosimilar conversion. The Health100 AI-native consumer health platform was announced for launch later in 2026. CVS is evaluating legal action in response to Tennessee's proposed PBM legislation.
Guidance delta
Raised. Full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance lifted from $7.00-$7.20 to $7.30-$7.50. Prior-quarter guidance sentiment was maintained; this quarter marks an upgrade.
Key takeaways
- Q1 adjusted EPS of $2.57 beat consensus by 18%; revenue of $100.4B exceeded estimates by 6%.
- Full-year 2026 EPS guidance raised to $7.30-$7.50 from $7.00-$7.20.
- Aetna Medicare Advantage performance supports confidence in reaching 3% margin target by 2028.
- AI investments accelerating: AI academy rolling out company-wide; Health100 platform launching later in 2026.
- Biosimilar strategy expanding: STELARA removal from commercial formularies targets over 90% conversion.
Management priorities
- Launch Health100 AI-native consumer health platform later in 2026.
- Roll out AI academy across the enterprise.
- Complete biosimilar transition for STELARA and expand biosimilar adoption.
- Standardize prior-authorization processes industry-wide.
- Continue FTC settlement discussions and evaluate legal response to Tennessee PBM legislation.
- Drive Medicare Advantage margin recovery toward 3% target by 2028.
Related earnings events
HealthcareSources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-28T21:41:08.520972+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-28T21:41:08.518158+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.