CVS Health Corp. · CVS · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026

CVS raises 2026 guidance as pharmacy and GLP-1 demand accelerate

CVS’s Q2 showed operating momentum across health services, pharmacy, and specialty pharmacy, with GLP-1 demand and technology initiatives adding potential growth drivers. The raised outlook strengthens the near-term case, but 340B exposure, pricing-model transitions, and regulatory issues remain important tests of durability.

Reported Before market openNYSEHealthcare $111.77B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $2.58 Consensus $1.87
EPS surprise +38.0% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $106.10B Consensus $100.03B
Revenue surprise +6.1% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move -5.1% Event window
SPY move -0.2% Same window
Abnormal move -4.9% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.4× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -1.9% Up to 20 sessions
CVSSPY benchmark

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What changed

Compared with the prior quarter, CVS raised adjusted EPS guidance again, added a cash-pay GLP-1 pickup partnership with Eli Lilly, launched Health100 with Haio, and highlighted 340B pressure as a 2027 headwind. The growth narrative broadened from biosimilars and Medicare Advantage recovery toward GLP-1 access, specialty pharmacy, and AI-enabled services.

Guidance delta

Management raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $7.90-$8.10 and cash-flow guidance to at least $11.5 billion.

Key takeaways

  • Management reported adjusted EPS of $2.58, above the $1.87 estimate.
  • All operating segments posted double-digit growth, led by specialty pharmacy and GLP-1 demand.
  • Health100 and Haio extend CVS’s AI and consumer-health strategy.
  • The 340B program and regulatory changes remain material 2027 headwinds.
  • Cash generation supports continued technology investment and disciplined capital deployment.

Management priorities

  • Expand Health100 and the Haio assistant.
  • Scale cash-pay GLP-1 access through the Eli Lilly partnership.
  • Invest in AI for claims processing and prior-authorization automation.
  • Grow specialty pharmacy and generic biosimilar offerings.
  • Improve leverage while maintaining disciplined capital allocation.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
CVS EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 3 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $2.01 Q4 '23 actual $2.12, beat Q1 '24 estimate $1.70 Q1 '24 actual $1.31, miss Q2 '24 estimate $1.73 Q2 '24 actual $1.83, beat Q3 '24 estimate $1.44 Q3 '24 actual $1.09, miss Q2 '25 estimate $1.46 Q2 '25 actual $1.81, beat Q3 '25 estimate $1.37 Q3 '25 actual $1.60, beat Q4 '25 estimate $1.00 Q4 '25 actual $1.09, beat Q1 '26 estimate $2.18 Q1 '26 actual $2.57, beat Q2 '26 estimate $1.87 Q2 '26 actual $2.58, beat Q3 '26 estimate $1.64 Q4 '26 estimate $1.33 Q1 '27 estimate $2.68
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy41 ratings
Bullish3585.4%
Neutral614.6%
Bearish00.0%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$87.1Current
$66Low
$106.77Average
$126High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Sep 22, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
UBS Buy BuyMaintainSep 3, 2026
Argus Research Buy BuyMaintainAug 19, 2026
JP Morgan Overweight OverweightMaintainAug 12, 2026
Evercore ISI Group Outperform OutperformMaintainAug 6, 2026
Barclays Overweight OverweightMaintainAug 6, 2026
Show 36 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $87.1. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Piper SandlerAnalyst unavailable$112$93.04 +28.6%Sep 9, 2026
UBSAnalyst unavailable$118$97.23 +35.5%Sep 3, 2026
Argus ResearchAnalyst unavailable$114$95.58 +30.9%Aug 19, 2026
Robert W. BairdMichael Ha$107$96.96 +22.8%Aug 6, 2026
UBSKevin Caliendo$126$99.12 +44.7%Aug 6, 2026
See 86 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

CVS 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.

Historical context

All CVS earnings

Healthcare peers this season

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Latest beats and misses

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-08-05T17:12:04.268320+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-09-10T01:23:13.706414+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-09-22T19:11:04.531862+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-09-22T19:11:04.529082+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 · As of 2026-09-22. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.