COVID-19 vaccines and tests for the virus continue to boost CVS Health and the healthcare giant raised its annual forecast after yet another strong quarter.
The drugstore chain and pharmacy benefit manager said Wednesday that it expects per-share earnings of between $8.20 and $8.40 this year after breezing past Wall Street expectations for the first quarter.
The new outlook mostly eclipses Wall Street projections of $8.26 per share, according to FactSet.
CVS Health shares slipped in February after the company reported fourth quarter results that easily topped expectations but didn’t hike its forecast for the year, citing the pandemic’s unpredictable nature.
CVS 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 more than 24 million people through its Aetna arm.
The company said Wednesday that it administered more than 8 million COVID-19 vaccines in the first quarter, a big drop from the 20 million it administered in the last quarter of 2021, when customers sought boosters and many children began getting the shots.
CVS Health also administered six million tests in the first quarter and its drugstores got a boost from customers buying additional tests as the omicron surge of the virus peaked at the start of the quarter.
Claims processed in the company’s biggest business, its pharmacy benefits management segment, also climbed nearly 6% compared to last year’s quarter, which had a weaker cough, cold and flu season.
Quarterly net income climbed 89% to $2.31 billion. The company posted adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share, beating analyst projections for $2.17.
Revenue was $76.8 billion, also topping Wall Street's expectations for $75.54 billion.
Shares of CVS Health Corp., based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, rose almost 2% before the opening bell.
