WOONSOCKET – CVS Health Corp. on Wednesday reported a first-quarter profit of $2.94 billion, an increase from $1.7 billion the year prior.
For the quarter, the company posted earnings of $2.30 per diluted share, an increase from $1.41 per diluted share a year ago.
The drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager posted revenue of $100.43 billion in the period, an increase from $94 billion posted in the first quarter of 2025. This result topped Wall Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected $94.38 billion.
Aetna, the company’s health insurer, saw its first quarter revenue grow 3.3% year over year to $35.9 million. Its medical benefit ratio –
total medical expenses paid to premiums collected –
decreased to 84.6% compared to 87.3% from the first quarter of 2025. This was driven by improved underlying performance in the government business and the absence of the $448 million premium deficiency reserve recorded within the individual exchange product line in the prior year, partially offset by lower favorable prior-year development.
“CVS Health continues to provide what people want most from healthcare: a connected, convenient, cost-effective engagement experience across our unique collection of businesses,"
said David Joyner, CVS CEO and president. "Our positive performance is driven by strong execution across our enterprise. We will continue to build momentum through delivering on our strategy and a steadfast focus on our purpose - to simplify health care one person, one family and one community at a time.”
Health-services revenue for the quarter was $48.2 million, up 11% from the year prior driven by pharmacy drug mix and brand inflation, partially offset by continued pharmacy client price improvements.
Pharmacy and consumer wellness segment revenue was $31.9 million for the quarter, same as a year ago. This result was primarily driven by pharmacy drug mix, increased prescription volume, including contributions from the company’s Rite Aid asset acquisitions, which were completed during the third quarter of 2025 and brand inflation. These increases were largely offset by regulatory-related price reductions on certain drugs, the impact of recent generic drug introductions and pharmacy reimbursement pressure.
CVS Health expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.30 to $7.50 per share, with revenue expected to be $405 billion.
(Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.)
