Elevance Health Raises Fiscal Year Outlook as 3Q Profit, Revenue Rise

By Adriano Marchese

Elevance Health lifted its guidance for the year again after higher premium yields and pharmacy growth drove profit and revenue higher, offsetting a drop in membership.

The health-insurance company on Wednesday said it now expects earnings per share of at least $22 for 2026, up from the prior $20.10. Adjusted earnings per share is now seen at $29 or higher, up from previous guidance of at least $27 a share.

Analysts expect adjusted earnings of $27.26 a share for the year, according to FactSet.

For the third quarter, Elevance reported a rise in net income to $1.34 billion, or $6.27 a share, compared with $1.19 billion, or $5.32 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings were $6.99 a share. Analysts were expecting $4.71 a share.

Total revenue rose 1.4% to $51.43 billion, topping analyst forecasts of a decline to $49.22 billion.

The company said it benefited from higher premium yields, increased product revenue from its pharmacy benefit manager CarelonRx, and growth in service fees.

The benefit-expense ratio, a closely watched metric that compares health costs with premium revenue, improved by 70 basis points to 90.6%, driven by better performance in Medicare Advantage and individual Affordable Care Act plans.

As of Sept. 30, medical membership, a count of enrollees in its insurance plans, fell by 487,000 to 44.9 million, the company said.

Shares were up 2.1% to $449.49 in premarket trading.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 21, 2026 07:09 ET (11:09 GMT)