By Catherine Dunn
Cigna was trading modestly higher after the health insurer beat first-quarter profit estimates and slightly raised guidance. The stock remains a "show-me" story but that might be enough to keep it moving up.
Cigna reported earnings per share of $7.79 for the first quarter, up from $6.74 a year ago. EPS beat Wall Street consensus estimates for $7.60. Cigna raised profit guidance slightly for 2026, expecting at least $30.35 in EPS.
Quarterly revenue landed at $68.5 billion, up from $65.5 billion the same period last year. That figure also beat a consensus estimate of $66.3 billion.
"Our strong first quarter results were driven by disciplined execution, deliberate portfolio shaping and a continued focus on targeted innovation," CEO David Cordani said in a press release.
Cigna is a work in progress, though. The company announced a big shift to its pharmacy benefit manager $(PBM)$ business last fall, planning to go "rebate free." The move came in response to criticism over PBMs' role in drug pricing and mounting regulatory pushback. In February, Cigna's Express Scripts was the first of three major PBMs to reach a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over insulin pricing litigation. No liability was admitted.
The settlement terms reflected the previously announced rebate-free model and helped Wall Street make better sense of the transition to a new way of generating revenue in a significant business line.
Cigna is also in the middle of a CEO change, with Chief Operating Officer Brian Evanko set to replace Cordani when he retires July 1.
Analysts' initial take on the results was ho-hum.
Leerink Partners' Whit Mayo reiterated a Market Perform on the stock, writing that the results "look fine" with a modest beat/raise amid softness in pharmacy benefits. "Not much jumps off the page as particularly surprising, with broad-based trends largely aligning with sector commentary," he wrote.
TD Cowen analyst Charles Rhyee noted that the pharmacy business results was the "only blemish" in an otherwise solid report. That wasn't unexpected, he added, given the weakness in other PBM businesses at UnitedHealth and Elevance Health.
He maintained a Buy on the stock with a $338 target.
Write to Catherine Dunn at catherine.dunn@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2026 09:21 ET (13:21 GMT)
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