When the Cigna Group reports earnings Thursday, it'll be with a new CEO talking to Wall Street.

Brian Evanko, who served as chief operating officer, took the helm July 1, replacing longtime chief executive David Cordani, who's now the board's executive chair.

The leadership transition has coincided with another big change at Cigna, as the company executes on a new "rebate-free" business model for its pharmacy benefits business -- sure to be a focus of questions on the investor call.

Cigna's revenue is largely comprised of sales from two segments: Evernorth Health Services, where pharmacy benefits sit, and Cigna Healthcare, which offers health insurance products to clients such as large employers.

On Thursday, Wall Street expects adjusted earnings per share of $7.60 on revenue of $70.14 billion, according to FactSet. Both estimates would be up from results in the second quarter of 2025, when Cigna brought in adjusted EPS of $7.20 on revenue of $67.13 billion.

Cigna's medical cost ratio -- which measures how much premium revenue insurers spend on medical care -- is expected to come in at 84.3%, higher than 83.2% a year ago.

Pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, help insurance plans decide which prescription drugs to cover, and negotiate deals with drug manufacturers that want to secure insurance coverage for their products. PBMs have long collected rebates from drug companies in that process, which the PBMs may keep or pass through to clients, or some combination.

The practice fueled public scrutiny about whether rebates put upward pressure on drug prices, and put medications out of reach for some patients. PBMs maintained that rebates kept drug costs more affordable for clients. The Federal Trade Commission launched litigation in 2024 over rebate practices, which Cigna's Express Scripts PBM settled earlier this year without admitting any wrongdoing. Months before the settlement, Cigna told investors it planned to do away with rebates.

"The key area of debate heading into CI's 2Q26 earnings remains the earnings outlook and longer term trajectory of the Express Scripts rebate free pricing transition, as investors continue to assess its mechanics and the durability of Evernorth PBM margins," Goldman Sachs analyst Scott Fidel said in a client note this month.

At a BofA investor conference in May, Evanko, still in the role of COO, said Cigna is leading the industry on the change.

"This is a no-rebate world that's all predicated on upfront discounts that we negotiate with manufacturers," he said. Bringing that to fruition is a "pretty heavy lift," Evanko added, saying 2026 and 2027 will be transitional years.