Centene (CNC) reported $46.62 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 2025, representing a year-over-year increase of 15.4%. EPS of $2.90 for the same period compares to $2.26 a year ago.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $43.47 billion, representing a surprise of +7.24%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +22.88%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $2.36.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Centene performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Total Medical Health (Benefits) loss Ratios -Total Ratio (HBR): 87.1% versus 87.9% estimated by five analysts on average.
• Membership Medicaid - High Acuity Medicaid: 1.59 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of 1.59 million.
• Membership by line of business - Medicaid: 12.96 million compared to the 12.94 million average estimate based on three analysts.
• SG&A Expense Ratio: 7.9% versus 8.4% estimated by three analysts on average.
• Revenues- Premium and service revenues: $42.49 billion versus $40.12 billion estimated by five analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +16.9% change.
• Revenues- Premium: $41.71 billion compared to the $39.35 billion average estimate based on five analysts. The reported number represents a change of +17.4% year over year.
• Revenues- Service: $777 million versus $768.54 million estimated by five analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -3.8% change.
• Revenues- Premium tax: $4.13 billion versus the five-analyst average estimate of $3.52 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +1.5%.
• Revenues- Premium and service revenues- Commercial: $10.15 billion compared to the $9.04 billion average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +30.9% year over year.
• Revenues- Premium and service revenues- Medicare: $8.76 billion versus $8.54 billion estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +47.6% change.
• Revenues- Premium and service revenues- Medicaid: $22.30 billion compared to the $21.45 billion average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +3.9% year over year.
• Revenues- Premium and service revenues- Other: $1.28 billion versus $1.22 billion estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +7.6% change.

View all Key Company Metrics for Centene here>>>

Shares of Centene have returned +2.2% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -4.8% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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