CVS Recovers

After a dismal 2024, CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) could be starting to turn itself around. Some investors seem convinced, especially after the retail drugstore chain on Wednesday posted a big beat on fourth-quarter earnings and a 2025 profit outlook that was in line with expectations. Shares of CVS are now up more than 45% for the year, unlike the company’s main retail pharmacy rival Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA), whose stock is up nearly 3%. Shares of other insurers UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is up about 4% and Cigna (NYSE:CI) has improved nearly 8%.The upbeat quarterly results may be a sign that brighter days are ahead for the CVS – or at least that things may not be as bad as they were last year. The company’s stock plummeted more than 40% in 2024 after it missed earnings estimates for three straight quarters and withdrew its annual forecast, largely due to higher-than-expected medical costs in its insurance unit, along with other issues like pharmacy reimbursement pressure.CVS isn’t out of the woods yet. Medical costs were less severe during the fourth quarter but will likely remain elevated in 2025, as more seniors flock to hospitals and doctor’s offices and use more health-care benefits. But some analysts are more optimistic about the company’s ability to navigate those challenges moving forward and reach its full-year 2025 adjusted earnings outlook of $5.75 to $6 per share. CVS has pursued store closures and other cost cuts, and its new CEO David Joyner has spent much of his first 100 days at the helm focusing on the company’s insurance unit Aetna. CVS opened Friday ahead 20 cents to $66.56.