Elevance Health posted nearly $1.5 billion in profit during the second quarter of 2026, down 16% compared to last year.
The company raised full-year guidance for diluted and adjusted diluted earnings per share to be at least $20.10 and $27, respectively.
Operating revenue for the three months ended June 30 was $49.8 billion, about a 0.8% year-over-year increase. The company’s overall operating margin was 3.5%.
On the July 15 earnings call with investors, Elevance executives attributed the quarter’s performance to favorable benefit expenses in Medicare Advantage and the individual ACA business, while pointing to Medicaid as the enterprise’s weak spot.
Executives also said that CMS won’t impose MA sanctions on the company after it paid $342 million to the government this quarter. In February, CMS had notified Elevance of potential exposure tied to historical risk adjustment data submission errors.
The health benefits business, made up of Anthem and Wellpoint, had a total operating revenue of $42.7 billion, up 2.7% year-over-year. The growth was mostly spurred by higher premiums, despite declines in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and employer group risk membership. The segment’s operating margin was 2.1%.
Health services arm Carelon had $19.2 billion in operating revenue, a 6% year-over-year jump. The segment’s operating margin was 4.9%. CarelonRx, the company’s pharmacy benefit manager, was the quarter’s lone bright spot on margin, with operating gain up 8.6% to $582 million and its operating margin widening 20 basis points to 5.2%.
Elevance’s medical loss ratio for the quarter was 89.7%, an 80 basis-point increase from the same period one year ago and up from the previous quarter. Days in claims payable were 45.4 days as of June 30, a decrease of 1.2 days from March 31 and an increase of 2.9 days year-over-year.
Total medical membership dipped 1.5% year-over-year to 44.9 million members, including a 1% decrease from last quarter. The company has about 8.4 million Medicaid and 2.8 million Medicare members.
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