Why Anthem’s shares dipped despite positive earnings

Anthem’s shares fell in premarket trading July 24 as the health insurer missed estimates on its medical cost ratio, which measures how much revenue goes toward members’ medical claims, according to Barron’s. 

Advertisement

Wall Street estimated a medical cost ratio of 85.8 percent for Anthem, according to FactSet data cited by Barron’s. However, Anthem reported a medical cost ratio of 86.7 percent.

Anthem said the missed medical cost ratio was due to, among other things, “medical cost experience in the Medicaid business.”

Year to date, Anthem shares are up 15 percent and are outperforming the S&P 500 Managed Health Care subsector. Anthem ended the second quarter with a $1.1 billion profit, up 8.1 percent year over year.

More articles on payers:
UnitedHealth records $3.3B profit in Q2
The average price for treating primary care conditions in ED? $2,032, UnitedHealth says
‘Medicare for All’ unlikely to increase hospital use, study suggests

At the Becker's 5th Annual Fall Payer Issues Roundtable, taking place November 2–3 in Chicago, payer executives and healthcare leaders will come together to discuss value-based care, regulatory changes, cost management strategies and innovations shaping the future of payer-provider collaboration. Apply for complimentary registration now.

Advertisement

Next Up in Payer

Advertisement

Comments are closed.