Molina Healthcare reported a 72% decline in net income for the third quarter and has reduced its adjusted annual earnings guidance for the third time this year to $14 a share as the company faces rising costs in its marketplace business.
“The headline for the quarter is that approximately half of our underperformance is driven by the Marketplace business, and that Medicaid, while experiencing some pressure, is producing strong margins,” President and CEO Joseph Zubretsky said Oct. 23. “We continue to grow, we believe the margin challenges will not persist, and we are encouraged by the margin improvement potential in 2026.”
In July, Molina announced preliminary second-quarter results that were “modestly below its prior expectations” and cut its full-year EPS guidance to between $21.50 and $22.50, citing higher medical costs across all business lines. A few weeks later, the company reduced its full-year guidance again to “no less than $19.00” per share after reporting adjusted second-quarter EPS of $5.48.
Molina’s total revenue in the third quarter was nearly $11.5 billion, up 11% year over year. Total net income was $97 million, down 72% from $347 million last year.
The company’s medical loss ratio was 92.6% in the third quarter and 95.6% in the ACA segment.
As of Sept. 30, total membership is more than 5.6 million. There are more than 4.6 million Medicaid members, 713,000 exchange members and 266,000 Medicare Advantage members.
