Guidance
Elevance guides 2026 EPS at least $25.50, a trough year
Guidance tone
← Back to feed
01
02
03
04
Demand
ELV
FY2025 Q4
IN LINE
Elevance Health, Inc. earnings call
Buzzberg read
Elevance guides 2026 EPS at least $25.50, a trough year
Elevance Health reported full-year 2025 adjusted EPS of $30.29, including $3.75 of non-recurring items. Management provided cautious 2026 guidance of at least $25.50 EPS, reflecting intentional portfolio repositioning and margin discipline across Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and ACA. They expect 2026 to be a trough year with improvement in 2027 targeting at least 12% adjusted EPS growth. Long-term margin targets were revised lower to reflect current business mix. No cross-company mentions were made. 2025 adjusted EPS came in at $30.29, above prior expectations due to tax favorability; underlying operations in line with guidance.
Buzzberg read Elevance guides 2026 EPS at least $25.50, a trough year Elevance Health reported full-year 2025 adjusted EPS of $30.29, including $3.75 of non-recurring items. Management provided cautious 2026 guidance of at least $25.50 EPS, reflecting intentional portfolio repositioning and margin discipline across Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and ACA. They expect 2026 to be a trough year with improvement in 2027 targeting at least 12% adjusted EPS growth. Long-term margin targets were revised lower to reflect current business mix. No cross-company mentions were made. 2025 adjusted EPS came in at $30.29, above prior expectations due to tax favorability; underlying operations in line with guidance. Read full analysisCollapse analysis
Elevance Health reported full-year 2025 adjusted EPS of $30.29, including $3.75 of non-recurring items. Management provided cautious 2026 guidance of at least $25.50 EPS, reflecting intentional portfolio repositioning and margin discipline across Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and ACA. They expect 2026 to be a trough year with improvement in 2027 targeting at least 12% adjusted EPS growth. Long-term margin targets were revised lower to reflect current business mix. No cross-company mentions were made. 2025 adjusted EPS came in at $30.29, above prior expectations due to tax favorability; underlying operations in line with guidance.
- 2026 adjusted EPS guided to at least $25.50, reflecting non-recurrence of $3.75 in one-time items and deliberate margin-improvement actions.
- Medicaid margin expected at -1.75% in 2026 (trough year), with mid-single-digit cost trend still outpacing rate increases.
- Medicare Advantage membership to decline high teens percent in 2026, but margin expected to improve to at least 2% through portfolio discipline.
Revenue
$49.747B
-2% QoQ
EPS
$3.33
-45% QoQ
Gross margin
23.48%
reported
MEDICAID op margin
-1.75%
reported
What changed this quarter
Medicare
Medicare Advantage membership to decline high teens, improve margins
2025 adjusted EPS came in at $30.29, above prior expectations due to tax favorability; underlying operations in line with guidance.
Margins
Medicaid margin expected at negative 1.75%, trough year
Reported gross margin was 23.48%, reinforcing the quarter's better-than-guided profitability.
Margins
Long-term margin target cut to 5-6% enterprise
Reported gross margin was 23.48%, reinforcing the quarter's better-than-guided profitability.
Demand
Bookings & conversion
Management is cautious about 2026, framing it as a trough year with disciplined actions, but expresses confidence in returning to at least 12% EPS growth in 2027, indicating a neutral-to-cautiously-optimistic tone.
Tone · Measured
Management acknowledged a challenging environment and took prudent actions, but expressed confidence in the long-term strategy and achievable guidance.
Forward guidance
In LineGuidance tone
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | FY2026 | $25.50 | $25.50 | INITIATED |
| Free cash flow | FY2026 | $5.5B | $5.5B | GUIDED |
| Gross margin | FY2026 | 89.7%–90.7% | 90.2% | GUIDED |
| Op marginMEDICAID | FY2026 | -1.75% | -1.75% | GUIDED |
| Op marginMEDICARE_ADVANTAGE | FY2026 | 2% | 2% | GUIDED |
Guidance credibility
1 / 1met or beat
| Issued | Metric | Target | Guide | Actual | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Q3 | EPS | FY2025 | $30.00 | $30.29 | Met / beat |