CNC shares jump 16.3% in three months, but high medical costs and thin margins keep the recovery debate alive.
Health insurers are regaining pricing control and margin visibility, putting UnitedHealth, CVS Health and Centene back in focus as managed care regains its pulse.
The Medical-HMO industry pursues growth through M&A and tech innovation, aided by easing interest rates, but faces headwinds from rising medical costs, regulatory shifts and a shortage of healthcare professionals. UNH, HUM and CNC are likely to navigate industry storms.
CNC remains a Great Buy, thanks to its promising multi-year margin recovery prospects arising from the drastically raised premiums by the mid 30%s. While the management already expects to see "some degree of membership attrition," I am of the opinion that this is an inevitable (and temporary) pain for its future margin recovery. The raised FY2025 guidance and the bottoming in its FQ3'25 HBR imply the worst may be behind us, with FY2026 likely to bring forth improved numbers.
Shares of several major health insurers surged Monday following reports President Donald Trump could be set to unveil a healthcare proposal that would extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) have climbed 6.2% from their November 10 low of $34.25.
Centene Corporation ( CNC ) UBS Global Healthcare Conference 2025 November 11, 2025 10:15 AM EST Company Participants Sarah London - CEO & Director Andrew Asher - Chief Financial Officer Conference Call Participants Albert Rice - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Presentation Albert Rice UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Well, hello, everyone. Welcome to our next session.
Centene (CNC) has been upgraded to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), reflecting growing optimism about the company's earnings prospects. This might drive the stock higher in the near term.
CNC, NWG and UVV made it to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) value stocks list on October 31, 2025.
Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.
Centene on Wednesday raised its 2025 adjusted profit forecast and said it looks to grow its earnings next year, sending shares of the health insurer nearly 11% higher.
Centene Corporation ( CNC ) Q3 2025 Earnings Call October 29, 2025 9:00 AM EDT Company Participants Jennifer Gilligan - Senior Vice President of Investor Relations Sarah London - CEO & Director Andrew Asher - Chief Financial Officer Conference Call Participants Joshua Raskin - Nephron Research LLC Albert Rice - UBS Investment Bank, Research Division Justin Lake - Wolfe Research, LLC Andrew Mok - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division Ann Hynes - Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Research Division Kevin Fischbeck - BofA Securities, Research Division George Hill - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division Erin Wilson Wright - Morgan Stanley, Research Division Stephen Baxter - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division Lance Wilkes - Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC.