Centene Corporation CNC reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.51, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 89 cents. Moreover, the bottom line climbed from a loss of 16 cents per share a year ago.
Revenues totaled $53.6 billion, which rose 9.9% year over year. The top line beat the consensus mark by 12.7%.
The strong quarterly results benefited from strong premium and services revenues in Medicaid and Medicare businesses, fueled by increased premium yield, expanding membership in the Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) business and rate hikes in Marketplace and Medicaid businesses. However, the upside was partly offset by a decline in total membership and an increase in medical costs.
Centene Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Centene Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Centene Corporation Quote
Quarterly Operational Update of CNC
Revenues from Medicare advanced 17% year over year to $11.1 billion, and Medicaid revenues of $22.8 billion rose 5% in the quarter under review. Meanwhile, commercial revenues came in at $9.4 billion, down 7% year over year.
Centene's premium of $43.6 billion grew 4.4% year over year on the back of higher premiums yield, increased membership in the PDP business and strength in the Medicaid and Marketplace rate hikes. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $42.5 billion.
Service revenues rose 9.1% year over year to $793 million in the second quarter and surpassed the consensus mark of $723 million. Investment and other income of $435 million improved 17.3% year over year and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $359 million.
Total membership was 25.9 million as of June 30, 2026, which decreased 7.6% year over year due to membership declines in the Medicaid, Marketplace and Medicare businesses. However, the metric marginally beat the consensus mark.
Centene’s health benefits ratio improved 340 basis points year over year to 89.6% in the quarter under review. Operating expenses totaled $52.4 billion, which increased 6.5% year over year due to higher medical costs, selling, general and administrative expenses, cost of services and premium tax expense. Medical costs escalated 0.6% year over year.
Adjusted net earnings were recorded at $1.2 billion against the year-ago loss of $79 million.
CNC’s Q2 Financial Update (As of June 30, 2026)
Centene exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $24.2 billion, which rose 35% from the 2025-end level. Total assets of $83 billion grew 8.2% from the figure at 2025-end.
Long-term debt amounted to $16 billion, down 7.6% from the figure as of Dec. 31, 2025. The current portion of long-term debt totaled $75 million.
Total stockholders’ equity of $22.6 billion increased 13% from the 2025-end figure.
Centene generated $8 billion of net cash from operations in the first half of 2026, which increased from the prior-year comparable period’s $3.3 billion.
CNC’s Revised 2026 Guidance
Management now expects premium and service revenues within the band of $173-$177 billion for 2026, up from the previous guidance range of $171-$175 billion. The midpoint of which indicates growth of 0.2% from the 2025 reported figure.
Revenues are now estimated between $193.5 billion and $197.5 billion, up from the previously projected band of $187.5 billion-$191.5 billion, the midpoint of which implies a 0.4% increase from the 2025 figure.
Adjusted EPS is now expected to be greater than $4.80, higher than the previously projected figure of $3.40, which indicates a surge of more than 130.8% from the 2025 figure. GAAP EPS is now forecasted to remain greater than $3.11.
Health benefits ratio is now estimated to be in the band of 90.5-91.3% for 2026, while the adjusted SG&A expense ratio is now anticipated to be 6.9-7.5%. The adjusted effective tax rate is now expected to be in the range of 25.5-26.5%.
Shares outstanding are now projected to be between 497 million and 500 million.
CNC’s Zacks Rank
CNC currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
How Did Peers Perform?
Here are some stocks from the broader Medical space that have also reported their quarterly results: Tenet Healthcare Corporation THC, Elevance Health, Inc. ELV and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated UNH. Here's how they have performed:
Tenet Healthcare reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $6.12, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 50%. The bottom line increased 52.2% year over year. THC’s net operating revenues advanced 6.8% year over year to $5.63 billion. The quarterly results were driven by strong same-facility revenue growth, higher patient acuity, disciplined expense management and higher Medicaid supplemental revenues. However, the gains were partly offset by an unfavorable payer mix due to lower exchange admissions.
Elevance Health reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $7.45, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 20.6%. However, the bottom line declined 15.7% year over year. Operating revenues advanced 0.8% year over year to $49.8 billion. ELV’s quarterly results were primarily driven by higher premium yields in the Health Benefits segment and increased CarelonRx product revenues. The gains were partly offset by a decline in overall medical membership and higher operating expenses.
UnitedHealth Group reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share of $6.38, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.94. The bottom line rose 56.4% year over year. Revenues rose 0.4% year over year to $112 billion. UNH’s strong quarterly results were aided by growth in commercial fee-based membership and the strength in Optum Insight. Medical cost management, pricing discipline and benefit design changes also contributed to the upside. However, weaker performance at Optum Health and Optum Rx, along with declining risk-based membership, partially offset these gains.
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