Cigna Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Evernorth Health Unit Strength

The Cigna Group CI reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $7.83, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.7%. The bottom line advanced 4% year over year.Adjusted revenues of $69.6 billion rose 9% year over year. The top line beat the consensus mark by 3.6%.The strong quarterly results benefited on the back of strong results from its Evernorth Health Services segment, driven by new business and client relationship expansion, Pharmacy Benefit Services’ strength and improved specialty volumes. However, the upside was partly offset by a decline in medical customers following divestitures to Health Care Services Corporation ("HCSC") and an elevated expense level.Cigna Group Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Cigna Group price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Cigna Group QuoteCI’s Q3 PerformanceCigna’s medical customer base came in at 18.1 million as of Sept. 30, 2025, which declined 5.2% year over year but came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The metric was affected due to the sale of its Medicare Advantage, Medicare Individual Stand-Alone Prescription Drug Plans, Medicare and Other Supplemental Benefits, and CareAllies businesses to HCSC.Total benefits and expenses increased 10% year over year to $67.2 billion in the quarter under review due to higher pharmacy and other service costs. The adjusted SG&A expense ratio of 4.6% improved 90 basis points (bps) year over year, resulting from a shift in business mix.Adjusted income from operations totaled $2.1 billion, which declined 1% year over year due to lower contributions from the Cigna Healthcare unit.Cigna’s Segmental UpdateEvernorth Health Services: The unit recorded revenues of $60.4 billion in the third quarter, which advanced 15% year over year and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $57.2 billion. The metric benefited from new business growth and expanding client relationships in Pharmacy Benefit Services, coupled with improved specialty volumes in Specialty and Care Services.Adjusted operating income, on a pre-tax basis, rose 1% year over year to $1.9 billion and beat the consensus mark by 1.1%. The metric was aided by solid organic growth in specialty businesses. However, the adjusted pre-tax margin of 3.2% deteriorated 40 bps year over year.Cigna Healthcare: The segment’s revenues of $10.9 billion tumbled 18% year over year in the quarter under review and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.1%. The metric suffered due to the HCSC transaction.Pre-tax adjusted operating income dropped 12% year over year to $1 billion, but came higher than the consensus mark by 2.4%. The metric was impacted due to a deteriorating medical care ratio (MCR).MCR came in at 84.8% at the third-quarter end, which deteriorated 200 bps year over year due to elevated stop-loss medical costs and the Individual and Family Plans business.Cigna’s Financial Position (As of Sept. 30, 2025)Cigna exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $6 billion, which plunged 20.2% from the 2024-end level. Total assets of $157.9 billion rose from the figure of $155.9 billion at 2024-end.Long-term debt amounted to $30.9 billion, up 6.9% from the figure as of Dec. 31, 2024. Short-term debt totaled $3.1 billion.Total equity of $42 billion grew 1.9% from the 2024-end level.Cigna generated operating cash flows of $3.1 billion in the first nine months of 2025, which fell 33% from the prior-year comparable period.Cigna’s Capital Deployment UpdateCigna bought back shares worth around $2.6 billion in the first nine months of 2025.Cigna’s 2025 OutlookAdjusted EPS is reiterated at a minimum of $29.60, which indicates growth of at least 8.3% from the 2024 figure.MCR is still projected in the band of 83.2-84.2%.Adjusted operating income, on a pre-tax basis, for the Evernorth Health Services segment, is anticipated to remain at a minimum of $7.2 billion.Meanwhile, the metric for the Cigna Healthcare unit is still forecasted to be a minimum of $4.125 billion.Adjusted revenues were earlier forecasted at a minimum of $252 billion, which indicates an improvement of at least 2% from the 2024 figure.Adjusted operating income was earlier anticipated to be a minimum of $7.9 billion, which indicates growth of at least 2.1% from the 2024 figure.Operating cash flow was forecasted at around $10 billion. Capital expenditures were earlier expected to be around $1.4 billion.Cigna earlier expected total medical customers to be roughly 18.1 million.The adjusted SG&A expense ratio was earlier estimated at around 5.4%.CI’s Zacks RankCI currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Upcoming Earnings ReleasesHere are three companies from the Medical space that are likely to report their respective quarterly earnings soon.ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ANIP carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ANIP’s bottom line for the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at $1.74 per share, indicating 29.9% year-over-year growth. ANI Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 22.7%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Clover Health Investments, Corp. CLOV has a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CLOV’s bottom line for the to-be-reported quarter is pegged at 2 cents per share, indicating 200% year-over-year growth. Clover Health Investments’ earnings beat estimates in three of the past four quarters and met once, with an average surprise of 83.3%.The Pennant Group, Inc. PNTG currently has a Zacks Rank of 3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PNTG’s bottom line for the to-be-reported quarter of 29 cents per share indicates 11.5% year-over-year growth. It remained stable over the past week. Pennant Group’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters and missed once, with an average surprise of 8.9%.Zacks' Research Chief Picks Stock Most Likely to "At Least Double"Our experts have revealed their Top 5 recommendations with money-doubling potential – and Director of Research Sheraz Mian believes one is superior to the others. Of course, all our picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier recommendations like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.See Our Top Stock to Double (Plus 4 Runners Up) >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cigna Group (CI): Free Stock Analysis Report ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANIP): Free Stock Analysis Report The Pennant Group, Inc. (PNTG): Free Stock Analysis Report Clover Health Investments, Corp. (CLOV): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks