Elevance Health revenue reaches $50.4 billion, beating estimates as earnings improve
Key Facts
Elevance Health's revenue in the third quarter of 2026 totaled about $50.4 billion, beating analysts' estimates, according to Investing's earnings coverage published on October 21. The average estimate called for revenue of $49.32 billion for the same period. The website reported adjusted earnings per share of $6.99, against an analyst consensus of $4.70. Both revenue and adjusted earnings therefore exceeded estimates for the quarter, alongside an improvement in the benefit expense ratio compared with the year-earlier period. The company's shares rose 1.1% following the earnings announcement, according to Investing's report published that day. The website also cited an adjusted annual earnings forecast above analysts' consensus for the current year.
On insurance performance, Investing reported that the benefit expense ratio improved to 90.6% in the third quarter, down 70 basis points year on year. The report linked the improvement to the performance of Medicare Advantage plans and Affordable Care Act-compliant individual plans. The company recorded a benefit expense ratio of 91.3% in the third quarter of 2025, according to its statement for that period. Elevance Health said in that earlier statement that the ratio had risen 180 basis points from the preceding year. The decline recorded in the latest quarter follows that annual increase in the corresponding period, bringing the ratio below its year-earlier level.
For the full year, Investing cited an adjusted earnings per share forecast of $29.00 for 2026, against an analyst consensus of $27.24. The company had raised its forecast to "at least $27.00" when it announced second-quarter results in July, according to its statement at the time. The figure cited in the latest earnings report is above the minimum the company set at midyear. Elevance Health began the year in January forecasting adjusted earnings of at least $25.50 per share, according to Reuters via Investing. That initial forecast was below analysts' estimates of $26.90 per share at the time. The annual earnings forecast thus moved from below analysts' consensus at the start of the year to above the consensus cited in the third-quarter earnings coverage.
Results from previous quarters provide context for the latest performance, with Elevance Health reporting operating revenue of $49.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026. That revenue grew 0.8% year on year, according to the company's statement, in the quarter when it raised its annual earnings and operating cash flow forecasts. In the third quarter of 2025, operating revenue totaled $50.1 billion, according to the earnings statement for the corresponding period. That figure represented year-on-year growth of 12.0% compared with the third quarter of 2024. On earnings, adjusted diluted earnings per share in the third quarter of the previous year totaled $6.03. That puts earnings for the corresponding period below the adjusted earnings per share cited in the latest quarterly report.
Second-quarter results also included a net benefit of about $0.80 per share from items below operating income, according to Elevance Health's disclosure. The company described this contribution in its statement as a "net benefit from items below operating income" in its presentation of that quarter's results. The contribution came in the same period in which management announced an increase in its annual operating cash flow forecast. The company set its new forecast at at least $6.0 billion for 2026, according to its second-quarter earnings statement. The increase in the cash flow forecast in that announcement accompanied a higher minimum forecast for adjusted annual earnings, ahead of the third-quarter results and their coverage in October.
Elevance Health's group companies serve about 104 million consumers, according to its advance announcement of the third-quarter earnings discussion, issued on October 5, 2026. The group's operations include the Carelon segment, which the company said in its third-quarter earnings statement for the previous year consists of CarelonRx and Carelon Services. This breakdown appeared in the company's disclosure of its operations and results for that period. Elevance Health scheduled a conference call to discuss third-quarter results for the current year, according to its investor relations calendar. The call is scheduled for October 21, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time to discuss quarterly results.