Published on 20 Jul 2022 on MarketWatch
Elevance Health stock drops to lead S&P 500 losers as earnings 'beat and raise' missed high...
Shares of Elevance Health Inc. , tumbled 8.7% in afternoon trading Wednesday, enough to pace the S&P 500's decliners, as investors jeered the health insurance company's second-quarter results. The stock was on track to suffer the biggest one-day selloff since March 2020. The company reported earlier second-quarter net income that fell to $1.65 billion, or $6.79 a share, from $1.79 billion, or $7.25 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $8.04 beat the FactSet consensus of $7.75. Revenue rose 14.1% to $38.63 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $37.91 billion. The company also raised its 2022 adjusted EPS guidance to greater than $28.70 from greater than $28.40. Mizuho analyst Ann Hynes said she believes the reason for the stock's decline was that "the beat and raise was likely below the high expectations heading into the quarter." The stock has eases 2.1% year to date, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has declined 9.2% and the S&P 500 has shed 17.2%.