CVS beats Street on Q2 earnings and sales; ups guidance
CVS Health Corp. continued its momentum from the first quarter of fiscal 2026 with strong second quarter performance.
The retail pharmacy and health care giant reported net income of $2.99 billion, close to triple $1.01 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) totaled $2.58 billion, well ahead of Wall Street projections of $1.83. Total revenues reached $106.1 billion, up 7% from $98.9 billion and past analyst expectations of $100.3 billion.
[READ MORE: CVS earnings, revenue top Street in Q1]
CVS also reported solid year-over-year growth in its Aetna insurance unit. Total revenues increased 3.5% to $37.5 billion from $36.2 billion, driven by an increase in government business.
Total revenues in the health services segment increased 11.5% to $51.8 billion from $46.4 billion, primarily driven by pharmacy drug mix and brand inflation, partially offset by what CVS said were continued pharmacy client price improvements.
And in the pharmacy & consumer wellness segment which dispenses prescriptions in its retail pharmacies and through its infusion operations, CVS reported a slight increase in total revenues to $33.8 billion from $33.5 billion. This was primarily driven by pharmacy drug mix, increased prescription volume, including contributions from the company’s Rite Aid asset acquisitions which were completed during the third quarter of 2025, and brand inflation. However, CVS said these increases were largely offset by regulatory-related price reductions on certain drugs, the impact of recent generic drug introductions and pharmacy reimbursement pressure.
Based on this overall strong performance, CVS is increasing its full-year 2026 generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) diluted EPS, adjusted EPS and cash flow from operations guidance to reflect increases in its health care benefits (Aetna) and pharmacy & consumer wellness segments. GAAP diluted EPS guidance range is being raised to $6.84 to $7.04 from $6.24 to $6.44, while adjusted EPS guidance range is increasing to $7.90 to $8.10 from $7.30 to $7.50. Cash flow from operations guidance is now expected to reach at least $11.5 billion from previous estimates of at least $9.5 billion.
“As our businesses work together to deliver a technology-powered care engagement experience, we continue to deliver strong performance,” said David Joyner, CVS Health chairman and CEO. “We uniquely enable what our customers want the most: simple, connected and convenient access to affordable, quality health care, where, when, and how they want it.”
As of June 30, 2026, Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS Health had approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care medical clinics and a pharmacy benefits manager with approximately 87 million plan members.
