CVS Health’s CVS Health Services business continues to benefit from favorable pharmacy drug mix, brand inflation, purchasing economics and gradual improvement in Health Care Delivery. In the second quarter of 2026, the segment’s revenues increased 11.5% year over year to $51.80 billion, while adjusted operating income rose 10% to $1.73 billion.
The company reiterated its full-year 2026 adjusted operating income outlook despite updating its view of the 340B program, supported by performance across the broader Pharmacy Services business. Caremark continues to adapt its offerings as clients seek lower net costs and greater transparency. The 2026 selling season generated more than $6 billion in new sales, well above the company’s historical average. CVS Specialty also maintained adherence levels above 90%, while Caremark’s Humira biosimilar strategy has delivered more than $1.8 billion in client savings.
Health Care Delivery is also contributing to growth, with second-quarter 2026 revenues rising nearly 23% year over year, primarily driven by Oak Street Health. CVS is making technology infrastructure changes, refining payer contracts and adopting a more selective clinic footprint to improve the economics of Health Care Delivery over time.
Peer Update
UnitedHealth’s UNH health service business, branded as Optum, remains a central growth engine and a key pillar of diversification. Despite the temporary disruption from the Change Healthcare cyberattack in February 2024, its revenues rose 11.6% in 2024 and 7% in 2025, reaching $129.4 billion in the first half of 2026.
Growth continues to be supported by OptumHealth’s integrated value-based care model and investments in AI-enabled technologies. Optum Insight is also gaining traction with AI-driven solutions, while Optum Rx continues to advance its transparency initiatives. These efforts could support longer-term growth and margin expansion.
Elevance Health ELV continues to expand its healthcare services brand Carelon’s integrated healthcare capabilities across pharmacy, behavioral health and value-based care solutions. During the first half of 2026, Carelon revenues increased 7.1% year over year to $37.2 billion, driven by Carelon Services risk-based solutions and CarelonRx product revenues.
ELV highlighted the expansion of CareBridge, growth in external client relationships and the development of additional value-based solutions as strategic priorities. These initiatives could broaden Elevance’s role beyond traditional health insurance and support future revenue diversification.
CVS’ Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Over the past year, CVS Health shares have risen 30.1% compared with the industry’s 13.7% growth.
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CVS shares are trading at a forward five-year price-to-sales ratio of 0.29, lower than the industry average of 0.53. The stock has a Value Score of A.
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The consensus estimate for the company’s 2026 earnings has been showing a bullish trend.
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CVS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).