Health Care Services

Alignment Healthcare announced that its Alignment Health Plan will add Hoag, a large Orange County health system, to its network for Medicare members starting January 1, 2027. The agreement comes as Alignment Healthcare's share price sits under pressure, with the stock down 41.36% on a 30 day share price return basis and 60.73% year to date, while the 3 year total shareholder return remains positive at 8.47% and the 1 year total shareholder return has declined 52.23%. Analysts following the company see a wide gap between their narrative fair value of about $22.23 and the last close at $7.94, with 14 investors viewing Alignment Healthcare as 64% undervalued. On simple P/E math the stock screens as expensive, trading at about 40.5x earnings versus 24.3x for the wider US Healthcare industry and roughly 34.5x for peers, even though the fair ratio is estimated at 43x. The bull case rests on a technology-enabled care model, administrative automation and expansion into existing counties and new states, but it depends on stable Medicare Advantage funding and clean accounting, and any adverse regulatory or legal outcome could quickly challenge those assumptions.

Hims & Hers Health, Inc. announced the appointment of two new clinical experts to its global medical leadership team, naming Kultar Garcha, MD, as Chief Medical Officer of the UK and EMEA and Matt Vickers, FRACGP, MBBS, BMedSci, AICGG, as Chief Medical Officer of Hims Australia. The two appointments are the company's latest step in strengthening the local clinical leadership that underpins its international growth, and both executives will report into a global medical leadership structure led by Global Chief Medical Officer Pat Carroll, MD. Dr. Garcha brings over two decades of experience across public and private UK and international health systems, including clinical leadership roles at Flow Neuroscience and Babylon Health and almost 15 years as a practicing NHS GP, and will oversee clinical quality, patient safety, and prescribing standards across the UK and EMEA. Dr. Vickers is a practicing GP and supervisor with more than a decade of experience in family medical practice and has led health-tech efforts at Eucalyptus since 2019, and as Chief Medical Officer he will lead clinical strategy in Australia as Hims & Hers deepens its presence in the region. The pair join an international medical leadership bench that includes Sandy Van, MD, CCFP, ABOM Dipl, who has served as Chief Medical Officer of Hims & Hers Canada since December 2025.

The Cigna Group introduced a new "Lead to One" vision at its 2026 Investor Day, aimed at driving durable growth through leadership in complex care and differentiated capabilities. The company reaffirmed its 2026 full-year financial guidance, including consolidated adjusted revenues of approximately $280 billion, consolidated adjusted EPS of at least $30.45, Evernorth Health Services pre-tax adjusted income from operations of at least $6.90 billion, Cigna Healthcare pre-tax adjusted income from operations of at least $4.55 billion, and a medical care ratio of 83.7% to 84.7%. Cigna also set long-term financial targets through 2030 of 10-14% adjusted EPS CAGR and approximately $50 billion in cumulative operating cash flow. As part of the plan, the company announced a new $3 billion multi-year modernization and productivity initiative to support growth and financial performance. Additionally, The Cigna Group Foundation is launching a new $10.5 million, three-year grant program to expand community support for patients and caregivers.

Labcorp Holdings is expanding in high-growth specialty testing markets while broadening its consumer testing business, with acquisitions, health-system relationships and new contracts boosting its reach. In the second quarter of 2026, the company completed acquisitions of select Parkview Health outreach laboratory services and Tribal Diagnostics, invested $225.7 million in acquisitions, and secured another Department of Defense contract to provide testing across military hospitals worldwide; net acquisitions added 1.2% to enterprise revenue growth and 1.9% to Diagnostics growth during the quarter. Enterprise adjusted operating margin expanded 70 basis points year over year to 15.8% in the second quarter of 2026, with Diagnostics margin up 50 basis points to 18% and BLS margin up 130 basis points to 17%. Management estimated that Affordable Care Act-related changes reduced second-quarter 2026 diagnostic volume by 20-30 basis points and continues to assume a 30-basis-point full-year impact, though the affected payer group represents less than 4-5% of diagnostic volume. Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Labcorp's 2026 earnings per share has edged up 0.2% to $18.32, while the 2026 revenue consensus stands at $14.75 billion, implying 5.7% growth over 2025.

NewGenIvf Group Limited announced the pricing of a reasonable best efforts public offering expected to raise gross proceeds of approximately $1.25 million before deducting placement agent fees and other offering expenses. The offering consists of 17,857,143 Ordinary Shares or Pre-Funded Warrants in lieu thereof, priced at $0.07 per Common Share, or $0.06999 for each Pre-Funded Warrant, which equals the public offering price per Ordinary Share minus an exercise price of $0.00001 per Pre-Funded Warrant. The Pre-Funded Warrants will be immediately exercisable and may be exercised at any time until exercised in full, with the number of Ordinary Shares in the offering decreased on a one-for-one basis for each Pre-Funded Warrant sold. The transaction is expected to close on or about September 30, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, and the Company expects to use the net proceeds together with existing cash for investment in K25.ai, restructuring of debt securities, working capital including manufacturing and deployment of Nodexus machines in the cell-sorting business, and general corporate purposes. Aegis Capital Corp. is acting as exclusive placement agent, Han Kun Law Offices LLP is acting as U.S. counsel to the Company, and Kaufman & Canoles, P.C. is acting as U.S. counsel to Aegis Capital Corp. A registration statement on Form F-1 previously filed with the SEC on August 20, 2026 was declared effective on September 28, 2026.

CorVel Corporation announced on September 22 that insurance carriers running Guidewire's ClaimCenter can now start and manage CorVel's managed care services directly from their claims screen, letting handlers pass injury details across with a single sign-on and receive status updates and recommendations without retyping. Ron Wojciechowski, CorVel's Senior Vice President of Payer Technical Solutions, pitched the integration as lowering the barrier to becoming a CorVel client, and the connection follows Guidewire's own standards and can be picked up through the Guidewire Marketplace. The launch follows CorVel's August 5 report of revenue of $260 million for the quarter ended June 30, up 11% from $235 million a year earlier, with gross profit up 19% to $67.8 million and earnings per share of $0.63 versus $0.52. CorVel ended the quarter with $256 million in cash and no borrowings, even after buying back $21.8 million of its stock. The announcement named no carriers that have adopted the tool and put no dollar figure on what it might add, while short interest sits at 11.58% of the float, reflecting skepticism over whether gross margins can sustain their current trajectory.

Aetna, a CVS Health company, is expanding its bundled prior authorization program across all cancer types for members in eligible Medicaid states as of September 1, with plans to extend it across all lines of business in 2027. The expansion builds on an initial roll-out in which almost 25% of eligible members received a bundled prior authorization, assuring their services were approved in advance. Aetna found that providers were submitting four separate prior authorizations on average for each member needing cancer treatment, and the bundles combine medical oncology, including chemotherapy and immunotherapy where appropriate, and radiation oncology services with associated high-tech imaging such as MRI or CT scans into a single request through one portal. Katerina Guerraz, Aetna Chief Operating Officer and President of Medicaid, said approving a broader set of treatments and related services upfront removes barriers that can delay care. According to the latest Aetna Provider Survey, 74% of providers identified administrative burden as the top challenge facing clinical staff, and nearly one-third, or 31%, cited prior authorization management as the single largest contributor; 30% of respondents believed they could save more than an hour and 80% expect to save more than 30 minutes daily through technology solutions such as bundles. Aetna expects to expand eligibility to Medicare and Commercial members in the first half of 2027.

CorVel Corporation has launched its CareMC Accelerator for Guidewire ClaimCenter, letting insurers initiate and manage Managed Care services directly within the claims workflow through secure Single Sign-On and structured data exchange. The integration embeds managed care as a coordinated part of claims handling, which could reduce administrative friction while giving claims teams real-time visibility into care activity and outcomes. CorVel's investment narrative centers on a specialized healthcare services company that leans heavily on technology to keep claims and managed care tightly coordinated while steadily returning capital through ongoing buybacks, and the new product fits that tech-first story by potentially reinforcing near-term catalysts around product adoption and deepening customer stickiness. Even so, the launch on its own may not be a dramatic financial swing factor right away, and it slightly raises the stakes around technology execution risk and integration quality. The article also flags insider selling as a key concern investors should not overlook.

Addus HomeCare agreed on September 14 to acquire the personal care division of AccentCare for an anticipated $275 million, a deal expected to add roughly $280 million in annualized revenue, nearly a fifth of the company's current revenue base. The AccentCare operations serve an average daily census of about 13,700 customers across a 10-state footprint, deepening Addus in Texas, Illinois, California, and Arizona while adding a foothold in Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington. The purchase covers only personal care, leaving AccentCare's hospice and home health operations out of the deal, and will be funded through Addus's revolver and cash on hand rather than new share issuance. The transaction has not closed and still requires regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. The deal follows Addus's second-quarter results, reported August 3, when net service revenues rose 8.0% to $377.4 million and adjusted EBITDA climbed 11.9% to $49.2 million, with personal care up 6.8% organically and hospice up 11.1% organically. Addus carried $64.3 million in debt and generated $40.0 million in quarterly operating cash flow ahead of the acquisition.

Pediatrix Medical Group reported second-quarter 2026 net revenues of $487.8 million, up 4% year over year, as acquisitions and higher same-unit pricing offset a 2.1% decline in same-unit revenues tied to patient volume. Same-unit revenues from net reimbursement-related factors rose 4% year over year, helped by improved revenue-cycle management cash collections, a favorable payor mix and higher patient acuity, primarily in neonatology, while commercial and other non-government payor mix improved 135 basis points from the year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $76.4 million from $73.2 million, and the company reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook of $280-$300 million. Pediatrix expects full-year patient volumes to be roughly flat to slightly lower, and the benefit from stronger revenue-cycle collections is expected to ease in the second half of 2026, while higher salaries and malpractice expenses could weigh on operating leverage. Among peers, Tenet Healthcare posted a 6% year-over-year increase in hospital unit net operating revenues with admissions up 2.3%, and HCA Healthcare reported admissions up 2.4% with revenue per equivalent admission up 6%.

Quest Diagnostics is expanding across physician, hospital and consumer channels, with its Corewell Health Co-Lab Solutions joint venture expected to add about $250 million to 2026 revenues and launch its joint venture laboratory in early 2027. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Quest Diagnostics' 2026 earnings per share has increased 11.2% to $11.15 over the past 60 days, while the consensus estimate for 2026 revenues is pegged at $12.01 billion, implying 8.9% growth from the year-ago reported number. In the second quarter of 2026, physician channel revenues rose in the high single-digit range and hospital channel revenues grew at a double-digit rate, and New York State approved Haystack MRD, allowing commercial expansion across all 50 states. The company's Invigorate program now targets 3% annual cost savings and productivity improvements, though second-quarter cost of services increased 10.9% year over year and adjusted operating margin declined 40 basis points to 16.5%. As of June 30, 2026, long-term debt stood at $5.63 billion against $626 million in cash and cash equivalents, and management continues to assume a 30-basis-point revenue impact in 2026 from the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act exchange subsidies.

Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said at the company's Apsara Conference that Alibaba Cloud plans to operate more than 20 gigawatts of data centers globally by 2032, according to FactSet, and he also launched the Zhenwu V900 chip. Quest Diagnostics and Labcorp Holdings each dropped more than 5% after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a report showing Medicare has been paying 16% more for laboratory services than private payors, with the federal entity saying it will align most Medicare payments with private sector rates. Vicor rallied 9% after the power electronics company issued third quarter guidance forecasting sequential revenue growth of more than 20% quarter over quarter, versus prior guidance of nearly 10%. On Holding jumped more than 6% after the Swiss sportswear company set new midterm financial targets at its Investor Day, including absolute net sales reaching at least CHF5.6 billion by 2029 and gross profit margin of 65% throughout the period, and said it will repurchase up to an aggregate of $1 billion in Class A ordinary shares by December 2029 while reiterating its full year 2026 outlook. GameStop gained 3.5% after CEO Ryan Cohen disclosed a purchase of 1.2 million shares.

Genesis Fertility Center Public Company Limited, or GFC, a provider of reproductive medicine services for people with infertility, held its first Open House on 18 September 2026, opening its doors to welcome executives from 20 companies listed on the Market for Alternative Investment, or mai, to introduce its capabilities and reproductive medicine services and to open opportunities for strategic collaboration with partner organisations. Pharmacist Natee Tangjitsodsai, Chief Executive Officer, said the event focused on building human resources collaboration, particularly women's health care and support for employees having children at the corporate level, or Corporate Fertility, through the development of related benefits such as IVF and egg freezing, as well as organising seminars to educate employees of partner organisations about reproductive health. The company views this Open House as the starting point for building business relationships with promising organisations and sees the potential to develop them into long-term collaboration in the future, since sustainable long-term growth does not come from improving service quality alone but also requires business strategy, personnel development, and adaptation to continuously changing market demands. Natee added that GFC expects the Open House to open new perspectives on employee health care, especially reproductive health and family planning, including egg freezing, and to lead to approaches to caring for personnel suited to each organisation's context, as well as increasing opportunities for other forms of collaboration between GFC and its partners in the future.

Inspire IVF Public Company Limited, or IVF, has acquired a 24% stake in Eternity Healthcare 369 Company Limited, or ETERNITY, and the two parties have begun discussing avenues for cooperation and are preparing cross-selling to connect their customer bases and expand joint business opportunities. Kesinee Kuldilok, Chief Executive Officer of IVF, said the partnership will reinforce the strengths of both sides, since ETERNITY specialises in men's health, particularly Urology, while IVF is strong in women's health and fertility treatment, covering egg freezing, IVF and ICSI, allowing the two to extend their health services to cover both women and men more comprehensively. The company has also expanded its services under Inspire IVF in the Wellness segment, which officially opened for service early last month on the G floor of the Ploenchit Center building, while the IVF centre is located on the 5th floor of the same building. The Wellness services cover vitamin infusions, blood tests, screening for 10 types of cancer, cell age testing and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, targeting premium customers, who are currently mostly foreign clients, especially from the Middle East, whose per-capita spending is higher than that of Thai customers. For its second-half 2026 plan, the company will continue to market its IVF business, and in about two weeks it is preparing to market and hold roadshows in India in both B2B and B2C formats, bringing a team of doctors along to provide consultations, while in October it plans to travel to China to tap the B2B segment further, alongside driving the Wellness business and building synergies with ETERNITY.

CVS Health is trading near $94, a 19% discount to the $116.28 average analyst price target and roughly 50% below the $141.05 base-case one-year target in 24/7 Wall St.'s own valuation model. Management raised full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $7.90 to $8.10 from $7.30 to $7.50 and lifted operating cash flow guidance to at least $11.5 billion. Second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.58 beat consensus by 37.97%, and Aetna's medical benefit ratio improved to 87.4% from 89.9%. Full-year 2026 consensus EPS has drawn 22 upward analyst revisions and zero downward revisions over the trailing 30 days. The bull case rests on Aetna's margin recovery proving durable, while PBM re-regulation, 340B pressure, and drug pricing rules remain the sharpest threats to the thesis. The next checkpoint is third-quarter 2026 earnings, expected November 4, 2026, a date not yet confirmed by the company.

CVS Health announced the rollout of updated 2026 to 2027 COVID-19 vaccines across its CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations. The vaccines are positioned for broad availability through the company's nationwide network of retail pharmacies and in-store clinics, which CVS Health framed as part of its role in supporting ongoing COVID-19 management and wider public health efforts. The US-based healthcare group, which carries a reported market value of about $121.1b, uses those pharmacies and clinics to distribute vaccines and other preventive services that feed into its broader health solutions offering. The rollout keeps CVS Health aligned with a value-based, preventive care narrative rather than rewriting it, as making updated COVID, flu, RSV and routine shots available in a single visit leans into the company's push to use its clinics and pharmacies as an entry point into its wider health solutions. The real proof point will come through disclosed vaccination volumes and related pharmacy script trends in upcoming quarters, especially any commentary from CVS Health at events such as the Wells Fargo healthcare conference on how multi-vaccine appointments are feeding into its wider care delivery and insurance ecosystem.

Zacks Investment Research has raised its 2026 consensus earnings estimate for BrightSpring Health Services by 16 cents to $1.82 per share, implying 82% growth over the prior-year reported level, while the 2026 revenue consensus stands at $15.26 billion, an 18.2% improvement. The Louisville, Kentucky-based home and community-based healthcare platform, which carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an $11.62 billion market capitalization, is banking on expanding specialty pharmacy beyond oncology, infusion growth into another 12 to 15 states over the next five years, and deeper payer and hospital system relationships in Provider Services. BrightSpring shares have rallied 61% year to date, against a 3.2% gain for the industry and an 11.1% rise for the S&P 500, leaving its forward P/E of 32.35 well above the industry average of 16.92. Management expects the 2027 Inflation Reduction Act impact on Home and Community Pharmacy to be roughly half of the 2026 impact, though Specialty Pharmacy will continue to face revenue pressure, and integration of Amedisys and LHC plus automation and AI investments carry execution risk through 2026.

CVS Health's Health Services segment posted second-quarter 2026 revenues of $51.80 billion, up 11.5% year over year, 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. The 2026 selling season generated more than $6 billion in new sales, well above the company's historical average, and Caremark's Humira biosimilar strategy has delivered more than $1.8 billion in client savings. Health Care Delivery revenues rose nearly 23% year over year in the quarter, primarily driven by Oak Street Health, as CVS makes technology infrastructure changes, refines payer contracts and adopts a more selective clinic footprint. For comparison, UnitedHealth's Optum health services business reached $129.4 billion in the first half of 2026, and Elevance Health's Carelon posted first-half 2026 revenues of $37.2 billion, up 7.1% year over year.

AMN Healthcare Services reported second quarter revenue of $673.2 million, up 2% from a year earlier, alongside net income of $21.2 million and adjusted earnings per share of $0.77, more than double the $0.30 posted in the same quarter of 2025. Within the business, the Nurse and Allied Solutions segment, which includes travel nurse and allied staffing, posted $422 million in revenue, an 11% increase from a year ago, with travel nurse staffing revenue up 10% and the allied division up 8%, while search revenue climbed 27% year over year. Two other segments kept shrinking: Physician and Leadership Solutions revenue fell 6% year over year to $165 million, and Technology and Workforce Solutions revenue dropped 15% to $87 million, dragged down by a 20% decline in vendor management systems revenue. AMN's third-quarter guidance projects Physician and Leadership Solutions down 5% to 7% and Technology and Workforce Solutions down 11% to 13% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA rose 26% year over year to $73.4 million, and the company ended the quarter with $362 million in cash, a leverage ratio of 1.5x, and nothing drawn on its revolving credit facility, though operating cash flow was negative $190 million as AMN returned client deposits tied to first-quarter labor disruption events.

Labcorp Holdings presented a long-term growth strategy and financial forecast at its 2026 Investor Day, reaffirming full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance of $18.10 to $18.55, above the Wall Street estimate of $18.01, and 2026 sales of $14.710 billion to $14.827 billion, edging past the $14.707 billion estimate. That 2026 revenue guidance comprises Diagnostics Laboratories sales of $11.45 billion to $11.53 billion and Biopharma Laboratory Services sales of $3.269 billion to $3.30 billion. Looking to 2029, management targets a compound annual revenue growth rate of 5% to 8% and compound annual adjusted EPS growth of 8.5% to 11.5%, with adjusted operating margin expanding by 75 to 150 basis points by the end of 2029 and compound annual free cash flow growth mirroring adjusted earnings growth. The company set four strategic priorities: leading specialty testing in oncology, neurology, autoimmune diseases and women's health; becoming a preferred partner for health systems and pharmaceutical companies; advancing personalized health solutions; and integrating artificial intelligence and robotics into its operations.

Walgreens is closing roughly 1,200 of its approximately 8,500 U.S. locations through 2027, a retreat that is quietly handing suburban pharmacy customers to CVS. The closures accelerated after Walgreens completed a $10 billion sale to private equity firm Sycamore Partners in August 2025, taking the 124-year-old chain private for the first time; Mike Motz was named chief executive, replacing Tim Wentworth, who stays on as a director, and John Lederer became executive chairman. Company leadership has blamed shrinking pharmacy reimbursement rates, weaker retail traffic, and competition from Amazon Pharmacy for the decision, saying roughly a quarter of stores no longer fit the chain's strategy. CVS, which owns the pharmacy benefit manager Caremark, has not needed a marketing campaign to gain ground, and CVS and Walgreens together now handle nearly 40% of all U.S. retail prescription sales. CVS posted more than $106 billion in revenue and adjusted operating income of roughly $5.2 billion in its second-quarter 2026 results, up more than 35% from a year earlier, and raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance to a range of $7.90 to $8.10. Walgreens has committed to continuing closures through 2027, with roughly 100 more expected before the end of 2026, while CVS is opening small-format stores, folding in leftover Rite Aid real estate, and leaning into GLP-1 access through new partnerships with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

JPMorgan initiated coverage of Hims & Hers Health with a Neutral rating and a December 2027 price target of $32, weighing the direct-to-consumer platform's rapid growth against execution risk in its shift to branded weight-loss drugs. Analyst Bryan Smilek noted the company has about 2.9 million subscribers across specialties including weight loss, women's health and hair loss, and is navigating a strategic transition in its GLP-1 business after saying in March it would prioritize branded, FDA-approved medications and stop advertising compounded GLP-1 offerings. Under a partnership with Novo Nordisk, Hims is said to have fulfilled more than 125,000 Wegovy shipments in the first six weeks of launch, and Smilek wrote that the Novo partnership should more than offset compounded GLP-1 headwinds, projecting 2026 GLP-1 revenue of $1.1 billion, up 46%, split between a decline in compounded sales and a surge in branded volumes. He pointed to a long runway, citing JPMorgan estimates that U.S. cash-pay GLP-1 users could reach more than 8 million by 2030 from about 2.8 million today, while the company targets 2030 revenue of more than $6.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA above $1.3 billion, aided by international expansion, new specialties such as peptides and AI-driven efficiency. Smilek said he is positive on Hims' vertical integration and leading brand scale and expansion across specialties and geographies, but wants to see execution on the branded GLP-1 transition, durable growth in newer specialties and margin expansion.

Hyperion DeFi CEO Hyunsu Jung called President Donald Trump's White House endorsement of Hyperliquid "extremely positive," saying the administration's push to bring the decentralized exchange to the U.S. market in a fully compliant and legal fashion, along with support from agencies like the CFTC, clears the way for broader adoption. Hyperion DeFi holds roughly 1.93 million HYPE, worth over $166 million, on its balance sheet, making it the second-largest HYPE treasury company after Hyperliquid Strategies Inc., and Jung said the company plans to consistently accumulate the token, funded by revenue from expanding business lines and accretive purchases through public markets. Jung added that more HYPE ownership is beneficial given the trend that future new primitives on Hyperliquid will require some quantity of HYPE stake, though he clarified the company is not solely focused on accumulation, running institutional-grade validators for native staking rewards and allocating HYPE to core DeFi primitives such as lending, borrowing, and vault strategies. The HYPD stock is up 37% in a month, while the HYPE token has surged 58%. Hyperion DeFi raised its full-year 2026 adjusted gross profit guidance to $7 million-$8 million, up from $5 million-$7 million, and the Nasdaq-listed company also authorized a $20 million share repurchase program.

InnovAge Holding Corp. reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $989.7 million on September 8, up 15.9%, with company-defined non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA reaching $94.6 million versus $34.5 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 9.6% from 4.0%, while the consolidated GAAP net loss narrowed to $0.7 million from $35.3 million and the loss attributable to shareholders was $2.5 million. Census reached approximately 8,230 participants, up from 7,740, and company-defined non-GAAP center-level contribution margin reached $227.8 million, or 23.0% of revenue, versus 18.0% a year earlier. Fiscal 2027 guidance calls for revenue of $1.05 billion to $1.085 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $105 million to $115 million, implying at the midpoints approximately 7.9% revenue growth, 16.3% adjusted EBITDA growth and a 10.3% adjusted EBITDA margin. The company did not forecast GAAP net income, citing difficulty estimating the adjustments needed to reconcile its adjusted EBITDA outlook, and it added back $57.0 million of litigation costs and settlements in fiscal 2026, compared with $19.4 million a year earlier.

CVS Health raised its 2026 adjusted operating income outlook for its Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segment by $220 million to at least $6.4 billion, citing higher prescription volumes and better pharmacy economics. In the second quarter of 2026, adjusted operating income for the segment rose 10.2% year over year to $1.48 billion, same-store prescription volume climbed 7%, and prescriptions filled increased 4.3% on a 30-day equivalent basis, while the segment's gross margin improved to 19.3% from 17.9% a year earlier. The company is also expanding access to GLP-1 therapies through its pharmacy network, MinuteClinic services and cash-pay options, and in July 2026 began the targeted launch of Health100, including Haio, its AI-powered health assistant, while Aetna launched a second-generation Claims Assist Manager that management expects to cut processing time by more than 20% for complex claims requiring manual review. CVS shares have gained 32.9% over the past year, outpacing UnitedHealth Group's 13% rise and Cigna Group's 8% decline, and the stock trades at a forward five-year price-to-sales of 0.29X versus an industry average of 0.53X. The company still faces reimbursement pressure, an insufficient 2027 Medicare Advantage payment update in management's view, and regulatory scrutiny, including challenges to pharmacy ownership laws in Arkansas and Tennessee. The Zacks Consensus Estimate implies 2026 sales growth of 3.8% and EPS growth of 18.1% year over year.

BrightSpring Health Services' Specialty and Infusion business grew revenue 30% year over year in the second quarter, with scripts up 31%, driven by branded limited distribution drug growth, new launches, fee-for-service programs, generics and acute-infusion expansion. The company added two ultra-narrow-network LDDs in the quarter, bringing its total portfolio to 155 programs, and launched 12 LDDs in the first half of 2026, four as exclusive partners and eight as ultra-narrow-network programs. Pharmacy Solutions' adjusted EBITDA rose 44% to $180 million, and management expects continued quarter-over-quarter growth through the remainder of 2026. BrightSpring said it has several hundred clinical liaisons across thousands of prescriber offices and 15 years of LDD experience, infrastructure it can leverage for rare and orphan therapies. Separately, Cigna's Specialty & Care pretax adjusted earnings rose 22% year over year to $1.1 billion, while Humana's second-quarter growth was driven primarily by Medicare Advantage membership and CenterWell expansion.

Quest Diagnostics announced that Apple Health app users in the United States will be able to purchase a tailored laboratory test panel, including over 50 biomarkers, directly through the app on iPhone and iPad later this year. The integration, first announced by Apple at its September event, will allow users to schedule blood draws and biometric readings at one of Quest's approximately 2,000 patient service centers for $119. Results will appear within the Apple Health app shortly after testing, with Quest collaborating with third-party providers to review orders and discuss results at no extra charge. Richard Adams, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Consumer at Quest, said the move aims to bridge clinical and consumer health, addressing preventive health needs for conditions like heart disease and diabetes that affect many American adults.