Anthem delivered second-quarter 2021 earnings of $7.03 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.34 by 10.9% owing to better revenues and solid Medicaid and Medicare businesses. But still, the profit drastically reduced to $1.8 Billion which is about 21.2% from the year before.
- Expense Ratio: Anthem’s benefit expense ratio of 86.8% expanded 890 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter, primarily due to increased non-COVID healthcare utilization as well as COVID-related healthcare costs. A SG&A expense ratio of 11.5% contracted 240 bps from the year-ago quarter on the back of repealing the health insurance tax in 2021 and better operating revenues.
- Revenue: Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. covers more than 43 million people in several states, including big markets like New York and California. Its IngenioRx business also brought in about $6.2 billion in revenue during the quarter.
- Medicaid jumps in: Anthem’s benefit expense jumped 27% in the recently completed second quarter to nearly $25 billion. But enrollment in state and federally funded Medicaid plans that Anthem manages to climb19% to 9.7 million people. That was helped partly by a suspension of state attempts to decertify the eligibility of people with Medicaid coverage during the pandemic.
- Forecasts: Anthem said that it now expects its full-year adjusted net income to be greater than $25.50 per share, up from a previous forecast for earnings surpassing $25.10 per share. Company shares rose 1.4% to $395.45 in early trading. The stock has already climbed 21% since the beginning of the year and 51% in the last 12 months.
- Commitments: “We continued to deliver on our commitments to our stakeholders while making considerable progress against our long-term strategy during the second quarter, all while navigating an uncertain environment due to the pandemic” said CEO Boudreaux in a statement.