ELV US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
Elevance Health (ELV) · Q3 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $429.48 · 2026-11-11
Elevance Health provides medical, pharmacy, and behavioral health services to individuals, employer groups, and government programs. The company operates as a health insurer and service provider across the United States, offering managed care plans and administrative services to various healthcare markets. Source: 10-K annual report (2026-02-06)
Results Q3 2026 vs Q2 2026 · previous quarter · published 21 Oct 2026 and 15 Jul 2026
Net income down 6.1% on the previous quarter. Management sounded about as positive as a typical company call, in its script and in answers to analysts.
1 · Numbers
−6.1%
Net income vs Q2 2026
Outlook given
Net income 1.36B vs 1.45B
Revenue +1.9%
Why Against the same quarter last year (+14.8%), net income rose primarily due to approximately 50 cents per share of operating outperformance and a net non-operating benefit of $1.85 per share from investment income valuation adjustments, partially offset by state tax items.
2 · How management spoke
Typical
Less upbeat than 52% of company calls
Answers to analysts: typical, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
Elevance Health raised its 2026 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to at least $29 due to operating outperformance and favorable non-operating items.
Valuation
Is Elevance Health undervalued?
Reverse DCF on net income from the last full fiscal year (no meaningful free cash flow: a bank, insurer or a year of negative cash flow) (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 8.3% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $546.77 a share — the stock trades 21% below it. Today's price assumes 5.0% growth a year.
Current price
$429.48
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+5.0% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$546.77
Buy below
$410.08
Price vs fair value
Undervalued 21%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued 5%
Read between the lines
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Guidance
ELV raised its 2026 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to at least $29 due to operating outperformance and favorable non-operating items.
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Figure
The company expects at least 12% adjusted diluted earnings per share growth in 2027 from its ending 2026 earnings baseline.
Source quote
“For 2027, we continue to expect at least 12% adjusted diluted earnings per share growth from our ending 2026 earnings baseline.”
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Guidance
ELV raised its full-year operating cash flow guidance to at least $6.5 billion following 1.3 billion in operating cash flow during the quarter.
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Figure
This year, the platform has identified more than $300 million in anticipated savings.
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Key theme
ELV benefited from stronger membership and a slower than expected seasonal increase in plan paid costs for the higher bronze mix in the individual ACA segment.
Source quote
“And then briefly on the individual ACA side, we did benefit from continued strength in membership and a slower than expected seasonal increase in some of the plan paid costs associated with our higher bronze mix.”
2 more
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Guidance
Rate actions are supporting better second-half margins relative to the first half while the company expects normal fourth-quarter seasonality.
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Figure
ELV's operating gain basis increased by 10.8% in Q3 2026 compared to Q2 2026.
Source quote
“We were up to 10.8% on an operating gain basis.”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q3 2026. Ring: Q2 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“We see a clear path to delivering at least 12% adjusted earnings per share growth in 2027, supported by continued margin improvement in health benefits, ongoing expansion of Carillon, and...”
“As we look ahead, we remain confident in our ability to deliver at least 12% adjusted earnings per share growth in 2027, supported by the continuing margin improvement in health...”
“We expect that growth to be driven by continued margin improvement in health benefits, broader adoption of Carillon's value-based solutions, and greater operating efficiency across the enterprise.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-09-30)
| Metric | Q3 2026period end 2026-09-30 | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Change | Q3 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 51.43B | 50.47B | +1.9% | 50.71B | +1.4% |
| Gross profit | 45.79B | 44.98B | +1.8% | 45.33B | +1.0% |
| Operating income | 1.27B | 1.76B | −28.0% | 1.29B | −2.0% |
| Net income | 1.36B | 1.45B | −6.1% | 1.19B | +14.8% |
| EPS | 6.27 | 6.71 | −6.6% | 5.32 | +17.9% |
| P/E today 18.1 | 16.5 | 17.1 | −0.6 | 13.2 | +3.3 |
Topics
Most discussed now
- New Elevance Health is seeing significant process disputes, including claims, eligibility awards, many cases way in excess of what is…
- New Remember, it was designed as a backstop for resolving a relatively limited number of eligibility payments.
- As Elevance Health extends these solutions across its health plans and to external clients, it expects to improve medical cost…
- In terms of your question, Elevance Health really, it sees a clear path through continued health benefit margin improvement, continued…
Faded since Q2 2026
- Dropped It's also about simplifying the member experience, improving provider connectivity, and enhancing Elevance Health's claims accuracy and…
- Fading Similarly, Elevance Health now views at least $26 as the appropriate earnings baseline for modeling purposes, and it remains confident in...
- Fading Elevance Health is using this to strengthen its data and its insight capabilities and then take actions faster on medical cost management.
- Fading What's important to think about is that original full-year framework is still intact from what Elevance Health sees today, and it's...
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Elevance Health reported operating revenue of $50.4 billion for the third quarter of 2026, which represents a 0.7% increase compared to the $50.1 billion reported in the third quarter of 2025.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Elevance Health, Inc. issued a press release on July 15, 2026, reporting financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
- Shareholder vote results · SEC 8-K · routine
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Elevance Health, Inc. issued a press release on April 22, 2026, reporting financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Elevance Health, Inc. reaffirmed its 2026 adjusted shareholders' earnings at least $25.50 per diluted share and a benefit expense ratio guidance of 90.2% plus or minus 50 basis points.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
On February 27, 2026, CMS notified Elevance Health of its intent to impose intermediate sanctions starting March 31, 2026, regarding alleged noncompliance with Medicare Advantage risk adjustment data submission requirements for dates of service prior to April 3, 2023.
Balance sheet & ownership
From SEC filings; short interest is FINRA data via Yahoo. Collected 2026-10-26.
Cash & runway
Cash & equivalents
$10.35B
2026-09-30
Short-term investments
$25.35B
Long-term investments
$1.27B
total liquidity $36.97B
Implied runway
—
operating cash flow positive over the TTM window
Dilution
weighted-average basic shares, per quarter. Change: -3.0% YoY, -0.2% QoQ.
| Quarter | Shares |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 226.4M |
| Q2 2025 | 225.2M |
| Q3 2025 | 223.3M |
| Q1 2026 | 219.8M |
| Q2 2026 | 217.0M |
| Q3 2026 | 216.6M |
Shares outstanding: 216.1M (2026-10-15)
Insider transactions
Form 4 open-market trades (codes S/P), trailing 12 months. 33 filings parsed.
Sold by insiders
15.9K shares
$6.4M · 18 transactions
Bought by insiders
6.7K shares
$2.2M · 4 transactions
Net direction
net selling
Catalyst calendar
management-stated targets — from the latest earnings call; plans, not promises.
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2026
adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance
Source quote
“We are revising our 2026 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to at least $29, reflecting operating outperformance as well as favorable non-operating items.”
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2026
earnings baseline
Source quote
“More importantly, we're raising our 2026 earnings baseline to at least $26.75.”
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2027
adjusted diluted earnings per share growth
Source quote
“From this higher baseline, we remain confident in our ability to deliver at least 12% adjusted diluted earnings per share growth in 2027.”
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2027
Medicaid margins improvement
Source quote
“Looking to 2027, we expect Medicaid margins to improve as rates become better aligned with cost trends and the actions we are taking continue to gain traction.”
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2027
annual election period
Source quote
“We are carrying that same discipline into the 2027 annual election period, with an emphasis on HMO plans and serving dual eligible members.”