CVS Health is operating the largest drugstore chain and has 10,000 retail locations. It also offers health insurance through its Aetna business. It provides coverage for more than 23 million people. It is an American healthcare company that owns the CVS pharmacy. CVS is a Consumer Value store and it was founded in 1963 by three partners. They are brothers Stanley and Sidney Goldstein and Ralph Hoagland. It helped the retailers to manage their health and beauty aid product lines. Within several years chain pharmacies were added. On November 18, 2021, CVS Health announced that they are going to close 900 stores in the next three years. The closing is planned to begin in the spring of 2022. Here know about the CVS Covid vaccine and the expected business drop in the upcoming year.
Covid 19 vaccines and tests for the virus aided in pushing CVS Health past fourth-quarter 2021 expectations. But it seems the same did not happen in 2022 according to the 2022 forecast it laid out in December. The shares slid in early morning trading. The unpredictability of the pandemic is making the drugstore chain cautious.
The vaccines that boosted fourth-quarter sales may drop up to 80% in the New Year. The executives of the company expect a decrease in in-store testing too. Also, they do not know if there is going to be another surge in cases or another round of booster vaccines in 2022.
The impact of Covid remains one of the challenging aspects of developing the guidance. The impact was made clear during the fourth quarter. There was CVS Health’s profit jump from 34% to $1.31 billion. This value was compared with the final quarter of 2020. The CVS Covid vaccine benefited CVS health to get more profits according to their revenue generator.
The vaccines started to roll out in 2020 and many people were staying at home at that time. They were trying to avoid the virus by staying away from the hospitals and pharmacies. But overtime CVS Health experienced a rise in its sales by offering prescription drug plans for large employers and other big clients. The company saw a number of prescriptions filled in another part of their business. There was an increase in drugstores by more than 11% in the final quarter of 2021.
It seems the company also administered 20 million COVID-19 vaccines. The customers benefited from boosters and eligibility provided to children in the US. When the demand for the Covid 19 increased due to the Omicron variant surge, the customers bought over-the-counter drugs and others without a prescription.
CVS Health sold 22 million of the Covid 19 last year. 70% of the sales came in the fourth quarter as shared by CEO Karen Lynch.
CVS plans to drive profit from health insurance
The shares of CVS fell more than 4% in the early trading despite its profit expectations. The company made comments during a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results. It exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for sales and profit.
This is the company that operates the largest drugstore chains in the US. It also manages the pharmacy benefits for its employers and health plans. The company has shared that it expects “modest full-year volume growth” in over-the-counter test kits”.
The company administered Covid 19 vaccine booster doses and expected a 13% increase in sales. Some countries like Israel are starting the fourth vaccine doses. But CVS is not counting on booster shots to drive its sales.
The Chief Financial Officer Shawn Guertin shared “Our outlook does not assume any impact from the administration of a fourth COVID-19 booster”. He also added, “As such, we expect the contribution of CVS Covid vaccine to be more heavily weighted to the first half of the year”.
Excluding some items, CVS Health earned $1.98 per share. It bet the analysts’ estimate by 5 cents. The sales in the pharmacy services unit include the pharmacy benefit management business. It increased to $39.34 billion from $36.36 billion in that quarter. The total revenue increased to 10% to $76.60 billion and topped the estimates of $75.67 billion.
Conclusion
CVS Health has plans to drive its sales. It will try to maintain its value to thrive in the competitive field.
Also read: 5 Steps to Take When Choosing a Primary Care Physician
