NEW YORK, July 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against CVS Health Corporation (“CVS” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CVS) and certain officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and docketed under 24-cv-05303, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired CVS securities between May 3, 2023 and April 30, 2024, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants’ violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired CVS securities during the Class Period, you have until September 10, 2024 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
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CVS is a healthcare company that operates through three primary segments: Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness. The Health Care Benefits segment purportedly offers “a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, medical management capabilities, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans, [prescription drug plans] and Medicaid health care management services.” The Health Care Benefits segment’s revenues consist almost entirely of insurance premiums paid by customers.
The pricing and other terms of the Company’s private health insurance plans are typically determined in advance of a plan’s policy period, which is typically one year. CVS determines premiums for these plans based on internal forecasts that consider historical data and the profitability of which are dependent on the Company’s ability to accurately model, among other things, medical cost trends and health care utilization patterns. Generally, a fixed premium rate is determined at the beginning of the policy period. To the extent that unmodeled-for increases in the costs of health care and other benefits arise during a given policy period, CVS is ultimately responsible for the payment of those costs. Accordingly, the profitability of the Health Care Benefits segment is particularly sensitive to the accuracy of its cost forecasts.
The Complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the forecasts CVS used to determine plan premiums were ineffective at accounting for medical cost trends and health care utilization patterns; (ii) as a result, CVS was likely to incur significant expenses to cover cost increases that were not accounted for in the Company’s forecasts and thus not covered by plan premiums; (iii) accordingly, CVS had overstated the profitability of its Health Care Benefits segment; (iv) contrary to Defendants’ assurances, the revenues generated from the Company’s other primary segments were insufficient to offset the negative financial impact of the increasing expenditures within the Health Care Benefits segment; and (v) as a result, the Company’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
On August 2, 2023, CVS issued a press release announcing the Company’s results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, which revealed that the Company was revising its diluted earnings-per-share (“EPS”) guidance range to $6.53 to $6.75 from $6.90 to $7.12. In a Quarterly Report filed on Form 10-Q the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) that same day, CVS stated that operating income, which has a direct impact on EPS, “decreased $1.4 billion, or 30.7%, in the three months ended June 30, 2023 compared to the prior year primarily due to declines in the Health Care Benefits segment[.]”
On this news, CVS’s stock price fell $2.04 per share, or 2.73%, to close at $72.32 per share on August 3, 2023.
Then, on November 1, 2023, CVS issued a press release announcing the Company’s results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, which revealed that the Company was again reducing its diluted EPS guidance range to $6.37 to $6.61 from $6.53 to $6.75. In a Quarterly Report filed on Form 10-Q with the SEC that same day, CVS stated that while operating income increased “in the nine months ended September 30, 2023 compared to the prior year [. . .] [t]hese increases in operating income were partially offset by declines in the Health Care Benefits segment.”
Then, on February 7, 2024, CVS issued a press release announcing the Company’s results for the year ended December 31, 2023 which revealed that the Company was revising its diluted EPS guidance range to at least $7.06 from at least $7.26, its adjusted EPS guidance range to at least $8.30 from at least $8.50, and its cash flow from operations guidance to at least $12.0 billion from at least $12.5 billion. In an Annual Report filed on Form 10-K with the SEC that same day reporting the Company’s financial and operational results for the year ended December 31, 2023, CVS stated that, while operating income increased in 2023 compared to 2022, “[t]hese increases in operating income were partially offset by declines in the Health Care Benefits segment.” Moreover, in a conference call held with investors and analysts that same day to discuss the Company’s 2023 results, CVS’s Chief Financial Officer Defendant Thomas F. Cowhey stated, in relevant part, “we now expect adjusted operating income for the Healthcare Benefit segment to be at least $5.4 billion, a decrease of $370 million from our prior estimates.”
On this news, CVS’s stock price fell $0.96 per share, or 1.27%, to close at $74.36 per share on February 8, 2024.
Finally, on May 1, 2024, CVS issued a press release reporting its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and revising its full-year 2024 guidance. Among other items, CVS reported $88.4 billion in revenue, missing expectations of $89 billion. The Company stated that higher utilization of healthcare services, meaning more insurance dollars spent, weighed on its results in addition to Medicare reimbursement rate cuts that will continue to pressure CVS for the remainder of the year. Accordingly, CVS issued revised full-year 2024 guidance, including “[r]evised GAAP diluted EPS guidance to at least $5.64 from at least $7.06”; “[r]evised Adjusted EPS guidance to at least $7.00 from at least $8.30”; and “[r]evised cash flow from operations guidance to at least $10.5 billion from at least $12.0 billion”. Further, in a Quarterly Report filed on Form 10-Q with the SEC that same day, CVS stated that operating income decreased $1.2 billion, or 34.1% “in in the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily due to increased Medicare utilization, the unfavorable impact of the previously disclosed decline in the Company’s 2024 Medicare Advantage star ratings and a year-over-year unfavorable impact from development of prior-years’ health care cost estimates in the Health Care Benefits segment.”
On this news, CVS’s stock price fell $11.40 per share, or 16.84%, to close at $56.31 per share on May 1, 2024.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.
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CONTACT:
Danielle Peyton
Pomerantz LLP
dpeyton@pomlaw.com
646-581-9980 ext. 7980
