Elevance Stock Slips After Wells Fargo Cuts Price Target Ahead Of Q2 Earnings: Retail’s Not Pessimistic Yet

Wells Fargo on Tuesday lowered its price target on health insurance provider Elevance Health (ELV) to $400 from $478 while keeping an ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares,

The new price target still represents a near 18% upside to Elevance’s closing price on Monday.

ELV shares traded over 1% lower on Monday afternoon at the time of writing. 

Wells Fargo said they were lowering estimates ahead of the company’s second quarter (Q2) earnings.

While Elevance reiterated its guidance earlier this year, peer commentary suggests some risk to the Medicaid outlook, even before considering the uncertainty surrounding Medicare Advantage, Wells Fargo added.

Elevance is expected to announce its Q2 results on July 17.

According to data from Fiscal AI, analysts expect the company to report quarterly revenue of $48.26 billion and earnings per share of $9.19.

In April, Elevance reported that medical cost trends developed in line with the company’s expectations, including in its Medicare Advantage business, which enabled a first-quarter earnings beat.

While cost trends in Medicare Advantage remain elevated, the company’s first-quarter (Q1) experience was consistent with its expectations and pricing, it had added.

The firm further affirmed its full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance of $34.15 to $34.85 in April.

However, since then, several of Elevance’s peers have slashed or withdrawn guidance.

Earlier this month, Centene Corp (CNC) withdrew its 2025 financial guidance due to an expected fall in revenue under plans associated with the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and a rise in medical cost trends within its Medicaid business.

Health insurance firm Molina Healthcare, Inc. (MOH) also lowered its full-year 2025 and second-quarter adjusted earnings forecast earlier this month to reflect higher medical cost pressures.

“The short-term earnings pressure we are experiencing results from what we believe to be a temporary dislocation between premium rates and medical cost trend, which has recently accelerated,” said Molina CEO Joseph Zubretsky about the decision.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Elevance is trending within ‘bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels.

ELV stock is down by about 9% this year and by about 37% over the past 12 months.

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