Dive Brief:
- WellPoint has raised the 2014 earnings forecast it presented earlier this year, in part due to the growth it expects courtesy of the ACA.
- WellPoint said last week that it now expects full-year earnings to be greater than $8.20 per share, and predicts that operating revenue will grow about 4% to $73 billion.
- The exchanges make up a comparatively small percentage of WellPoint's customers, but they are part of what CEO Joseph Swedish sees as an opportunity for "unprecedented growth in covered lives."
Dive Insight:
If Wall Street was disappointed by the investors' call last week -- the insurer recorded adjusted earnings of $8.52 per share last year, implying that this year could end with a drop in price -- it hid its disappointment very well. On Friday, March 21, WellPoint shares hit an all-time high price of $102.56 just after trading started that day. If WellPoint wants to keep the Street happy, however, it will still need to outperform. The new predictions still fall short of Wall Street's expectations; analysts forecast earnings of $8.37 per share on $73.45 billion in operating revenue,