NEW YORK (AP) - Specialty drugs and retail expansions boosted CVS Health's first-quarter revenue by 18.9 percent, helping to offset higher costs and push results above Wall Street expectations.
The nation's second-largest drugstore chain also confirmed its full-year profit outlook, though second-quarter forecasts fall short of expectations.
First-quarter profit fell 6.1 percent during the period to $1.15 billion, or $1.04 per share, mainly on higher costs associated with the acquisition of Omnicare and pharmacies at Target. Excluding certain expenses, the company earned $1.18 per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations, with the average estimate of 25 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research for earnings of $1.16 per share.
The Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager posted a18.9 percent boost in revenue to $43.22 billion in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Twenty-six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $42.98 billion.
Revenue for the company's key pharmacy benefits unit rose 20.5 percent to $28.8 billion on a boost in claim volume and the sale of specialty drugs. The claim volume boost of 22.6 percent comes primarily from new business associated with the year-ago buyout of Omnicare and the expansion into the pharmacy and clinic business of retail giant Target Corp.
Meanwhile, retail revenue rose 18.6 percent to $20.1 billion, also benefiting from the Omnicare and Target additions. Same-store sales growth, another key indicator of retail health, rose 4.2 percent during the quarter.
For the current quarter ending in July, CVS Health expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.28 to $1.31. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $1.35. The company reaffirmed its outlook for full-year earnings in the range of $5.73 to $5.88 per share.
CVS Health Corp. leaders have said that they expect growth to pick up in the second half of this year.
_____
Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CVS at http://www.zacks.com/ap/CVS
_____
Keywords: CVS Health, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings