Anthem profits increase as medical treatment up
Anthem topped second-quarter expectations even though the health insurer's profit tumbled as patients who hunkered down last year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic started seeking care again.
Growing enrollment in government-funded programs like Medicaid and Medicare Advantage helped Anthem balance the jump in care use. The Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer also booked more revenue from its IngenioRx business, which runs pharmacy benefits.
Overall, Anthem said Wednesday that its net income fell 21% to $1.79 billion, and adjusted earnings totaled $7.03 per share. Operating revenue, which excludes investment income, rose 14% to $33.28 billion.
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $6.34 per share on $33.15 billion in revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Anthem Inc. covers more than 43 million people in several states, including Georgia.
Whirlpool sales, profits up in 2021
Whirlpool Corp reported a 32% increase in quarterly sales and said it was raising its 2021 guidance as sales of home appliances continued to grow.
Whirlpool said it earned $581 million, or $9.15 a share, in the second quarter, compared with $30 million, or 47 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose to $5.3 billion from $4 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the appliances maker to report earnings of $6.18 a share on sales of $5.02 billion.
The company said it expects sales for all of 2021 will rise 16% and per-share earnings should total $26.95 for the full year.
The guidance increase reflects "the strength of our business driven by sustained consumer demand and the successful implementation of our previously announced cost-based pricing initiatives," Chief Executive Marc Bitzer said in a statement.
Whirlpool shares have climbed 20% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P's 500 index has climbed 16%.
J&J profits increase with 27% sales gain
Johnson & Johnson's second-quarter profit soared 73%, thanks to strong sales growth across all of its businesses as hospitals and the rest of the health care industry continued recovering from the coronavirus pandemic's impact.
The health care giant handily topped Wall Street expectations and hiked its 2021 sales and profit forecasts sharply..
The world's biggest maker of health care products on Wednesday reported second-quarter net income of $6.28 billion, or $2.35 per share, up from $3.63 billion, or $1.36 per share, a year earlier.
Adjusted income came to $6.63 billion, or $2.48 per share, blowing past Wall Street projections for $2.28 per share.
Revenue totaled a whopping $23.31 billion, up 27.1% from 2020's second quarter.
The one weak spot was dismal sales of J&J's COVID-19 vaccine, which brought in just $164 million in the quarter and $264 million so far this year.
The vaccine has been plagued by concerns about some very rare side effects and the shutdown of the Maryland factory of J&J's U.S. contract manufacturer, Emergent BioSolutions, due to contamination problems that led to tens of millions of vaccine doses having to be trashed.
CSX profits double as rail revenues rise
CSX more than doubled its second quarter profits as the railroad giant got revenues back on track following the pandemic slowdown last year.
CSX on Wednesday reported net income of $1.17 billion, or 52 cents a share, up from $499 million or 22 cents a share a year ago. Adjusted earnings were 40 cents a share. The results include benefits from the sale of property rights in line segments to the Commonwealth of Virginia for passenger rail operations, which helped earnings rise by 12 cents a share.
Revenue totaled $2.99 billion, up 33% from a year ago, the company said, driven by growth across all lines of business.
Expenses decreased 9% year over year to $1.3 billion and operating income improved to $1.69 billion for the quarter.
"I want to thank all the CSX railroaders for their dedicated and unwavering focus on our customers as the economy has rebounded," president and CEO James Foote said in a statement. "We are committed to providing customers a high quality service product, and will continue taking all necessary steps to meet their needs."
- Compiled by Dave Flessner