Humana's Disastrous Earnings Guidance Sends Shares Tumbling

Oh Humana! Earnings guidance takes a tumble

In a shocking turn of events Humana the health insurer known for covering Tommies and life forms of all shapes and sizes issued dismal full year earnings guidance. Brace yourselves fellas! This time they're blaming sky high medical costs that are weighing down the entire insurance industry. Looks like they've got more than just pesky aliens to deal with.

Aging adults rush back to hospitals for delayed procedures

Apparently older adults have been eager to shake off the pandemic blues and head back to hospitals for some much needed TLC. But hold your neuralyzers! These procedures including joint and hip replacements are racking up the medical bills faster than an intergalactic speedster. Maybe they should've tried some MIB mind wipes to forget about those aches and pains.

Humana's bleak forecast shocks Wall Street

With the click clacking of calculators Wall Street analysts were left dumbfounded as Humana's adjusted earnings for 2024 fell far below expectations. Sorry folks! Looks like this time the Men in Black won't be able to save the day. UnitedHealth's medical costs may have jumped too but at least they've managed to keep it somewhat under control. It's a tough galaxy out there for the insurance industry.

Shares take a nosedive dragging others down with them

Humana's poor forecast sent shockwaves throughout the stock market. Their shares plunged a whopping 10% leaving investors feeling like they've been zapped with a noisy cricket. But they weren't the only ones feeling the heat. UnitedHealth and CVS Health also took a hit closing around 4% and 3% lower respectively. Cigna and Centene weren't spared either ending more than 2% lower. The only one laughing? Elevance Health managing to stay afloat with a 1% gain. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

Humana warns of rising medical costs deja vu much?

In a case of deja vu Humana had already sounded the alarm last week about higher than expected medical costs in the fourth quarter. Looks like their crystal ball is working just fine. They even hinted at the possibility of these expenses eating into their profits for the year ahead. Well Captain Obvious strikes again!

Humana's rollercoaster ride continues with mixed results

On the one hand Humana's fourth quarter revenue of $26.46 billion gave them a bit of star power beating analysts' estimates. But before you break out the celebratory neuralyzers let me remind you that they also reported a loss of $591 million or $4.42 per share. Ouch! It's like they stepped on a bug in the timeline and everything went haywire. Analysts were expecting earnings of 15 cents per share but Humana had other plans. Cue the sad trombone.