Skip navigation

As of Friday, November 27th:
The blended earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 for Q3 2009, combining actual numbers for companies that have reported, and estimates for companies yet to report is currently -13.7%. Of the 490 S&P 500 companies who have reported Q3, 79% beat estimates, 7% were in-line, and 14% were below estimates. As of October 1st, the earnings growth rate was at -24.7%. (Data provided by Thomson Reuters)

LATEST EARNINGS RESULTS


Current DateTime: 08:43:53 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29017166
Expiration DateTime: 11/30/2009 8:45:26 AM

Current DateTime: 08:43:54 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24355697
  • The Cost of True Love

      In the popular holiday song "The 12 Days of Christmas," the cost of gifts - from the 12 drummers drumming to a partridge in a pear tree - is quite pricey.

  • Runway Angels

      The superbowl of fashion shows, models walk down the runway at the 2009 Victoria's Secret Show.

  • Smartphone Guide

      Here's a need-to-know guide to nine devices, based on features, price, network and platform.

FEATURED QUIZZES


Current DateTime: 08:43:54 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 33793611
  • How Well Do You Know Your Bird?

      Let's talk turkey. Test your turkey knowledge and perhaps pick up a bit of trivia to trot out at your holiday meal.

  • A Healthier & Wealthier You

      Take the following quiz and find out how much you know about the impact of obesity on the health of the U.S. economy.

  • The Billionaire BFF's

      Philanthropists. Bridge partners. Hockey players. Which responses are based on facts from Buffett's and Gates' real lives?


Current DateTime: 08:43:54 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 24890560
  • Holiday Central

      There are plenty of reasons to believe that this Christmas holiday season will not be as bad for retailers as last year.

  • Winterizing Your Portfolio

      If 2009 was the winter of our discontent, will 2010 be a winter wonderland for investors? A lot depends on the recovery—or lack thereof.

  • Investor's Guide to Real Estate

      Some even say the long-awaited recovery is here. Regardless, buyers and sellers alike can profit from our guide.

powered by digg
Humana Profit Falls, But Raises Full-Year Target
By: Reuters | 04 Aug 2008 | 08:44 AM ET
Text Size

Health insurer Humana posted quarterly profit that beat estimates and lifted its 2008 forecast on Monday on better-than-expected results for its Medicare prescription drug plans for seniors, sending shares more than 4 percent higher.

High costs in the drug plans still dragged down Humana's profit, but the company had braced investors for such issues when it sharply reduced its full-year projections in March.

Analysts said on Monday that the company appeared to have been conservative with its prior outlook.

"Things aren't as bad as they thought or at least communicated in March," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Thomas Carroll said, adding that it was a "good quarter."

Shares of Humana [HUM  Loading...      ()   ], one of the largest U.S. providers of Medicare plans, have been hammered this year along with those of its rivals, as a raft of profit warnings and worries over a downturn hit investor confidence in the sector.

Health-insurer shares rose broadly on Monday, continuing somewhat of a rebound for the stocks during a mostly positive second-quarter reporting season.

For the quarter, Humana's net income fell to $209.9 million, or $1.24 per share, from $216.8 million, or $1.28 per share, a year earlier.

Humana, the fifth-largest U.S. health insurer by market value, previously said it expected second-quarter earnings of $1.15 to $1.20 per share. Analysts expected $1.18, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue rose 14 percent to $7.35 billion. Humana's membership in its full-service Medicare Advantage plans stood at nearly 1.35 million, up 19 percent from a year ago. The company has added 202,000 members so far this year, out of an expected 240,000 by year end.

Humana's overall consolidated benefits ratio, measuring the percent of premium revenue spent on health benefits, worsened to 85 percent from 83.4 percent a year ago, driven by higher drug claims.

Still, use of the drug plans by participants was less than the company initially anticipated. Humana said greater use of generic drugs also helped mitigate costs.

Humana sharply reduced its full-year expectations in March, blaming an error in designing benefits for one of its Medicare drug plans. But the company has insisted the problems were confined to this year and that results would rebound in 2009.

Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Borsch said the second-quarter results bolster the company's position that its earnings issue has been limited to the drug-plan segment.

The Louisville, Kentucky-based company now anticipates full-year earnings per share in the range of $4.30 to $4.40, up from its previous guidance of $4.10 to $4.35.

The company also said on Monday it planned to acquire Cariten Healthcare for about $245 million to boost its presence in Tennessee.

Humana shares rose $1.85, or 4.1 percent, to $46.49 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Before Monday's trading, Humana shares had fallen 41 percent this year, more than a 34 percent drop for the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor index [HMO  Loading...      ()   ].

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Tools:
Print EmailAdd This share icon

Current DateTime: 08:43:54 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29016957
Expiration DateTime: 11/30/2009 8:44:57 AM

Current DateTime: 08:43:54 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29017287
Expiration DateTime: 11/30/2009 8:44:27 AM


Current DateTime: 05:12:26 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:01:49 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 01:08:05 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 07:18:37 30 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters