Growing enrollment and declining hospital use by COVID-19 patients helped push the health insurer Humana past first-quarter expectations.
The Medicare Advantage coverage provider also hiked its 2023 forecast well beyond Wall Street forecasts Wednesday. Its shares rose in early trading.
Humana said Medicare Advantage enrollment jumped 11% to more than 5.6 million people in the quarter. Medicare Advantage plans are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program for people who are age 65 and older or those who have certain disabilities.
Overall, Humana’s profit rose 33% to $1.24 billion in the quarter. Earnings adjusted for one-time gains and costs totaled $9.38 per share. Revenue grew more than 11% to $26.74 billion.
Analysts had forecast earnings of $9.25 per share on $26.32 billion in revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Humana Inc. said Wednesday that it now expects adjusted earnings for 2023 to be at least $28.25 per share. That’s up from a previous forecast for at least $28 per share.
Analysts forecast $28.11 per share, according to the data firm FactSet.
Shares of the Louisville, Kentucky, company jumped nearly $10, or 2%, to $511.50 in premarket trading.
_____
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 HUM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HUM