Cigna's (CI) to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) CI is set to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 3, before the opening bell.

Q4 Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CI’s earnings is pegged at $4.68 per share, indicating a rise of 33.3% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.
The consensus mark for revenues stands at $44.04 billion, implying a rise of 5.7% from the prior-year quarter’s reported number.

Factors to Note

The fourth-quarter results of Cigna are likely to have gained from strong top-line growth, led by solid contributions from its businesses.

Strong performances across CI’s Evernorth, U.S. Medical and International Markets businesses are likely to have contributed to its to-be-reported quarter’s revenues.

The Evernorth unit might have gained from a growing customer base and higher pharmacy scripts volumes in the to-be-reported quarter. Revenues are likely to have been driven by the insourcing of the U.S. Medical pharmacy volumes and strong organic growth, including a rise in retail network and specialty pharmacy services. The consensus mark for Evernorth’s revenues indicates an upside of 9.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Cigna is likely to have faced pressure from a steep MCR in the fourth quarter.

The consensus mark for Cigna’s total Medical membership suggests a hike of 1.7% from the year-ago period’s reported number.

Its U.S. Government business is likely to have gained from membership growth by continuing to expand its markets.

The U.S. Medical business is likely to have benefited from customer growth across CI’s Select segment and Medicare Advantage business, besides higher premiums and the return of the health insurance tax.

The International Markets business revenues are likely to have shown consistent business growth. The consensus mark for revenues from the same implies a hike of 3.3% from the year-ago period’s reported figure. Medical membership from the business is likely to have increased. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same indicates an upside of 4.9% from the year-ago quarter’s reading.

Numerous cost-curbing initiatives might have offset Cigna’s selling, general and administrative expenses to some extent in the to-be-reported quarter.

Earnings Surprise History

Cigna boasts an encouraging earnings surprise track. Its bottom line surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters (missing the mark on the remaining occasion), the average surprise being 4.53%. This is depicted in the chart below:

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Cigna this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But this is not the case here.


Earnings ESP: Cigna has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Cigna currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks to Consider

Among other players from the Medical space that have reported their results so far, the bottom-line results of UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH and Anthem Inc. ANTM beat respective estimates, while HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA), Inc.’s HCA earnings miss the mark.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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