Elevance Health (ELV) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $65.27B
• Dividend Yield: 1.99%
• Average Volume (3M): 2.10M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 13.7
• Beta (1Y): 0.31
• Revenue Growth: 11.96%
• EPS Growth: -11.11%
• Country: US
• Employees: 104,200
• Sector: Healthcare
• Sector Strength: 45
• Industry: Medical - Healthcare Plans
• EPS (TTM): 3.33
• Shares Outstanding: 220,704,670
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 2,896,531
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 2,098,604
• PEG Ratio: -5.63
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.77
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.39
• P/FCF Ratio: 24.50
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.36
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.45
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 1.74
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 9.18
• 1Y Price Target: $384.87
• Price Target Upside: 30.13% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 15
• EPS Forecast (FY): 25.86
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $192.94B

• Rating: 64 Neutral
• Price Target: $302.00 ▲(2.11% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/27/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/27/26

ELV scores in the mid-range primarily due to solid underlying financial strength and attractive valuation, partially offset by deteriorating recent cash-flow/margins. The outlook is constrained by earnings-call guidance pointing to 2026 membership and profitability headwinds, and the technical picture remains weak with the stock trading below key moving averages.

Positive Factors

Scale & Revenue Growth

Sustained top-line expansion over multiple years reflects durable market position across commercial, Medicaid and Medicare lines. Scale supports negotiating leverage with providers, spreads fixed costs, and underpins long-term service investments that help stabilize earnings amid cyclical utilization.

Services & Pharmacy Growth (Carillon)

Rapid external growth in care and pharmacy services diversifies revenue away from underwriting cycles. Durable services momentum (outsourced administration, PBM capabilities, care management) boosts fee revenue, improves margin mix over time, and creates sticky client relationships beyond insured membership levels.

Manageable Leverage & Capital Return

A moderate debt profile with rising equity provides financial flexibility for investments and capital return. Healthy balance-sheet positioning supports continued buybacks and strategic M&A while retaining capacity to absorb claims volatility and fund technology and care-management initiatives that improve long-term competitiveness.

Negative Factors

Weakening Cash Generation

Material decline in operating and free cash flow reduces internal funding for investments, reduces margin of safety for underwriting volatility, and constrains the firm's ability to sustainably fund buybacks or accelerate strategic initiatives without relying on capital markets or cutting other spend.

Margin Compression & Medicaid Losses

Negative Medicaid margins and elevated consolidated benefit ratios indicate structural cost-pressure in government business. Persistent underfunding and higher utilization compress enterprise margins, requiring either sustained pricing discipline, network changes, or service-cost offsets to restore long-term profitability targets.

Regulatory Enrollment Risk (CMS Notice)

CMS action that can suspend Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug enrollments and beneficiary communications creates a structural, multi-month risk to membership, revenue flow, and plan competitiveness. Regulatory uncertainty can materially affect enrollment trends and hamper execution of 2026 recovery plans.

Elevance Health Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Elevance Health Inc. operates as a health benefits company. It supports consumers, families, and communities across the entire care journey connecting to the care, support, and resources to lead healthier lives. It serves approximately 118 million people through a portfolio of medical, digital, pharmacy, behavioral, clinical, and care solutions. The company was formerly known as Anthem, Inc. and changed its name to Elevance Health Inc. in June 2022. Elevance Health Inc. was founded in 1944 and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.

How the Company Makes Money

Elevance Health makes money primarily by underwriting and administering health benefit plans and by providing health services. The largest revenue stream is premium revenue collected from members (or on their behalf by employers and government programs) for medical and related insurance coverage. Under this model, Elevance pays members’ healthcare claims and provider reimbursements and retains the difference after accounting for medical costs (often discussed as the medical benefit ratio/medical loss ratio), administrative costs, and taxes/fees. A significant portion of premiums and membership comes from government-sponsored programs (e.g., Medicaid managed care and Medicare-related plans) and employer/individual commercial plans. In addition to premiums, Elevance earns service revenue from administering health plans and providing healthcare-related services that are not solely dependent on underwriting risk. This includes fees for administrative services (common in employer self-funded arrangements where Elevance administers claims and networks for a fee), care management and clinical programs, and other service offerings delivered through its health services operations. The company also generates revenue connected to pharmacy-related activity and benefit management through affiliated capabilities (e.g., pharmacy benefit administration and related services), typically earning through administrative fees, spread/retained economics depending on contract structure, and service arrangements with plan sponsors. Key factors influencing earnings include: (1) membership levels and mix across Commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare lines; (2) pricing and benefit design (premiums and bids) relative to expected medical cost trends; (3) medical cost utilization and unit-cost management via provider contracting and network design; (4) performance under government program rules and risk-adjustment mechanisms where applicable; and (5) growth and margins in services businesses (administrative, care, and pharmacy-related services). Significant partnerships and commercial relationships typically include contracted provider networks (hospitals, physicians, ancillary providers), employer plan sponsors (including self-funded employers), government agencies administering Medicaid programs, and pharmaceutical/dispensing ecosystem partners supporting pharmacy benefits.

Elevance Health Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Solid overall fundamentals supported by steady multi-year revenue growth and a generally manageable leverage profile. The main detractors are recent margin compression (lower net/operating profitability vs prior years) and a notable decline in operating/free cash flow through 2025, raising near-term quality-of-earnings and cash-conversion concerns.

Income Statement

Revenue has expanded steadily from 2020 to 2025, indicating solid scale and demand. However, profitability has softened recently: net margin declined from ~4.4% (2021) to ~2.8% (2025) and operating profitability is also lower versus the 2022–2024 range. Net income is slightly down versus 2021–2024 despite higher revenue, suggesting cost pressure and/or pricing mix headwinds. Overall: strong top-line trajectory, but weakening margin profile is the key watch item.

Balance Sheet

Leverage looks manageable for a large insurer, with debt-to-equity generally in the ~0.60–0.76 range across 2020–2025 and equity building over time (roughly $33.2B in 2020 to $43.9B in 2025). Returns on equity remain healthy (low-to-mid teens historically), though they have eased in 2025 versus prior years. The main drawback is a modest uptick in leverage and a slight decline in returns recently.

Cash Flow

Cash generation has weakened: operating cash flow fell from ~$10.7B (2020) to ~$4.3B (2025) and free cash flow declined to ~$3.2B (2025). Free cash flow still covers a meaningful portion of earnings in 2025 (~74%), but the downward trend and negative free cash flow growth in the most recent year raise quality-of-earnings and working-capital timing concerns. Overall: still cash-generative, but momentum has deteriorated.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	199.13B	176.81B	171.34B	156.59B	138.64B
Gross Profit	50.90B	49.24B	47.01B	39.95B	35.99B
EBITDA	9.66B	10.48B	10.49B	10.13B	10.03B
Net Income	5.66B	5.98B	5.99B	5.89B	6.10B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	121.49B	116.89B	108.93B	102.75B	97.46B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	9.49B	8.29B	6.53B	7.39B	4.88B
Total Debt	33.23B	32.70B	26.65B	25.80B	24.89B
Total Liabilities	77.47B	75.46B	69.52B	66.42B	61.33B
Stockholders Equity	43.88B	41.31B	39.31B	36.24B	36.06B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	3.17B	4.55B	6.76B	7.25B	7.28B
Operating Cash Flow	4.29B	5.81B	8.06B	8.40B	8.36B
Investing Cash Flow	-1.34B	-5.17B	-5.57B	-4.56B	-9.64B
Financing Cash Flow	-1.74B	1.19B	-3.35B	-1.32B	423.00M

Elevance Health Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 295.75
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Negative

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ELV, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 295.75 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 305.66, below the 50-day MA of 333.81, and below the 200-day MA of 329.53, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -12.94 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 41.29 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 80.77 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for ELV.

Elevance Health Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
ELV	64 Neutral	$65.27B	13.73	13.01%	1.99%	11.96%	-11.11%
UNH	63 Neutral	$261.02B	24.92	12.70%	2.69%	10.48%	24.25%
CVS	55 Neutral	$95.17B	56.87	2.34%	3.41%	6.71%	-90.11%
Sector *	51 Neutral	$7.86B	-0.30	-43.30%	2.27%	22.53%	-2.21%
CNC	51 Neutral	$17.18B	-3.03	-27.74%	―	14.92%	-286.72%
MOH	49 Neutral	$7.41B	18.68	10.99%	―	13.71%	-18.02%
HUM	47 Neutral	$20.50B	25.97	6.59%	1.38%	9.87%	-5.58%

Elevance Health Corporate Events

Elevance Health Reaffirms 2026 Earnings Guidance Amid CMS Risks

Officers of Elevance Health said they will meet investors and analysts over the coming week and reaffirmed their 2026 adjusted shareholders’ earnings guidance of at least $25.50 per diluted share, alongside a 2026 benefit expense ratio target of 90.2% plus or minus 50 basis points. The guidance already factors in potential intermediate sanctions that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified the company about on February 27, 2026, which could suspend Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug enrollments and certain beneficiary communications effective March 31, 2026, and Elevance noted it cannot reasonably estimate any related financial payments under GAAP at this time.

The company emphasized that these projections remain subject to significant regulatory, operational, and market risks, including uncertainties around healthcare costs, enrollment levels, compliance with complex Medicare and Medicaid rules, technology and data security challenges, competitive pressures, and broader economic and capital markets conditions that could materially affect future performance and stakeholder outcomes.

The most recent analyst rating on (ELV) stock is a Hold with a $314.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Elevance Health stock, see the ELV Stock Forecast page.

Elevance Health Restructures Leadership, Reaffirms 2026 Guidance

On February 26, 2026, Elevance Health announced a restructuring of its leadership to simplify decision-making across its Carelon healthcare services arm and Health Benefits businesses. Executive Vice President and CFO Mark Kaye will take on oversight of Carelon, which includes pharmacy, behavioral health, value-based care, and care delivery operations, while Executive Vice President and Chief Health Benefits Officer Felicia Norwood will lead a consolidated Health Benefits organization spanning commercial and government plans.

As part of the shake-up, Carelon president Peter D. Haytaian will step down from his role effective May 4, 2026, for family reasons and remain as a special advisor through December 31, 2026, to support a smooth transition, with the company emphasizing there is no disagreement underlying his departure. Elevance Health simultaneously reaffirmed its full-year 2026 earnings and benefit expense ratio guidance, signaling confidence that the management changes will not disrupt operational performance or its strategy to scale and execute more efficiently for shareholders, clients, and members.

The most recent analyst rating on (ELV) stock is a Hold with a $358.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Elevance Health stock, see the ELV Stock Forecast page.