Cigna (CI) Lags Q4 Earnings Estimates

Company Performance - Cigna reported quarterly earnings of $6.64 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.83 per share, and down from $6.79 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of -15.20% [1] - The company posted revenues of $65.68 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.85%, and up from $51.15 billion year-over-year [2] - Over the last four quarters, Cigna has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times and topped consensus revenue estimates four times [2] Stock Outlook - Cigna shares have increased approximately 9.8% since the beginning of the year, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 2.7% [3] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the coming quarter is $6.89 on revenues of $59.68 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $31.57 on revenues of $249.9 billion [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Cigna is currently favorable, leading to a Zacks Rank 2 (Buy) for the stock, indicating expected outperformance in the near future [6] Industry Context - The Medical - HMOs industry, to which Cigna belongs, is currently in the bottom 36% of over 250 Zacks industries, which may impact stock performance [8] - Empirical research indicates a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, suggesting that investors should monitor these revisions closely [5]