CVS Health CVS recently released compelling data from its CVS Weight Management program, with participants achieving more than 15% weight loss, on average. This includes existing anti-obesity medication users who succeeded in nearly doubling their pre-program weight loss while working with program clinicians on diet and lifestyle.

These results are derived from a population of 265,000 members from 2023 to 2024.

CVS Stock’s Likely Trend Following the News

After the announcement on Friday, CVS shares dipped 0.1%, finishing the session at $65.68. On a promising note, the initial results from the Weight Management Program demonstrate improved weight loss and high program satisfaction for CVS Caremark clients' plan members trying a lifestyle-first approach, along with greater clinical effectiveness and cost savings for members receiving clinical support while taking weight management medications like GLP-1s. We expect the market sentiment surrounding CVS stock to remain positive, driven by this news.

At present, CVS Health has a market capitalization of $82.81 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2025 earnings indicates an increase of 4% from the comparable period, with revenues forecasted to rise 8.5%. In the trailing four quarters, it delivered an earnings beat of 4.6%, on average.

More on CVS’ Weight Management Program Results

Before enrolling in the CVS Weight Management program, 70% of members were using a weight management drug without any lifestyle or nutrition support. The results revealed that nearly 30% of members who had lost less than 1% of body weight on anti-obesity medication lost, on average, 11.7% of body weight after enrollment — marking a 13x increase in total weight loss. Additionally, the program accelerated weight loss, with members who had moderate success prior to enrollment achieving an average 20% weight loss. Meanwhile, members who chose to discontinue anti-obesity medication and retain lifestyle support maintained 94% of their weight loss after six months.

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Furthermore, CVS Caremark clients who adopted the program spent up to 26% less on GLP-1 medications for weight loss compared to those clients who did not. 92% of participating plan members reported satisfaction after six months in the program, leaving a lasting impact. These findings stand out considering that the list price of GLP-1 drugs, set by the drug manufacturers, can easily cost thousands of dollars per year per member.

As of Feb. 1, 2025, the CVS Weight Management program is now available to more than 3.5 million CVS Caremark plan members. 

Industry Prospects Favoring CVS

Per a research report, the global weight management market size was valued at $142.58 billion in 2022, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 9.9% through 2023-2030. Some of the factors leading to this growth include the rising volumes of bariatric surgeries, rapid adoption of online weight loss and management programs and growing cases of obesity due to sedentary lifestyles.

More Updates From CVS

This month, CVS Health announced a strategic minority investment in Wellvana by transferring the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”) business of CVS Accountable Care to the latter in an all-stock transaction. The decision was made to further advance MSSP by collaborating with a value-based care leader with the right strategic focus and investment commitment in this space.

CVS Stock Price Performance

In the past three months, CVS shares have rallied 45.1% compared with the industry’s 4.9% growth.

CVS’ Zacks Rank and Key Picks

CVS Health currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space include Hims & Hers Health HIMS, Boston Scientific BSX and Cardinal Health CAH. Each of these carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Estimates for Hims & Hers Health’s 2025 earnings per share have jumped 34.6% to 70 cents in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have surged 111.4% in the past year against the industry’s 12.9% fall. HIMS’ earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, matched in one and missed on another occasion, the average surprise being 40.4%.

Boston Scientific shares have rallied 44.5% in the past year. Estimates for the company’s 2025 earnings per share have remained constant at $2.85 in the past 30 days. BSX’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 8.3%. In the last reported quarter, it posted an earnings surprise of 7.7%.

Estimates for Cardinal Health’s fiscal 2025 earnings per share have increased 1 cent to $7.94 in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have jumped 16.2% in the past year against the industry’s 4.1% fall. CAH’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.6%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 10.3%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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