Elevance Health
Elevance Health's revenue rose 12.5% to $199.1 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 3.6%, down from 4.4% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $3.2 billion, down 30.3%. It paid out $4.1 billion in dividends and buybacks, 130% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 3.6%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 11.8% a year and net income 9.7% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 16%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Elevance Health yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
What Elevance Health says to expect
- Full year 2026: earnings per share
FY 2026 diluted EPS 1 guidance raised to at least $22.00; adjusted diluted EPS 2 guidance raised to at least $29.00 on continued operating momentum
- Full year 2026: operating cash flow
FY 2026 operating cash flow guidance raised to at least $6.5 billion
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Elevance Health's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Elevance Health's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $3.2B, net cash of $3.3B at December 31, 2025 and 225 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Elevance Health: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 8.3% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 7% for a stable business (Managed Health Care); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $431.32
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Elevance Health's earnings per share of $23.52 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 28×, the middle of Elevance Health's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Health Care median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 8%, 7% and 6%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $431.32
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Elevance Health's P/E at the last close
- 18.3×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| HumanaHUM | $417.22 | $9.37 | 44.5× |
| UnitedHealthUNH | $410.70 | $15.55 | 26.4× |
| Elevance HealthELV | $431.32 | $23.52 | 18.3× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 31.1 | 33.3 | 36.1 | 33.5 | 35.4 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 23.0 | 24.1 | 25.1 | 31.2 | 32.0 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | −8.1 | −9.2 | −11.0 | −2.3 | −3.3 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −0.9x | −0.9x | −1.1x | −0.2x | −0.4x |
| Debt to equity | 0.6x | 0.7x | 0.6x | 0.8x | 0.7x |
| Interest coverage | 9.5x | 9.7x | 8.2x | 6.6x | 5.1x |
| Current ratio | 1.5x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x |
| Quick ratio | 1.5x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.4x | 1.5x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 3 insiders bought $2.2 million of Elevance Health shares on the open market, and 5 insiders sold $6.4 million.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2026 | Mark KayeEVP & CFO | Sold | 10,584 | $440.13 | $4.7 million | Form 4 |
| Jul 17, 2026 | Gail BoudreauxPresident and CEO, Director | Bought | 2,725 | $367.79 | $1.0 million | Form 4 |
| Jul 17, 2026 | Ramiro G PeruDirector | Bought | 1,000 | $366.05 | $366,050 | Form 4 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Ronald W PenczekCAO & Controller | Sold | 369 | $403.16 | $148,766 | Form 4 |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Robert L Dixon JRDirector | Sold | 151 | $401.77 | $60,667 | Form 4 |
| May 19, 2026 | Ronald W PenczekCAO & Controller | Sold | 1,531 | $403.13 | $617,192 | Form 4 |
| Mar 12, 2026 | Amy W SchulmanDirector | Sold | 26 | $287.50 | $7,475 | Form 4 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Charles Morgan Kendrick JREVP & President, Commercial | Sold | 3,196 | $284.92 | $910,604 | Form 4 |
| Mar 5, 2026 | Steven H CollisDirector | Bought | 3,000 | $289.84 | $869,520 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Fail | Pass |
| F-score | 7 of 8 | 4 of 8 | 6 of 8 |
| Accruals ratio | −2.0% | 0.1% | 1.1% |
Compare
Put Elevance Health side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elevance Health | FY25 | 12.5% | 3.6% | 1.6% | 15.2% | −0.4x | 6 | |
| Centene | FY25 | 19.4% | −3.9% | 2.2% | −26.4% | — | 5 | Compare |
| Humana | FY25 | 10.1% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 25.7% | −2.2x | 5 | Compare |
| UnitedHealth | FY25 | 11.8% | 4.2% | 3.6% | 11.2% | 2.2x | 7 | Compare |
| Molina Healthcare | FY25 | 11.8% | 1.7% | −1.4% | — | −4.4x | 4 | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 84.9 | 90.0 | 92.1 | 104.2 | 121.9 | 138.6 | 156.6 | 171.3 | 177.0 | 199.1 |
| Revenue growth | 7.2% | 6.1% | 2.3% | 13.2% | 16.9% | 13.8% | 12.9% | 9.4% | 3.3% | 12.5% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 4.8 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 6.4 | 7.6 | 8.3 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 7.2 |
| Net income | 2.5 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.7 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 9.21 | 14.35 | 14.19 | 18.47 | 17.98 | 24.95 | 24.28 | 25.22 | 25.68 | 25.21 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 268 | 268 | 264 | 260 | 254 | 247 | 243 | 237 | 233 | 225 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 3.3 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 6.1 | 10.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.1 | 5.8 | 4.3 |
| Capital expenditure | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 |
| Free cash flow | 2.7 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 5.0 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 4.6 | 3.2 |
| Dividends paid | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Share buybacks | 0.0 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
| Acquisitions | 0.0 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 4.8 | 0.1 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 21.2 | 21.0 | 20.6 | 24.6 | 29.2 | 31.1 | 33.3 | 36.1 | 33.5 | 35.4 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 15.7 | 19.9 | 19.2 | 20.1 | 20.0 | 23.0 | 24.1 | 25.1 | 31.2 | 32.0 |
| Total assets | 65.1 | 70.5 | 71.6 | 77.5 | 86.6 | 97.5 | 102.8 | 108.9 | 116.9 | 121.5 |
| Total liabilities | 40.0 | 44.0 | 43.0 | 45.7 | 53.4 | 61.3 | 66.4 | 69.5 | 75.5 | 77.5 |
| Shareholders' equity | 25.1 | 26.5 | 28.5 | 31.7 | 33.2 | 36.1 | 36.2 | 39.3 | 41.3 | 43.9 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 5.7% | 4.6% | 5.9% | 5.8% | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5.3% | 5.0% | 4.4% | 3.6% |
| Net margin | 2.9% | 4.3% | 4.1% | 4.6% | 3.8% | 4.4% | 3.8% | 3.5% | 3.4% | 2.8% |
| Free cash flow margin | 3.2% | 3.8% | 2.8% | 4.8% | 7.9% | 5.2% | 4.6% | 4.0% | 2.6% | 1.6% |
| Return on capital | 13.2% | 18.0% | 15.3% | 17.7% | 18.2% | 22.3% | 23.3% | 23.8% | 17.6% | 15.2% |
| Return on equity | 10.3% | 14.9% | 13.6% | 15.9% | 14.1% | 17.8% | 16.3% | 15.8% | 14.8% | 13.3% |
| Return on assets | 3.9% | 5.7% | 5.3% | 6.5% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 5.9% | 5.7% | 5.3% | 4.8% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | −1.1x | −0.2x | −0.2x | −0.6x | −1.2x | −0.9x | −0.9x | −1.1x | −0.2x | −0.4x |