Humana Stock Stumbles After Earnings Underwhelm -- WSJ

By Anna Wilde Mathews

Humana's shares dipped in morning trading after its results compared unfavorably with other insurers' performance this quarter

The Medicare-focused insurer modestly beat analysts' profit projections, offered reassurance on medical cost trends and left guidance unchanged on an adjusted basis. But investors "generally expected more upside," Leerink analysts wrote.

Other insurers, including industry bellwether UnitedHealth, have raised their financial projections for the year and cited lower-than-expected Medicare cost trends.

Here are some other takeaways from Humana's report:

-- Humana will exit Medicare plans covering around 600,000 members next year, executives said. The insurer reiterated that its approach focuses on boosting margins.

-- The company said it was confident about its progress on Medicare quality measures, which are tied to financial bonuses, an area where past problems have hurt financial performance.

-- The impact of the Trump administration's decision to end a Medicare drug plan subsidy program "is unfortunately going to be more on our members...than it is on us," said CEO Jim Rechtin.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2026 10:17 ET (14:17 GMT)