Centene Corp. on Tuesday raised its 2026 earnings outlook after reporting third-quarter results for the period ended Sept. 30, the St. Louis health insurer said in a news release².

The company posted a GAAP diluted loss of 14 cents a share and adjusted diluted earnings of 58 cents a share, with total revenue of $50.65 billion and premium and service revenue of $45.11 billion². Reuters reported the quarter as better than expected and said analysts had looked for a medical-cost ratio of 92.84% and full-year adjusted profit of $4.88 a share, according to LSEG¹.

Centene said its health benefits ratio was 92.7% in the quarter, unchanged from a year earlier, and that the figure was better than its own expectations, led by Medicare, with Medicaid and Marketplace on track². Reuters described that ratio as the share of premiums spent on medical care and placed it in a broader industry pattern of higher medical use¹.

The company lifted its 2026 GAAP diluted EPS floor to more than $3.46 and its adjusted diluted EPS floor to more than $5.20, a $0.40 increase in the adjusted floor, and narrowed full-year HBR guidance to 90.4% to 91.1%². Reuters said the prior adjusted outlook had been more than $4.80 a share¹.

Chief Executive Sarah M. London said, "Solid underlying fundamentals within our core businesses have powered a faster recovery to our earnings trajectory than previously anticipated"².

Premium and service revenue rose 0.5% from a year earlier, Centene said, citing PDP growth and rate increases while noting lower Marketplace and Medicaid membership². At-risk membership was about 25.7 million on Sept. 30, down from about 28.0 million a year earlier, with Marketplace membership falling to 3.4 million from 5.8 million².

The company said it cut debt by $1.1 billion since June 30, including later redemption of 2027 senior notes, and used $3.7 billion of cash in operations in the quarter, which it attributed to the timing of pass-through and premium payments². It will discuss the results on a conference call Tuesday².