At a glance
CVS Health Corp is worth $113.20B, about 64 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 7.8% to $402.07B in fiscal 2025, with 0.4% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 8.4% a year. It pays a 3.03% dividend yield, and returned $23.97B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +16.7% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +2.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 27.3% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 19.9% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 8 months and 43 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
CVS Health combines drugstores, a large health insurer and a prescription drug benefits business under one roof. As of December 31, 2025, it had about 9,000 retail locations, more than 1,000 walk-in and primary care clinics, and a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) with about 87 million plan members. A PBM runs drug coverage for employers and health plans: it negotiates prices, decides which drugs are covered and processes pharmacy claims.
The insurance arm, Aetna, served more than 37 million people as of December 31, 2025. It sells medical, dental, pharmacy and behavioral health plans to employers and individuals. It also runs government-funded plans: Medicare Advantage (private plans that replace Original Medicare) in 44 states and Washington, D.C., Medicare drug plans in all 50 states, and Medicaid plans in 15 states in 2025. With insured plans, Aetna collects premiums and takes the risk that claims cost more than expected. With administrative-services plans, the employer bears the medical costs and pays Aetna a fee to run the plan.
CVS reports four segments: Health Care Benefits (Aetna), Health Services, Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness, and Corporate/Other. Revenue totaled $402.1 billion in fiscal 2025, up 7.8%, but margins were thin: net income was $1.77 billion, or 0.4% of revenue. Aetna left the individual public health insurance exchanges in January 2026.
Price history
The interactive chart needs JavaScript.
CVS +16.7% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $106.10B, up 7.3% from a year earlier, and net income was $2.98B (+191.8%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $402.07B (+7.8% year over year; +8.4% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 0.4% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +8.4% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 1.2% weak |
| Free cash flow margin | 1.9% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 2.4% weak |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 0.7% weak |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-14.21B watch |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $268.71B | $7.18B | $13.43B |
| FY2021 | $292.11B | $8.00B | $15.74B |
| FY2022 | $322.47B | $4.31B | $13.45B |
| FY2023 | $357.78B | $8.34B | $10.39B |
| FY2024 | $372.81B | $4.61B | $6.33B |
| FY2025 | $402.07B | $1.77B | $7.81B |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $113.20B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 63.7 |
| Dividend yield | 3.03% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
CVS Health’s market value went from $84.15B at the end of 2016 to $113.20B on Nov 2, 2026, up 35%; since the end of 2025 it is up 12%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | $113.20B | +12.4% |
| 2025 | $100.74B | +78.3% |
| 2024 | $56.49B | -44.4% |
| 2023 | $101.61B | -17.0% |
| 2022 | $122.45B | -10.1% |
| 2021 | $136.18B | +52.3% |
| 2020 | $89.40B | -7.5% |
| 2019 | $96.65B | +44.8% |
| 2018 | $66.75B | -9.1% |
| 2017 | $73.44B | -12.7% |
| 2016 | $84.15B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVS price data to Nov 2, 2026 | +14.9% | +16.7% | +12.5% | +2.8% | +3.7% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +14.9% |
| 2025 | +84.3% |
| 2024 | -40.7% |
| 2023 | -12.5% |
| 2022 | -7.6% |
| 2021 | +54.9% |
| 2020 | -5.2% |
| 2019 | +17.3% |
| 2018 | -7.0% |
| 2017 | -5.8% |
| 2016 | -17.8% |
| 2015 | +2.9% |
| 2014 | +36.6% |
| 2013 | +50.4% |
| 2012 | +20.3% |
| 2011 | +19.0% |
| 2010 | +9.1% |
| 2009 | +13.2% |
| 2008 | -27.2% |
| 2007 | +29.4% |
| 2006 | +17.6% |
| 2005 | +17.9% |
| 2004 | +25.6% |
| 2003 | +45.9% |
| 2002 | -15.0% |
| 2001 | -50.4% |
| 2000 | +51.2% |
| 1999 | -27.1% |
| 1998 | +72.7% |
| 1997 | +56.2% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 37.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 45.3%, back to its old high 34.3 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 26% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 27.3%, back to its old high 7.9 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 14.3% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 19.9%, back to its old high 43 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-27 to 2026-10-27 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 8 sales ($323.7M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2026 | Larry Robbins Director | sell | $187.3M |
| May 20, 2026 | Larry Robbins Director | sell | $74.6M |
| May 21, 2026 | Larry Robbins Director | sell | $34.6M |
| May 20, 2026 | Larry Robbins Director | sell | $14.5M |
| May 20, 2026 | Larry Robbins Director | sell | $6.4M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 8.3% | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 7.51% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Capital World Investors | 5.5% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Dodge & Cox | 3.9% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in CVS
| WBIY WBI Power Factor High Dividend ETF | 7.39% |
| DUSA Davis Select U.S. Equity ETF | 6.42% |
| RTH VanEck Retail ETF | 4.97% |
| IHF iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF | 4.53% |
| IYK iShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF | 4.04% |
| QVMT Invesco S&P 500 Concentrated QVM ETF | 4.02% |
| BAMV Brookstone Value Stock ETF | 3.85% |
| RPV Invesco S&P 500® Pure Value ETF | 3.77% |
What could go wrong
- Medical costs could outrun premiums. Aetna sets premiums before knowing claims costs. If members use more care than projected, as in a pandemic, profits shrink. Rules requiring a minimum share of premiums to go to care also cap margins.
- Dependence on federal health programs. Programs funded by the federal government account for a significant portion of revenue. Funding cuts or rule changes in Medicare Advantage, Medicare drug plans or Medicaid could squeeze what CVS earns.
- Drug-pricing and PBM rules could change. Changes to drug-pricing benchmarks could hurt its pharmacy benefits manager and drugstores. Owning an insurer, a PBM and pharmacies also draws regulatory scrutiny, such as legislation barring PBM-affiliated pharmacies from state licenses.
- Lawsuits, audits and government investigations. CVS routinely faces class actions, whistleblower (qui tam) suits and government audits. These can bring refunds, fines or forced changes to how it does business, and some damages may not be covered by insurance.
- Cyberattacks on sensitive health data. CVS says it and its vendors have experienced, and continue to experience, cyberattacks. It holds personal and health information on millions of members and customers, so a breach could bring penalties, lawsuits and lost trust.
- Debt, credit ratings and asset write-downs. Total debt was $61.4 billion as of June 30, 2026. A credit-rating downgrade could raise borrowing costs, and goodwill, the premium paid in past acquisitions, could be written down if those businesses fall short.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
CVS's regular dividend rose from $2.00 a share in fiscal 2020 to $2.66 in fiscal 2024, then held flat in fiscal 2025, so it has no streak of annual increases. In fiscal 2025 the dividend was 192% of earnings, meaning CVS paid out more than it earned, though it used 43.5% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). Buybacks totaled $8.5 billion over fiscal 2021–2025, with none in fiscal 2025. The yield was 2.94% as of October 27, 2026.
In the 2008 financial crisis, CVS shares fell 45.3% and took about 34 months from their low to recover. They fell 27.3% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about 8 months. After a 19.9% drop in the 2022 bear market, they did not regain their prior peak until May 2026. A single stock like CVS carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does CVS Health make money?
CVS makes money mainly from health insurance, prescription drug benefits and pharmacies. As of December 31, 2025, its Aetna insurance arm served more than 37 million people, collecting premiums from employers, individuals and government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, plus fees for running self-funded employer plans. Its pharmacy benefits manager handled drug coverage for about 87 million plan members, and it had about 9,000 retail locations and more than 1,000 clinics. Revenue was $402.1 billion in fiscal 2025, but net income was only $1.77 billion.
Does CVS raise its dividend every year?
No. CVS paid $2.00 per share a year in both fiscal 2020 and 2021, raised it to $2.20 in fiscal 2022, $2.42 in fiscal 2023 and $2.66 in fiscal 2024, then held it at $2.66 in fiscal 2025. That leaves it with no active streak of annual increases. From fiscal 2020 to 2025, the regular dividend grew about 5.9% a year on average. The dividend yield, a year's dividends divided by the share price, was 2.94% as of October 27, 2026.
Is CVS's dividend covered by its earnings?
Not in fiscal 2025, though cash flow covered it. Dividends equaled about 192% of earnings that year, after net income fell 61.7% to $1.77 billion. Free cash flow, the cash left after running and investing in the business, was $7.8 billion, and the dividend used 43.5% of it. Profit improved in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, when net income was $2.98 billion, up 191.8% from a year earlier. Paying out more than a company earns cannot last indefinitely unless profits recover.
Why is CVS stock's P/E ratio so high?
Mainly because fiscal 2025 profit was unusually low. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the share price divided by a year's earnings per share, was 65.6 as of October 27, 2026, based on fiscal 2025 diluted earnings of $1.39 per share. That was down from $3.66 in fiscal 2024 and $6.47 in fiscal 2023. A P/E inflated by a profit slump says little about growth, so several years of earnings give a fuller picture.
How has CVS stock performed over the long term?
Modestly, with big swings. As of October 27, 2026, the share price had gained about 4.1% a year over five years and 3.6% a year over ten years, and 13.9% over the past year. It fell 40.7% in 2024, rose 84.3% in 2025 and was up 18.3% for 2026 through October 27. Its largest fall from a peak in about 30 years of price history was 64.1%. These are price returns, which leave out dividends.