Golf Clap for CVS Caremark

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

CVS Caremark (NYS: CVS) reported earnings yesterday. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), CVS Caremark met expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue improved and GAAP earnings per share grew.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
CVS Caremark booked revenue of $28.32 billion. The 19 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated net sales of $28.11 billion. GAAP sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $24.77 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.89. The 21 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.89 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.81 for Q4 were 8.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.75 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 19.6%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 6.9%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 3.8%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $29.60 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.61.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $119.49 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.25.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,626 members rating the stock outperform and 66 members rating it underperform. Among 439 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 423 give CVS Caremark a green thumbs-up, and 16 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on CVS Caremark is outperform, with an average price target of $45.24.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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