CVS soars as fourth-quarter earnings exceed every Wall Street estimate
Shares of CVS Health are soaring in the premarket after the drugstore and insurance company delivered fourth-quarter earnings per share that surpassed every analyst’s estimate — the company’s EPS of $1.19 crushed the consensus estimate of $0.92 — and reported better-than-expected revenues to boot.
A bigger surprise on the bottom line than the top line usually means one thing: effective expense control.
The medical benefit ratio (that is, the share of premiums collected spent on medical care) in its insurance ratio was 94.8%, lower than projected. That’s a positive, since it means more money is left over for the company to claim as profits.
Management’s guidance for 2025, however, was a little on the low side. Adjusted earnings per share are projected to come in between $5.75 and $6.00, while the consensus estimate currently sits at the top of that range. Projected sales of “at least $385.9 billion” are a bit shy of where the sell side is at, too.
The record-breaking rise in gold stalled Tuesday, with prices tumbling nearly 4%.
The sudden downdraft hammered popular plays on the price such as the SPDR Gold Shares ETF, the largest gold ETF, and miners like Newmont Corp., Agnico Eagle, Wheaton Precious Metals, and Anglogold Ashanti.
While there’s no clear reason for the slump, theories and contributing factors may include:
Social media chatter about gold — which coincided with a spike in options activity — cooling off considerably, according to data provided by SwaggyStocks.
A seasonal drop in demand out of India — the world’s second-largest gold market after China — that typically follows Diwali.
Jitters about the fact that weekly CFTC positioning data on the futures market, one of the best sources of hard data on the gold market, continues to be unavailable as a result of the US government shutdown.
But even after today’s slump, gold prices, as measured by New York futures prices, are up about 60% in 2025.
While there’s no clear reason for the slump, theories and contributing factors may include:
Social media chatter about gold — which coincided with a spike in options activity — cooling off considerably, according to data provided by SwaggyStocks.
A seasonal drop in demand out of India — the world’s second-largest gold market after China — that typically follows Diwali.
Jitters about the fact that weekly CFTC positioning data on the futures market, one of the best sources of hard data on the gold market, continues to be unavailable as a result of the US government shutdown.
But even after today’s slump, gold prices, as measured by New York futures prices, are up about 60% in 2025.
With a name like Warner Bros. Discovery, you wouldn’t expect WBD to be particularly anti-consolidation. As it fields interest from Paramount Skydance, the company said Tuesday it’s open to a sale.
Paramount Skydance isn’t the only party that’s interested, according to WBD. Shares of the HBO and CNN parent climbed 11% shortly after markets opened.
“It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.
In June, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies, unlinking its streaming and film studios business from its cable TV networks.
“It’s no surprise that the significant value of our portfolio is receiving increased recognition by others in the market. After receiving interest from multiple parties, we have initiated a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to identify the best path forward to unlock the full value of our assets,” CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.
In June, Warner Bros. Discovery announced its plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies, unlinking its streaming and film studios business from its cable TV networks.
Beyond Meat is showing what happens when a low nominal share price, retail enthusiasm, heavy options activity, and relatively elevated short interest collide: this is what a meme stock rally looks like.
Shares of the plant-based meat company are on a tear again on Tuesday morning, pushing toward the $2 level after sinking as low as $0.50 last Thursday. As of 7:39 a.m. ET, more than $115 million has changed hands trading Beyond Meat, the fourth-most of any stock listed on US exchanges.
The rally didn’t need any fundamental news, but it got some anyways: management announced plans to expand its product availability at over 2,000 Walmart locations nationwide, further adding to the stock’s early gains.
This continues Beyond Meat’s high-volume surge that saw the stock more than double on Monday, in what was by far its biggest one-day gain on record. By the time the dust settled on the opening session of the week, Beyond Meat had volumes in excess of 1.2 billion, effectively turning over its (newly boosted) shares outstanding three times over during the course of the day. That’s a higher level of turnover than Opendoor Technologies enjoyed during its most insane session of this year back on July 21.
JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain observed that this retail interest came out of nowhere as the stock was trading for coins rather than dollars, as this chart on BYND’s daily net retail imbalance through Friday shows:
Source: JPMorgan
This sudden flood of positive retail sentiment appears to be in no small part thanks to a (since banned) Reddit user with the handle capybaraSTOCKS, who has since transitioned to YouTube and X to share his thesis on the company. Business Insider identified this person as Dimitri Semenikhin, a Dubai-based real estate developer.
The move on Monday included a massive spike in call volumes up to more than triple their previous daily record:
When you’re a meme stock, your equity is what becomes your top product. And while, yes, most companies do tend to see higher trading volumes on any given day than the sales they’re making, this discrepancy is particularly stark with Beyond Meat. Through its history as a publicly traded company, it’s recorded plant-based meat sales of 487.5 million pounds. In other words: more than twice as many shares traded on Monday compared to pounds sold from Q1 2018 through Q2 2025!
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