CVS had a strong start to this year following the healthcare giant’s mediocre financial performance last year amid pricing pressures. The tailwinds helping CVS in the first quarter kept blowing in the second, with operating income of $3.3 billion — up almost 343% year over year.
“Although the company’s 2019 operating income will be lower than what we had originally expected at the closing of the Aetna acquisition and challenges — particularly reimbursement pressures — remain, we are encouraged by the operating performance for the first half of the fiscal year and by the pace of debt reduction since the close of the acquisition,” Moody’s Vice President Mickey Chadha said.
