Elevance Health Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023; Sets Full Year 2024 Outlook

• 4Q 2023 operating revenue of $42.5 billion, up 7.0% from 4Q 2022; FY 2023 operating revenue of $170 billion, up 9.3% from FY 2022
• 4Q 2023 GAAP diluted EPS¹ of $3.63, up 1.1% from 4Q 2022 and adjusted diluted EPS² of $5.62, up 15.2%; FY 2023 GAAP diluted EPS of $25.22, up 3.9% from FY 2022 and adjusted diluted EPS² of $33.14, up 16.2%
• Projected FY 2024 GAAP diluted EPS and adjusted diluted EPS² of greater than $34.29 and $37.10 per share, respectively
• Quarterly dividend increased by 10.1% to $1.63 per share

Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE: ELV) reported fourth quarter and full year 2023 results.

“We are pleased to have delivered another year of strong performance in 2023, enabled by our relentless focus on customer experience and affordability, and continued investments in growth and innovation. The balance and resilience of our business coupled with the focused execution of our enterprise strategy supports our confidence in our outlook for 2024, as we continue to optimize the foundation, and scale our flywheel for sustained growth of the enterprise over the long term.”

Gail K. Boudreaux

President and Chief Executive Officer

Operating revenue was $42.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of $2.8 billion, or 7 percent compared to fourth quarter 2022. Operating revenue was $170.2 billion in 2023, an increase of $14.5 billion, or 9 percent. The increase in the quarter and year was driven by higher premium revenue in our Health Benefits segment and growth in pharmacy product revenue in CarelonRx.

The benefit expense ratio was 89.2 percent in the fourth quarter, an improvement of 50 basis points compared to fourth quarter 2022, and 87.0 percent for the full year, an improvement of 60 basis points year-over-year. The improvement in the quarter and year was driven by premium rate adjustments to cover medical cost trend. Days in Claims Payable was 47.3 days as of December 31, 2023, a decrease of 1.3 days from September 30, 2023, and a decrease of 0.2 days compared to December 31, 2022.

The operating expense ratio was 11.8 percent both in the fourth quarter and for the full year of 2023, an increase of 30 basis points as compared to the fourth quarter of 2022 and an increase of 40 basis points year-over-year. The increase in the quarter was driven by an acceleration of investments for growth and the increase for the full year was driven by business optimization charges recorded in 2023.

Cash Flow & Balance Sheet

Operating cash flow for 2023 was $8.1 billion, or 1.3 times GAAP net income. As of December 31, 2023, cash and investments at the parent company totaled approximately $1.6 billion.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company repurchased 2.0 million shares of its common stock for $929 million, at a weighted average price of $465.63. For the full year of 2023, the Company repurchased 5.8 million shares of its common stock for $2.7 billion, at a weighted average price of $463.53. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately $4.2 billion of Board approved share repurchase authorization remaining. During the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share, representing a distribution of cash totaling $346 million.

Health Benefits is comprised of Individual, Employer Group risk-based, Employer Group fee-based, BlueCard, Medicare, Medicaid, and Federal Health Products & Services businesses.

Operating revenue was $36.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of $1.5 billion, or 4 percent compared to fourth quarter 2022. Operating revenue was $148.6 billion in 2023, an increase of $10.1 billion, or 7 percent. The increase was primarily driven by higher premium revenue in our Commercial Health Benefits business.

Operating gain totaled $767 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decline of 2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. This was primarily driven by investments made in the quarter to support long-term growth. Operating gain totaled $6.9 billion in 2023, an increase of $866 million, or 14 percent year-over-year. This was primarily driven by premium rate adjustments to reflect medical cost trends.

Medical membership totaled approximately 47.0 million as of December 31, 2023, a decrease of 570 thousand, or 1 percent year-over-year. This was driven by attrition in our Medicaid business associated with the resumption of eligibility redeterminations in the second quarter of 2023 and declines in our Employer Group risk-based business. These membership losses were partially offset by growth in BlueCard, Affordable Care Act health plans, and Medicare Advantage.

During the fourth quarter of 2023, medical membership declined by 364 thousand driven by Medicaid membership attrition associated with redeterminations, partially offset by growth in commercial fee-based members.

Carelon is comprised of CarelonRx and Carelon Services.

Operating revenue in the Carelon segments was $12.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of $1.5 billion, or 14 percent from fourth quarter 2022. Operating revenue was $48.0 billion in 2023, an increase of $6.6 billion, or 16 percent. The increases for the quarter and the year were driven by growth in pharmacy product revenue in CarelonRx associated with growth in both external pharmacy members served and the acquisition of the BioPlus specialty pharmacy.

Operating gain in the Carelon segments was $592 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, an increase of $78 million, or 15 percent from fourth quarter 2022. The increase in the quarter was primarily driven by improved performance in our Carelon Services businesses. Operating gain was $2.7 billion in 2023, an increase of $252 million, or 10 percent year-over-year. The increase for the full year was primarily driven by higher prescription volumes in CarelonRx associated with growth in external pharmacy members served, the acquisition of the BioPlus specialty pharmacy, and improved performance across our Carelon Services businesses, along with the continued expansion of our post-acute care management business.

About Elevance Health

Elevance Health is a lifetime, trusted health partner fueled by its purpose to improve the health of humanity. The company supports consumers, families, and communities across the entire care journey – connecting them to the care, support, and resources they need to lead healthier lives. Elevance Health’s companies serve more than 115 million people through a diverse portfolio of industry-leading medical, digital, pharmacy, behavioral, clinical, and complex care solutions. For more information, please visit www.elevancehealth.com or follow us @ElevanceHealth on X and Elevance Health on LinkedIn.

Conference Call and Webcast

Management will host a conference call and webcast today at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (“EST”) to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and full year results and outlook. The conference call should be accessed at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the call with the following numbers:

The access code for today's conference call is 3972058. There is no access code for the replay. The replay will be available from 11:30 a.m. EDT today, until the end of the day on February 23, 2024. The call will also be available through a live webcast at www.elevancehealth.com under the “Investors” link. A webcast replay will be available following the call.

Basis of Presentation

1. Operating revenue and operating gain/loss are the key measures used by management to evaluate performance in each of its reporting segments, allocate resources, set incentive compensation targets and to forecast future operating performance. Operating gain/loss is calculated as total operating revenue less benefit expense, cost of products sold and operating expense. It does not include net investment income, net gains/losses on financial instruments, interest expense, amortization of other intangible assets, gains/losses on extinguishment of debt or income taxes, as these items are managed in a corporate shared service environment and are not the responsibility of operating segment management. Refer to the GAAP reconciliation tables.
2. Operating margin is defined as operating gain divided by operating revenue.
   
   
   
   

Elevance Health

Earnings Release Financial Schedules and Supplementary Information

Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2023

• Membership and Other Metrics
• Quarterly & Full-Year Consolidated Statements of Income
• Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
• Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
• Supplemental Financial Information - Reportable Segments
• Supplemental Financial Information - Reconciliation of Medical Claims Payable
• Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
• Financial Guidance Summary

REPORTABLE SEGMENTS

Elevance Health has four reportable segments: Health Benefits (comprised of Individual, Employer Group risk-based, Employer Group fee-based, BlueCard, Medicare, Medicaid, and Federal Health Products & Services businesses); CarelonRx; Carelon Services; and Corporate & Other (comprised of businesses that do not individually meet the quantitative thresholds for an operating division as well as corporate expenses not allocated to our other reportable segments).

Elevance Health

GAAP Reconciliation

(Unaudited)

This document references non-GAAP measures, including “Adjusted Shareholders’ Net Income,” “Adjusted Shareholders’ Net Income Per Share,” “Adjusted EPS”, “Adjusted Operating Gain”, “Adjusted Operating Expense” and “Adjusted Operating Expense Ratio”, which are non-GAAP measures. These non-GAAP measures are intended to aid investors when comparing Elevance Health’s financial results among periods and are not intended to be alternatives to any measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP are available below. In addition to these non-GAAP measures, references are made to the measures “Operating Revenue” and “Operating Gain/Loss,” “Operating Margin” and “Adjusted EPS”. Operating revenue and operating gain/loss are the key measures used by management to evaluate performance in each of its reporting segments, allocate resources, set incentive compensation targets and to forecast future operating performance. Operating gain/loss is calculated as total operating revenue less benefit expense, cost of products sold and operating expense. It does not include net investment income, net gains/losses on financial instruments, interest expense, amortization of other intangible assets and gains/losses on extinguishment of debt or income taxes, as these items are managed in a corporate shared service environment and are not the responsibility of operating segment management. Each of these measures is provided to further aid investors in understanding and analyzing Elevance Health’s operating and financial results. A reconciliation of Operating Revenue to Total Revenue is set forth in the Consolidated Statements of Income herein. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, together with a reconciliation of reportable segments operating gain to income before income tax expense, is reported below. Prior amounts may be grouped differently to conform to current presentation.Net adjustment items per share may not sum due to rounding. A reconciliation of Operating Revenue to Total Revenue is set forth in the Consolidated Statements of Income herein.

Elevance Health

GAAP Reconciliation

(Unaudited)