Anthem Reported Q3 Beat & Raise

Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) reported its Q3 results, beating the Street estimates, driven by strong operating momentum and balanced earnings performance across the portfolio. The beat reflects solid membership growth in government and lower-than-expected MLR, despite utilization recovery to just above pre-COVID baseline levels. While the delta variant surge drove higher COVID utilization in August and September, the impact was largely offset by lower-than-expected non-COVID utilization, particularly for higher-cost inpatient volume. Management noted that the utilization spike was largely attributable to Commercial book, while Medicare Advantage tracked closely to expectations and Medicaid utilization developed somewhat lower than expected.