Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) shares gained 12% to about $35 in late-morning trading Thursday after the health insurer’s CEO Sarah London told the Deutsche Bank Healthcare conference the company’s preliminary data for quality ratings for Medicare Advantage showed a slightly higher percentage of members in four-star plans.
London also mentioned Centene’s stronger-than-expected Medicaid results in July and August, which support better results in the second half of the year.
Barclays analyst Andrew Mok told Reuters the company’s update on Medicaid is “better than feared.”
Medicare membership for plans with higher star ratings would mean larger payments to the company from the government, with bonus payments that can be worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars, CNBC reported recently.
The media outlet noted that Medicare Advantage has been a growth driver for health insurers, but rising medical costs and tighter government reimbursements have weighed on profits.
Memberships in four-star or higher-rated Medicare Advantage plans cover Americans aged 65 years or older.
Centene also stated in a filing that its results up to the end of August were consistent with its 2025 adjusted earnings forecast of about $1.75 per share, which surpassed the analyst consensus estimate of $1.69, according to data compiled by LSEG.