Written by StockNews.com

CVS Health Corp. (CVS ) early Tuesday posted better than expected first-quarter earnings, offered an in-line outlook for Q2, and reiterated its full-year forecast.

The Woonsocket, RI-based drugstore chain operator reported Q1:

• earnings per share (EPS) of $1.17, which was $0.07 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.10 [and]
• revenues rose 3.0% from last year to $44.51 billion, also topping analysts’ view for $44.2 billion.

Looking ahead, CVS forecast:

• Q2 EPS of $1.29-1.33, which is in-line with Wall Street’s estimate of $1.33 ...[and] 
• EPS of $5.77-5.93, also in-line with analysts’ view of $5.86, for the full year.

The company commented via press release:

“We continue to expect 2017 to be a rebuilding year, but our goals remain clear, and we fully intend to return to healthy levels of growth.

We remain confident in our model as well as our position in the evolving health care landscape, and our ability to generate significant levels of cash will continue to play an important role in driving shareholder value over the longer term.”

CVS Health Corp. shares fell $0.35 (-0.43%) in premarket trading Tuesday. Year-to-date, CVS has gained 5.17%, versus a 7.24% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

CVS currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of C (Neutral), and is ranked #2 of 5 stocks in the Medical – Drug Stores category.