Our past two quarterly IR calls have been executed poorly. We had a huge beat in Q2 and spent the call pontificating on possible 2027 headwinds. The stock fell form $107 to the mid $80s before finally rallying back into the $90 range. Today we launch an obviously controversial, obviously high-risk, split of the company, reversing our 20-year strategy. Our description on the call was oddly naive - we used generic platitudes and a "what me, worry?" casual tone, and worse talked about it in soft, flabby language, to explain an extraordinary gamble. And the stock tanks $10 more on a day the market is up 1,000 points. Is our communication and IR team warning him of these, frankly pretty obvious, risks? I fear not and we need to upgrade quickly. very quickly.
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This is happening because:
1) Arkansas and Tennessee banned or restricted PBMs from owning pharmacies and other states are considering doing the same.
2) The integration strategy failed to deliver real value, even after tons of investment.
They claim its not because of #1 but this seems inevitable and its better to get ahead of the coming regulatory pressure. They'll never admit #2. There really is no way to spin this and more talking points won't help.
@ae AGREE!! I’m so happy with this move! Aetna was an elite company. Everything went downhill when we were bought out. Let’s make a comeback!!
Aetna should have NEVER been sold to CVS!
I really wish I never invested a single cent into this company.
Not controversial at all..pretty clear we either control how the split occurred or Washington will do it for us..
The writings have been consistent over the last few years.
Lol 20 year plan..
Bro wake up..the world changes every 6 months...
@a2 That is true a more engaging discussion about it would have been nice, but I am pretty sure this is about the laws states are trying to pass about PBM's owning Pharmacies, and they cant really come out and say that as the reason.
@OP Totally agree. There is a need for a much more sophisticated communication plan. These are hugely controversial decisions that require so much more than talking points on an earnings call. Where is the carefully orchestrated narrative and audience engagement plan that anticipates and addresses concerns?