CVS Health has more room to run even as the broader health care segment remains troubled, according to Leerink Partners. Leerink upgraded the pharmacy operator and benefits manager to outperform from market perform and raised its price target to $75 per share from $55. Leerink’s new forecast calls for about 19% upside from Wednesday’s close. CVS Health has pulled back more than 17% over the past year, but has been on fire in 2025 with a 40% year-to-date gain. On Wednesday, the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings , sending the stock up 15% on the day. CVS YTD mountain Shares have advanced about 40% so far in 2025. “With CVS’ seeing the important stabilization signs we’ve been waiting for on Aetna and HC Benefits, we see the reward as positively skewed on a risk-adjusted basis,” analyst Michael Cherny wrote. “We see this initial FY25 guidance … as likely driving more upside than downside to our multi-year estimates.” Cherny added that the stock is still trading at discount elative to peers despite the early 2025 surge. CVS trades at about 10 times forward earnings, well below the S & P 500 health care sector’s multiple of 18. The analyst also pointed to CVS’ managed care and retail pharmacy segments as catalysts for growth moving forward and could “create a series of natural offsets that help drive the enterprise growth algorithm.” “The totality of CVS has better long-term upside potential than what we feel is currently factored into the stock, with the biggest pieces of uncertainty starting to show positive signs of improvement/potential inflection,” Cherny said. Analysts are somewhat split on the stock. LSEG data shows that 17 of 29 who cover CVS rate it as a buy or strong buy. The remaining 12 have a hold rating on it.
CVS gets an upgrade to buy from Leerink Partners after pharmacy operator’s strong earnings