Molina rakes in $276M in Q2 profit, falling short of Wall Street expectations

Molina Healthcare earned $276 million in profit during the second quarter, up from $196 million in the same period in 2019.

The insurer brought in $4.6 billion in revenue for the quarter, compared to $4.2 billion in the second quarter of last year, according to its earnings report released late Thursday. Molina missed Wall Street estimates on both profit and revenue.

Molina estimates that the coronavirus pandemic boosted after-tax income by between $65 million and $100 million. Major health insurers showed strong financial performance in the first half of this year as COVID-19 led to significant care deferrals, though utilization has crept up in the second quarter.

They largely expect to see a surge in demand in the latter half of the year as patients have procedures that were pushed off in the earlier months.

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“Despite the unprecedented environment of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our company performed well in the second quarter,” said Joe Zubretsky, Molina's CEO, in a statement. “Most importantly, we worked tirelessly to make sure our members, provider partners, state and federal government customers, as well as our 10,000 associates, were well served and cared for in this clinically and economically challenging time.”

Zubretsky also praised the team for reaching the end of a two-year process to optimize capital structure, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

One of the biggest highlights of the quarter was Molina securing a Medicaid contract in Kentucky for January 2021 and the subsequent announcement that it would buy Passport Health's Medicaid and dual plans in the state for $20 million.

Molina held to its full-year earnings guidance of between $11.20 and $11.70 per share, and said for 2021 it expects premium revenue of about $21.5 billion, an increase of 20% over 2020.