Centene (CNC) Stock's Historic Drop: What Investors Need To Know

Shares of Centene Corp (NYSE:CNC) are experiencing a historic collapse this week, with Wednesday marking the worst single-day performance in the company’s history after it abruptly withdrew its 2025 financial outlook. The announcement sent shockwaves through the health insurance sector, triggering a widespread sell-off.

What To Know: The health insurer’s decision came after reviewing preliminary data from the independent actuarial firm Wakely. The report indicated that in 22 of its 29 marketplace states, market growth was weaker than projected.

More critically, the data revealed that the health of enrolled members, or market morbidity, was significantly higher than Centene had assumed for its risk adjustment revenue calculations. This imbalance suggests a sicker, more costly membership base.

As a direct result, Centene anticipates a preliminary reduction of approximately $1.8 billion in its full-year net risk adjustment revenue. This translates to a substantial hit of about $2.75 per share to its adjusted earnings.

The revision prompted sharp criticism, with CNBC’s Jim Cramer calling the development “horrifying” and noting the potential for a 35% to 40% impact on the company’s numbers.

The negative outlook from a major player like Centene has raised investor concerns about the stability of the broader individual health insurance market, causing shares of competitors, including Oscar Health, to tumble in its wake. Centene has stated it will provide additional details during its second-quarter earnings report on July 25.

Benzinga Edge Rankings: Based on the Benzinga Edge stock rankings, Centene presents a starkly mixed investment profile. The company scores exceptionally high on Value at 88.37, indicating that its stock may be significantly undervalued compared to its intrinsic worth.

It also shows a solid Growth score of 69.30, suggesting healthy prospects for business expansion. However, these positive attributes are severely undermined by its other metrics. The stock’s Momentum is extremely low at 7.87, reflecting its recent sharp price decline.

Most concerning is its Quality score of just 4.58, which points to significant underlying weaknesses in the company’s financial health and stability.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, CNC shares are trading higher by 0.6% to $34.01 Thursday morning. The stock has a 52-week high of $80.59 and a 52-week low of $33.64.

Read Also: This Centene Analyst Is No Longer Bullish; Here Are Top 5 Downgrades For Wednesday

How To Buy CNC Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Centene – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

In the case of Centene, which is trading at $34.57 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 2.89 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

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