CVS Health pulls back despite posting upbeat Q2 results: could it be an opportunity to buy?

On Wednesday morning, CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS) shares edged 1.2% lower despite posting better than expected Q2 results. The company announced its fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue, beating analyst expectations. In addition, CVS Health also raised its full-year guidance higher than the consensus Street estimates.

CVS Health’s revenue grew 11.1% from the same quarter last year to $72.61 billion, outperforming the consensus analyst estimate by $2.34 billion. The company also posted an impressive non-GAAP EPS of $2.42, beating the average Street estimate by $0.35, while the GAAP EPS of $2.10 beat by $0.39.

CVS Health raised its fiscal year 2021 EPS guidance to $7.70 to $7.80, up from $7.56 to $7.68 and better than the consensus analyst estimate of $7.67. The company also sees the full-year 2021 revenue coming in the range of $12.5 billion to $13.0 billion, up from the previous guidance of $12.0 billion to $12.5 billion. However, the new revenue guidance also implies a significant decline in top-line from last year’s total revenue of $15.9 billion.

Should you invest in CVS Health in Q3 2021?

From a valuation perspective, CVS Health shares trade at an attractive P/E ratio of 14.94 and a forward P/E of 10.14, making the stock compelling to value investors. However, the company’s earnings growth expectations of 7.60% this year and 8.14% next year do not excite growth investors. Moreover, the average annual growth rate of just 4.01% for the next five years indicates a potential slowdown in earnings growth.

Therefore, although value investors may find CVS Health compelling in the short term, the long-term outlook is not as attractive. 

Technical overview: CVS Health stock price forecast for August 2021

Technically, CVS Health shares appear to have recently pulled back to trade at just below the 100-day moving average. However, the stock has since bounced back off the trendline support to trade at $82.65 per share.

Therefore, investors could target extended rebounds at approximately $87.04 or higher at $90.70. The key support levels are $79.59 and $75.93.

Bottom line: the catalyst for buying the CVS stock’s short term rebound

Although CVS Health shares offer little in the long term, they seem significantly undervalued in the short term. Therefore, investors can target extended rebounds at the resistance levels before the next pullback.