Molina's third-quarter adjusted profit falls by more than half to 89 cents a share as it holds its full-year floor of $5.25

Molina Healthcare spent 92.9 cents of every premium dollar on medical care in the third quarter. That ratio, up from 92.6 percent a year earlier, cut the Long Beach, California insurer's adjusted earnings to 89 cents a share from $1.84, according to results it filed with the SEC on Wednesday.

GAAP net income fell to $38m, or 73 cents a share, from $79m. Premium revenue slipped 4 percent to $10.46bn, which the company put down to lower Medicaid and Marketplace membership partly offset by rate increases. It served about 4.9 million members.

Guidance held. Molina still expects about $42bn of premium revenue in 2026 and adjusted earnings of at least $5.25 a share, with GAAP earnings of at least $2.38. Those figures include a loss of $1.50 a share from starting its new Florida Medicaid contract in the fourth quarter and $1.00 a share from the traditional Medicare Advantage prescription drug product it is leaving for 2027.

Chief executive Joseph Zubretsky said medical cost trend appeared to be plateauing at elevated levels and that 2027 rate updates were strong, which he said may mark the start of a turn in Medicaid margins.