eHealth Stock Rises 45% in a Week: Medicare Boom or AEP Magic?

Shares of eHealth, Inc. EHTH, an online health insurance marketplace operator, soared 45.1% last week after the company raised its 2024 guidance, citing robust performance during the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP). It witnessed substantial growth in Medicare applications and a record-high number of unassisted online submissions.eHealth exceeded expectations in telephonic and online conversion rates and leveraged strong consumer demand for its omnichannel platform. The platform connects users to more than 180 health insurers, encompassing both national and regional providers.eHealth, Inc. Price eHealth, Inc. price | eHealth, Inc. QuoteNow, let’s focus on its revised guidance.Total revenue for 2024 is projected to be in the range of $500-$520 million compared with the prior range of $470-$495 million. This surpasses the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $487.3 million and reflects growth from the 2023 figure of $452.9 million.Adjusted EBITDA is now expected to be significantly higher, ranging within $40-$55 million compared with the earlier forecast of $7.5-$25 million. The company has also revised its GAAP net income expectations to a range of a $12 million loss to a $3 million profit, an improvement from the previous estimate of a $22-$36.5 million loss.Operating cash outflow is now expected to fall within $5-$15 million in 2024, slightly higher than the previous guidance of $0 to $10 million. This reflects planned investments to support profitable Medicare enrollment growth in the fourth quarter.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 loss per share is pegged at $1.56, indicating a 4.3% improvement from a year ago. The company missed earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters with an average negative surprise of 59.4%. This is depicted in the graph below.eHealth, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise eHealth, Inc. price-eps-surprise | eHealth, Inc. QuoteZacks Rank & Key PickseHealth currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Finance space are Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO, Assurant, Inc. AIZ and CNO Financial Group, Inc. CNO, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Brown & Brown’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $3.74 per share, indicating 33.1% year-over-year growth. Over the past 60 days, BRO has witnessed one upward estimate revision against none in the opposite direction.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Assurant’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $15.38 per share, which witnessed three upward estimate revisions in the past 60 days against one opposite movement. Also, the consensus mark for AIZ’s revenues in 2024 suggests a 6% year-over-year rise.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNO Financial’s 2024 bottom line indicates 20.7% year-over-year growth. Over the past 60 days, CNO has witnessed three upward estimate revisions against none in the opposite direction.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO): Free Stock Analysis Report Assurant, Inc. (AIZ): Free Stock Analysis Report Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO): Free Stock Analysis Report eHealth, Inc. (EHTH): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks