CVS Health Corp vs Smith & Nephew plc — how do they compare? CVS Health Corp trades at $93.65 (market cap $122.36B), while Smith & Nephew plc trades at $30.05 (market cap $12.50B). The key difference: CVS Health Corp is far larger — about 9.8× Smith & Nephew plc's market cap, and CVS Health Corp pays the higher dividend (2.78%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| CVS | SNN | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $122.36B | $12.50B |
Sector | Health | Health |
52-Week High | $110.60 | $38.70 |
52-Week Low | $65.51 | $28.73 |
Enterprise Value | $184.71B | $15.53B |
Dividend Yield | 2.78% | 2.64% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
CVS Health trades at $95.70, down 0.54% on the day, with a bearish technical signal and key support at $95. The company reported strong Q2 2026 earnings, beating estimates with EPS of $2.58 versus $1.87 expected, and raised its full-year guidance. Revenue growth remains robust, reaching $402.07 billion in 2025, though net income margin compressed to 1.18%. Analyst sentiment is overwhelmingly positive with a consensus price target of $115.00.
The outlook for CVS is cautiously optimistic, driven by operational improvements in its Aetna segment and raised cash flow guidance. Investment opportunities include potential upside to the consensus target, but risks involve margin pressures, regulatory changes impacting pharmacy benefits in 2027, and high debt levels. The stock's current valuation at a P/E of 25.25 may limit near-term gains if earnings growth slows.
SNN trades at $30.11, up 1.41% in the last session. Technical indicators are bearish, with moving averages signaling a downtrend. Fundamentally, the company reported Q2 2026 revenue growth of 1.6% but cut its full-year outlook to 4% from 6% due to weakness in U.S. Orthopaedics and Advanced Wound Bioactives (MarketBeat, 2026-08-09). Recent product launches include the LYNX COBLATION Wand and CORI XT robotics platform, supporting innovation in medical technology.
The outlook is mixed: strong profitability margins and recent earnings beats offer support, but lowered guidance and bearish technicals pose near-term headwinds. Risks include execution challenges in key markets, while analyst consensus leans Hold, reflecting cautious optimism amid growth uncertainties.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Following its acquisition of Aetna in late 2018, CVS Health now provides an even more integrated healthcare-services offering for its members. Legacy CVS combined both the largest pharmacy benefit manager, processing over 2 billion adjusted claims annually, and a sizable pharmacy operation, including nearly 10,000 retail pharmacy locations primarily in the U.S. Adding a managed-care organization with 24 million medical members gives the company a strong position in the insurance industry and should help CVS better control overall healthcare costs for its clients.
Read more on CVS →Smith & Nephew designs, manufactures, and markets orthopedic devices, sports medicine and arthroscopic technologies, and wound-care solutions. Roughly 42% of the U.K.-based firm's revenue comes from orthopedic products, and another 30% is sports medicine and ENT. The remaining 28% of revenue is from the advanced wound therapy segment. Roughly half of Smith & Nephew's total revenue comes from the United States, just over 30% is from other developed markets, and emerging markets account for the remainder.
Read more on SNN →