Famed investor Jim Cramer says he “salutes” DaviCVSd Joyner after CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) raised its profit guidance for 2026 – reinforcing the new management’s turnaround plan is starting to bear fruit.
In a recent segment of CNBC, he praised the company’s chief executive of reshaping the narrative around CVS, which, under the previous management, was mired in concerns of shoplifting, check-out inefficiencies, and competition from Amazon.
CVS shares are pushing higher following the financial update – and are now up some 80% versus the start of 2025.
Why is Jim Cramer bullish on CVS shares?
On Tuesday, the former hedge fund manager especially cheered Joyner’s decision to de-emphasise CVS Health’s traditional retail footprint, which has long been a drag on performance.
“He isn’t planted to the front of the store, which is almost infinitesimal in the new plan”, – Cramer explained.
Under the previous management, the company’s front-of-store segment was plagued by theft and declining sales, raising questions about whether it can compete with rivals like Walgreens or fend off Amazon’s encroachment.
But Joyner has neutralised those concerns, focusing instead on CVS’s strengths in health insurance and wellness – a seismic shift that Cramer believes enabled the firm to confidently raise its earnings guidance today.
A healthy 3.39% dividend yield makes CVS stock all the more attractive to own for 2026.
CVS stock is benefiting from Joyner’s turnaround plan
According to Jim Cramer, Joyner has repositioned CVS as a healthcare powerhouse rather than a struggling retailer.
By focusing less on the checkout line and more on healthcare services, he’s guided the giant toward stronger earnings visibility.
CVS is now being valued for its insurance and wellness segments, which provide recurring revenue and growth opportunities. The transformation, Cramer argued, will trigger multiple expansions over time.
All in all, under Joyner’s leadership, CVS has evolved into a “first-class healthcare company, maybe the only one we have,” Cramer concluded.
Wall Street seems to agree with his bullish view. The consensus rating on CVS shares currently sits at “overweight” with the mean target of about $93, indicating potential upside of another 17% from here.
Technicals warrant investing in CVS Health
CVS now sees its full-year earnings coming in between $7.0 and $7.2 per share – decisively above $7.16 a share that analysts had forecast.
From a technical perspective as well, CVS stock looks attractive heading into 2026. The surge on Tuesday morning saw it break above its 50-day moving average (MA), signaling continued upward momentum in the near-term.
What’s also worth mentioning is that options data for the healthcare stock is also currently skewed to the upside, with an expected move to north of $87 in the first quarter of the coming year.
Taken together, both technicals and fundamentals suggest CVS shares are relatively inexpensive to own and will likely push higher from here in 2026.
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