The Grand Roundup: Q2 earnings special — AI ROI finally shows up, managed care's comeback, Molina's ACA spiral, Hims' Bluetooth pill box pitch, and more

Kevin and Martin are out this week, so TGR is running our Q2 earnings wrap-up with HTN's Sean Leimbach, covering the quarter across the HTN Research coverage universe.

First up: AI. Centene's Sarah London gave what Kevin calls “the quote of earnings season” on the risk of spending big with no return, while Astrana pointed to a 210 basis point G&A win and Doximity's stock jumped 30%. From there, it's managed care's comeback: Humana as the sector's bellwether, Centene retreating from markets while Alignment and SCAN (teaming with Costco) push for share, Medicaid MCOs landing rate wins, and Molina stuck in its own little mini death spiral on ACA risk transfer.

They also cover a run of confusing stock reactions to beat-and-raise quarters, the employer health boom behind Hinge, Omada, and Virta (plus Hinge's Cylinder acquisition), Hims CEO Andrew Dudum's Squawk Box pitch for a Bluetooth pill box, and Teladoc's BetterHelp cash-pay cliff. They close on hospital softness and ACA headwinds heading into 2027.

Brought to you by

Garner uses industry-leading analytics to identify the best-performing doctors and reimburse employees when they see them, helping over 2.5 million people find better care at lower cost. Explore careers with Garner. GarnerHealth.com/careers

Links referenced

The WSJ piece on healthcare as an "AI hedge”: https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/healthcare-investing-is-now-an-ai-short-in-disguise-104cb020

Kevin’s interview with Amit Shah, Virta Health: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/p/building-a-durable-metabolic-care-business-in-the-glp-1-era-virta-health-company-presentation-and-q

Andrew Dudum's Squawk Box interview: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/18/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-hims-hers-ceo-andrew-dudum.html

For more from Health Tech Nerds, subscribe to our weekly newsletters: https://www.healthtechnerds.com/subscribe