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Cigna’s Evernorth unit said a new coverage deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will bring lower copays for insured patients
The company hopes the new discount, which caps monthly out-of-pocket costs at $200 for Wegovy and Zepbound, will convince more employers to offer coverage of the drugs.
Cigna’s announcement follows CVS Caremark designating Wegovy as its preferred weight loss drug last month.

Wegovy injection pens arranged in Waterbury, Vermont, US, on Monday, April 28, 2025.
Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Only half of health insurer Cigna’s clients currently cover the popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound because of their high costs. But the company’s pharmacy benefits unit Evernorth has reached a deal with drug makers Ely Lilly and Novo Nordisk which it said will bring prices down for employers and their workers.
“This solution is really focused towards clients that aren’t covering it today, and what it allows us to do is one, to bring it on at a reduced price for the plan sponsor, but also capping out the members’ cost at $200,” per month said Harold Carter, Evernorth senior vice president of pharmacy relations.

Many of Evernorth’s clients currently offer the drugs to workers with co-pays as low as $25 per month. For those who have been hesitant to cover the medications because of cost, capping employee out-of-pocket costs at $200 would amount to less than half the price consumers pay in cash without insurance if they bought the drug through Ely Lilly or Novo Nordisk’s direct-to-consumer websites.   
The new deal will also include a simplified pre-authorization process for the drugs, and patients will be able to access the drugs for the same price across retail pharmacies, or through Evernorth home delivery service, the company said.
Those new services and discounts will also be provided for Evernorth clients already offering the weight loss drugs.
“Clients that cover weight loss today, we’re expecting that they can see, you know, up to almost 20% a reduction [in] their costs … with this updated arrangement that we’ve been able to get with Lily and Novo, ” said Carter, adding that Evernorth was able to get better pricing while maintaining coverage for both drugs.
Last month, CVS Caremark announced that it had struck a deal to make Novo’s Wegovy its primary weight loss drug starting in the second half of the year, which would mean coverage for Lilly’s Zepbound would no longer be preferred.

Novo Nordisk would not comment on the new pharmacy benefits arrangements. But a spokesperson for Eli Lilly told CNBC, “Lilly will continue to work with those in health care, government and the industry to find creative solutions that help people with obesity access Zepbound.”

Net prices coming down

While Cigna would not discuss the actual discounts reached under the new Evernorth arrangement, analysts say large employers and other insurers have gotten between 30% to 50% below the drugs’ list price.
While Novo’s Wegovy lists for $1,350 per month, in March the average net price for the drug was $616 according to an analysis by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. For Lilly’s Zepbound, the list price is roughly $1,100 per month, while the net price is $725.
These new arrangements by Evernorth and CVS Caremark could bring those net prices even lower for employers, just as the government is negotiating Medicare discounts for Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Those Medicare negotiated rates will take effect in 2027 — effectively making Novo Nordisk’s products the preferred drugs in the program. That could see prices come down even further, said Ben Ippolito, senior fellow in health economics at the American Enterprise Institute.
“Once the drug is negotiated, it must be featured on formulary in Medicare. And so that means that if you’re Eli Lilly, you have to try and compete in the Medicare market with a product that’s going to be on formulary and have an artificially lower price. And so it’s going to filter through to what Eli Lilly does,” Ippolito said.
Evernorth’s new weight loss pricing program will begin in the second half of the year, as employers begin to make decisions about coverage for next year’s plans.
— CNBC’s Angelica Peebles contributed to this report.
Correction: The pricing program will begin in the second half of the year. A previous version of this story misstated the timeline. More

Nike will raise prices on a range of items as soon as this week, as retailers brace for tariffs to hit their profits.
The footwear giant said it regularly evaluates pricing, and did not say the changes were related to tariffs.
The hikes will hit a range of adult merchandise, but not Air Force 1 shoes or children’s products.

Nike shoes are seen in the King of Prussia Mall, as global markets brace for a hit to trade and growth caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose import tariffs on dozens of countries, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 3, 2025. 
Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters

Nike will raise prices on a wide range of footwear, apparel and equipment as soon as this week as the retail industry braces for tariffs to hit its profits, CNBC has learned.
Prices for Nike apparel and equipment for adults will increase between $2 and $10, a person familiar with the matter said. Footwear priced between $100 and $150 will see a hike of $5, while sneakers priced above $150 will see a $10 increase, the person said.

The price hikes will be in effect by June 1, but could be seen on shelves as soon as this week, the person said. The increases cover a large portion of Nike’s assortment, but many products will remain the same price.
The prices of children’s products will not increase, nor will items priced under $100, according to the person. The company is trying to be cognizant of the financial challenges families are facing and doesn’t want parents to see higher prices when shopping for their children during the back to school season.
Further, Nike’s Air Force 1 shoe will remain $115, the person said.
“It’s a shoe that people in the workplace wear,” the person said. “It’s comfortable, accessible.”
Jordan brand apparel and accessories also won’t see increases, but Jordan sneakers will.

Nike said in a statement that “we regularly evaluate our business and make pricing adjustments as part of our seasonal planning.” The company did not say the decision was related to tariffs.
While it is common for retailers to regularly adjust their pricing structure, the footwear industry has been particularly hard hit by President Donald Trump’s new tariffs.
Currently, Nike manufacturers about half of its footwear in China and Vietnam, which Trump has hit with his new levies. Chinese goods face a new 30% tariff, while imports from Vietnam are currently subject to a 10% duty. Trump cut the tariff rate on Vietnamese goods from 46% for 90 days in early April.
Tariffs are expected to hit Nike’s profit margin and it can offset the effect through price increases, especially as the sneaker giant works through a turnaround that’s taking longer than expected. Nike’s profits were already under pressure before tariffs took effect because it has needed to rely on discounting to move product.
The price hikes will be the MSRP rate that consumers see at Nike stores and on its website. It has sent a note out to wholesale partners about the price increases, but how they’ll show up at places like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker isn’t immediately clear. More

DURING WALMART’S latest earnings call on May 15th, Doug McMillon stated the obvious. “The higher tariffs will result in higher prices,” the big-box behemoth’s chief executive told analysts, referring to Donald Trump’s levies on imports of just about anything from just about anywhere. Who’d have thought? Two days later the president weighed in with an alternative idea. Walmart (and China, where many of those imports come from) should “EAT THE TARIFFS,” he posted on social media. Mr McMillon did not respond publicly to the suggestion. But it is likely to be a polite, lower-case “Thanks, but no thanks.” More

WHEN THE chief executive of a large tech firm based in San Francisco shares a drink with the bosses of his Fortune 500 clients, he often hears a similar message. “They’re frustrated and disappointed. They say: ‘I don’t know why it’s taking so long. I’ve spent money on this. It’s not happening’”. More

Target missed first-quarter revenue estimates as transactions fell, and the retailer cut its full-year sales outlook.
Target has been struggling to return to growth for years, and created a new office to try to accelerate its turnaround.
The company in part blamed falling consumer sentiment, uncertainty about tariffs and backlash to its rollback of key diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for its performance.

Target on Wednesday cut its full-year sales outlook, as executives said weaker discretionary spending, consumer uncertainty about tariffs and backlash to the company’s rollback of key diversity, equity and inclusion efforts hurt its business. 
First-quarter sales missed Wall Street’s expectations and fell nearly 3% compared to the year-ago period. Transactions across Target’s stores and website dipped by 2.4%. And the average amount customers spent during their online and in-store visits decreased by 1.4%.

Target’s weak performance in the quarter reflected the company’s broader struggles to return to growth and recapture the cheap chic reputation and fan following that gave it the name ”Tarzhay.” The company is trying to win back the loyalty and trust of shoppers and investors as its sales slump continues and after its shares plunged more than 37% in the last year, as of Tuesday’s close.
On a call with reporters, CEO Brian Cornell pinned many of the retailer’s problems on the economy. Yet he said Target is committed to doing better. 
He referred to a statistic that Target shared on the call: Of the 35 merchandise categories that the company tracks internally, the company gained or held market share in only 15 – a reflection of sales that it is losing to retail competitors.
“We’re not happy with that,” Cornell said. “We’ve got to be growing [market] share in 60, 70, 80% of those categories. That’s our focus over the balance of the year, and we’re going to do that by making sure we provide a great shopping environment.” 
Target said it now expects a low-single digit decline in sales this fiscal year, compared to a previous forecast of net sales growth of about 1%. It said it expects adjusted earnings per share, excluding gains from litigation settlements, to be about $7 to $9, compared to the range of $8.80 to $9.80 that it had previously anticipated. 

Target also announced some leadership shakeups and the creation of a new office intended to turn around its results. Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke will oversee the new effort, called the Enterprise Acceleration Office, which will look for methods to simplify company operations, use technology in new ways and speed up Target’s growth. 
Target said in a news release that Amy Tu, chief legal and compliance officer, and Christina Henningon, chief strategy and growth officer, were leaving the company. Hennington, who was a key presenter on some of the company’s earnings calls, had been widely considered in industry circles to be a candidate to succeed Cornell as CEO. 
Here’s what the Minneapolis-based retailer reported for the fiscal first quarter compared with Wall Street’s estimates, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.30 adjusted, it’s unclear if the figure compares to the $1.61 analysts expected
Revenue: $23.85 billion vs. $24.27 billion expected

In the three-month period that ended May 3, Target’s net income rose to $1.04 billion or $2.27 per share, from $942 million, or $2.03 per share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue fell from $24.53 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Comparable sales declined by 3.8% in the quarter compared to the year-ago period, as comparable store sales fell 5.7% and digital sales grew 4.7%.
Target shares dropped more than 6% in premarket trading Wednesday.

Tariffs have only added to a challenging set of problems for Target. The discounter’s annual revenue has been roughly flat for four years in a row. Sales have been weaker in many of the discretionary categories that the retailer is known for, such as home decor, as consumers are selective and cautious about spending. And the company has faced backlash from shoppers — and pressure from activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton — for rolling back major parts of its diversity, equity and inclusion program.
Cornell told reporters that Target fell short of where it hoped to be in the fiscal first quarter because of “ongoing pressure in our discretionary business, plus five consecutive months of declining consumer confidence, tariff uncertainty and the reaction to the updates we shared on belonging in January.” 
He said all of those weighed on the company’s quarterly results, but the company “can’t reliably estimate the impact of each one separately.”
Yet he pointed to some bright spots, including a 36% jump in same-day deliveries through its membership program, Target Circle 360, and the popularity of a clothing and accessories collection with Tapestry-owned brand Kate Spade. He said sales for the limited-time designer partnership were the strongest that Target has had in a decade.
During the first quarter, Target gained market share in some categories, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez told reporters on a call. Those included beverages, floral and produce. It also saw stronger sales of women’s swimsuits and toddler clothing and surges of traffic around seasonal events, including Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Pricing plans

Target’s earnings follow updates from other retailers, including Walmart and Home Depot. Both of the big-box retailers reaffirmed their full-year outlooks when they reported quarterly earnings. Yet the two companies diverged with how they will manage higher costs from tariffs. Walmart warned that it will have to raise prices for customers as soon as later this month because of the duties. Home Depot, on the other hand, said it doesn’t plan to hike prices.
Target will increase prices on some items to help cover tariff-related costs, Gomez said. He said the company is also trying to minimize the impact of the duties by negotiating with vendors, reevaluating the merchandise it sells, changing the country that produces items and adjusting the timing of orders.
On the company’s earnings call, Cornell said the big-box retailer will use its scale to help it stay price competitive with other retailers, too.
“We have many levers to use in mitigating the impact of tariffs and price is the very last resort,” he said.
As the long-term level of tariffs remains unclear, he said the company is “contemplating a wide range of potential scenarios” and “building our plans to preserve maximum flexibility while protecting our business in the face of massive potential costs.”
Despite being repeatedly pressed by reporters on a call, Cornell did not provide specifics about the company’s plans for tariff-related price increases or answer whether the retailer had raised prices since early March because of the duties.
“We’re constantly adjusting pricing,” he said. “Some are going up, some will be reduced, but that’s an ongoing effort that takes place each and every day.”
In an interview in early March, Cornell had said that he expected customers to see higher prices for strawberries, avocados and bananas in the coming days because of an expected 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada. Since then, the U.S. has exempted many of those countries’ goods from levies, but imports from China – a major production hub for Target – now have a 30% duty.
About half of what Target currently sells is from the U.S., Gomez said. Over the past few years, he said the retailer has tried to move production of its private label brands to different countries outside of China.
With private label brands, Target has gone from about 60% coming from China in 2017 to about 30% today, and the company plans to bring that down to 25% by the end of next year, he said.
Cost pressures will continue in the second quarter, but Target expects greater relief in the back half of the year, Chief Financial Officer Jim Lee said on a call with reporters. He said Target had some higher first-quarter costs related to reducing inventory, such as through markdowns, because of slower demand.
Despite tariff costs, offering lower-priced items has remained a priority for Target, Gomez said. In the front of the company’s stores, it has an area where it sells inexpensive seasonal items for $1, $3 and $5. Gomez said Target is committed to keeping the same prices in that part of the store and plans to add mini beauty products and trendy food and beverage items. More

Lowe’s reaffirmed its full-year forecast, which puts the retailer on track for year-over-year sales growth.
The company beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings expectations, but came in just shy of revenue estimates.
CEO Marvin Ellison said investments in its stores, technology and customer service have helped the retailer get through “near-term uncertainty and housing market headwinds.”

Lowe’s on Wednesday stood by its full-year forecast, as growing sales among home professionals helped offset slower demand from do-it-yourself customers.
The home improvement retailer came in just shy of Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly sales, but beat earnings estimates.

Shares of Lowe’s rose nearly 2% in premarket trading Wednesday.
In the company’s news release, CEO Marvin Ellison said investments in its stores, technology and customer service have helped the retailer get through “near-term uncertainty and housing market headwinds.”
Home improvement demand has been in a sluggish stretch as high interest rates and slower housing turnover ding U.S. consumers’ appetite to spend on pricier projects. Yet with its outlook, Lowe’s predicted it will snap out of the sales slump this year.
Lowe’s said it expects full-year total sales to range from $83.5 billion to $84.5 billion, which on the upper end would be higher than its total revenue of $83.67 billion for fiscal 2024. It said it projects comparable sales to be flat to up 1% year over year and earnings per share to range from approximately $12.15 to $12.40.
Here’s what the company reported for the fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $2.92 vs. $2.88 expected
Revenue: $20.93 billion vs. $20.94 billion expected

In the three-month period that ended May 2, Lowe’s net income fell to $1.64 billion, or $2.92 per share, compared with $1.76 billion, or $3.06 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell from $21.36 billion.
Comparable sales decreased 1.7% year over year. Weather hurt sales demand, but sales on Lowe’s website and among home professionals grew, the company said in a press release.
Like Lowe’s, competitor Home Depot reaffirmed its full-year forecast earlier this week and posted year-over-year comparable sales declines. Home Depot’s fiscal first quarter also got a significant lift from SRS Distribution, a company it acquired that sells supplies to home professionals in roofing, pools and landscaping.
Both companies have tried to attract more sales from home professionals to offset softer sales with do-it-yourself customers. Lowe’s announced in April that it was acquiring Artisan Design Group, a company that provides design services and installation of flooring, cabinets and countertops for homebuilders and property managers, in a $1.3 billion deal.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates. More

Burger King is leaning into a “family-first” marketing strategy as it enters the next phase of its turnaround.
Part of that strategy includes limited-time menu items inspired by the “live action” remake of “How to Train Your Dragon.”
The Restaurant Brands International chain has been in turnaround mode for more than 2½ years.

Burger King’s “How to Train Your Dragon” menu items include the Dragon Flame-Grilled Whopper, Fiery Dragon Mozzarella Fries, Soaring Strawberry Lemonade and the Viking’s Chocolate Sundae.
Source: Burger King

As Burger King enters the next phase of its turnaround efforts, the fast-food chain is trying to lure families back to its restaurants with colored Whopper buns and kid-friendly movie partnerships.
Starting Tuesday, the Restaurant Brands International chain will sell new menu items inspired by the “live action” remake of “How to Train Your Dragon.” The collaboration is more than just a one-time partnership — it’s part of Burger King’s broader strategy to lift U.S. sales.

“Where we’re really starting to lean in now that we’ve made some progress in both operations and in our restaurants is on a family-first marketing strategy,” Burger King U.S. and Canada President Tom Curtis told CNBC.
Burger King’s U.S. business has been in turnaround mode for more than 2½ years. After falling behind burger rivals McDonald’s and Wendy’s, the company announced plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a comeback strategy to renovate its restaurants, improve its operations and spend on advertising. The chain even bought its largest U.S. franchisee with the goal of accelerating its restaurant remodels.
“We’re finding that there will be chapters to this as we go through time, and right now is this family strategy chapter, where we’ve done enough work and transformed our restaurant operations to the extent that we’re proud of,” Curtis said. “We’re inviting families back in, and we’re finding that we’re getting better retention when they do come back in.”
Curtis said focusing on families gives Burger King the opportunity to attract customers across age cohorts, from millennials to Generation Alpha, which is roughly defined as people born between 2010 and 2025. Plus, parents’ avid use of social media means that word spreads quickly, giving the approach a leg up compared with targeting a single demographic that isn’t as enthusiastic online.
The limited-time themed menu items include the Dragon Flame-Grilled Whopper, with a red and orange marbled bun; Fiery Dragon Mozzarella Fries, made with Calabrian chili pepper breading; Soaring Strawberry Lemonade; and the Viking’s Chocolate Sundae, with Hershey’s syrup and black and green cookie crumbles.

Colorful movie history

Movie collaborations aren’t anything new for fast food — or Burger King. It was one of the first fast-food chains to lean into movie tie-ins. In 1977, the chain sold “Star Wars” drinking glasses ahead of the film’s release.
McDonald’s wasn’t far behind, following with a Star Trek-themed Happy Meal two years later, kicking off decades of movie, TV and toy tie-ins aimed at kids. More recently, the Golden Arches’ collaboration with “A Minecraft Movie” across more than 100 markets sold out within two weeks in the U.S., about half the time earmarked for the promotion.
In Burger King’s more recent past, under Curtis’ leadership, the chain has had two major partnerships: one with “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” two years ago and another with the Addams Family franchise, timed for Halloween last year.
Both of those menus featured Whoppers with thematic, colored buns, dyed using natural colorants, like beet juice or ube.
“Not having artificial dyes and colors is something that’s been important to us for a while,” Curtis said.
Burger King use of natural dyes comes as artificial food dyes have come under fire from health-concerned parents. Following a push from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration recently announced plans to phase out the use of petroleum-based synthetic dyes in food and drinks.
The two previous collaborations also were Burger King’s top-selling Whopper innovations, based on the number sold, according to Curtis.
“What we found in the Addams Family promotion specifically was, as we dug into the property, traffic was fairly flat, but sales were up,” he said, attributing the sales growth to families, which have a higher average check than a solo diner or a couple.
The expected sales lift from the “How to Train Your Dragon” menu comes at a crucial time for Burger King.
In its most recent quarter, the company’s comeback stumbled. The chain’s U.S. same-store sales slid 1.1%, mirroring an industrywide slump as fears about the economy and bad weather kept diners at home.
But Curtis is confident that Burger King is on the right track, pointing to the chain’s relative outperformance compared with its two biggest competitors: McDonald’s and Wendy’s.
“I know that they’re scrambling, and sometimes, frankly, copying some of the things that we do, which, you know, plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery,” he said. “When we see them doing that, it gives us more conviction to stay on course.”

Deep dive

‘How To Train Your Dragon’ live action.
Courtesy: Universal Studios

When the live-action version of “How to Train Your Dragon” hits theaters on June 13, it’s expected to be one of the summer’s big blockbusters. After all, the animated trilogy has grossed more than $1.6 billion worldwide.
Burger King has similar expectations for its menu tie-in.
The past success of the Spider-Verse and Addams Family menu items pushed Burger King to “dramatically” up its forecast for the “How to Train Your Dragon” menu, according to Curtis. And Burger King is also planning on changing its advertising strategy, which could drastically increase demand for the Dragon Flamed-Grilled Whoppers.
“In the past, we would just kind of associate ourselves with the movie property, but we wouldn’t necessarily advertise the association — you’d just see it and hear about it in social media,” Curtis said.
The promotion is supposed to run through early July, but in case Burger King burns through its supply in just three weeks, the chain is prepared to monitor what locations have run out of the menu items. That’s a lesson it learned during its Spider-Verse promotion, when it had to launch a tracker on its website to help customers find the coveted Whopper.
As it learns from every experience, Burger King is planning to dive deeper into franchise partnerships, betting that the extra effort will drive long-term loyalty for the brand.
“We’re doing a couple more of them than we have in the past,” Curtis said. “We’ve got one toward the end of the year that we’re very, very excited about … and we’re getting some lined up for next year as well. In every one of those, we’ll go all in.”
Disclosure: Comcast owns CNBC and Universal Studios, the producer and distributor of “How to Train Your Dragon.”

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Shares of Canada Goose rose around 8% on Wednesday after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
The luxury retailer said it will not be providing a financial outlook for the fiscal year 2026 due to “ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and dynamic consumer spending patterns brought on by the unpredictable global trade environment.”
Canada Goose’s revenue was up 7.4% from the same period last year.

Canada Goose jackets for sale inside a Nordstrom store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Nordstrom will close its six Canadian department store locations and seven Nordstrom Rack shops, as CEO Erik Nordstrom said the company no longer sees a realistic path to profitability in the country, The Canadian Press reports. Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cole Burston | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Shares of Canada Goose rose around 8% on Wednesday after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates, though the company pulled its fiscal year 2026 outlook due to “macroeconomic uncertainty.”
The luxury retailer said it will not be providing a financial outlook for the fiscal year 2026 due to the uncertainty, citing “dynamic consumer spending patterns brought on by the unpredictable global trade environment.”

Nonetheless, Canada Goose said it “remains confident in the strength of the brand, the Company’s solid financial position, and its ability to adapt to changing conditions.”
Here’s what the company reported for the fiscal fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 33 Canadian cents adjusted vs 23 Canadian cents expected
Revenue: CA$384.6 million (US$277.1 million), vs CA$356.4 million (US$256.8 million) expected

Canada Goose’s revenue was up 7.4% from the same period last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders for the fiscal fourth quarter ending March 30 was CA$27.1 million, or 28 Canadian cents per diluted share, compared with a net income attributable to shareholders of CA$5 million, or 5 Canadian cents per diluted share in the prior year period.
As of Monday’s close, shares had fallen nearly 14% year to date, hitting an all-time low last month after Barclay’s analysts downgraded the stock and cut their price target. 

The luxury sector as a whole has shown signs of weakness, with major luxury players like LVHM, Burberry and Gucci-owner Kering reporting a slowdown in sales in the quarter.
Canada Goose, known for its luxury parkas and puffer jackets that can retail for over $1,000, has tried to expand into the non-winter category by offering products like rain jackets and warm-weather clothing.
Its eyewear collection, introduced in the fourth quarter, was the company’s first online product launch. The retailer called the launch a “key milestone” in its “product category expansion journey.” More