CVS Spent $120 Billion Fleeing Its Drugstores. Now It's Ditching Them

Why is CVS splitting up? On Nov 4, 2026, CVS said it will split its roughly 9,000 drugstores off from Aetna and Caremark, and its shares dropped more than 10%. Here's the 20-year bet behind it, and whether the stores survive on their own. Chapters 0:00 Cold open 1:07 Lowell, 1963 2:54 Buying the map 4:13 The middleman 5:38 Quitting tobacco 7:21 Buying Aetna 8:37 The shrinking store 10:04 House calls 11:36 The neighbors 12:58 The split 14:46 The verdict Sources News, 4 Nov 2026: - CNBC, "CVS to split off drugstore business in major breakup of healthcare giant; shares fall 10%": https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/04/cvs-to-split-off-drugstore-business.html - Yahoo Finance, "CVS announces plan to split into 2 companies, stock sinks 10%": https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/cvs-announces-plan-to-split-into-2-companies-separating-pharmacy-from-insurance-124251282.html - Reuters via Virginia Business, "CVS to break up $117B business, separating pharmacies from insurance; shares fall": https://virginiabusiness.com/cvs-split-pharmacies-insurance-117-billion-business/ - Rolling Out, "CVS split puts 9,000 retail pharmacies on their own": https://rollingout.com/2026/11/04/cvs-split-9000-retail-pharmacies-own/ Earlier coverage: - AP via NBC News, "CVS to buy benefits manager Caremark", 1 Nov 2006: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15510036 - CVS Health and Target joint release via Pharmacy Times, 15 Jun 2015: https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/cvs-health-and-target-sign-agreement-for-cvs-health-to-acquire-rebrand-and-operate-targets-pharmacies-and-clinics - KRON4 via Yahoo, "CVS locking up water, chips in SF stores is 'last resort' to deter theft", 30 Jan 2025: https://www.yahoo.com/news/cvs-locking-water-chips-sf-231901818.html Wikipedia (read 4 Nov 2026): CVS Health, CVS Pharmacy, Aetna, CVS Caremark, Omnicare, Melville Corporation, Oak Street Health, Signify Health, Karen S. Lynch, Larry Merlo, Rite Aid, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Pharmacy benefit management, 340B Drug Pricing Program, MinuteClinic #cvs #business #stocks