CVS risks losing customers and revenue if it splits up its vertically integrated business segments, which includes health insurer Aetna and the major pharmacy benefits manager Caremark. That could translate to more lost profits for a health-care giant that has slashed its full-year 2024 earnings guidance for three consecutive quarters.

Now, after the Woonsocket, R.I.-based health care giant had to again reduce its profit outlook and with its stock taking a pummeling on Wall Street, CVS is reportedly considering breaking itself into two smaller companies to keep its critics at bay.

A CVS breakup — which reportedly is on the table — would be pretty hard to actually do and could come with a lot of downsides, and most people seem skeptical it'll happen. But the fact that it's being discussed at all is notable in an era where vertical integration is all the rage.