Shares of CVS Health Corporation (CVS) rose almost 3% Tuesday after the specialty drugs and pharmacy retailer reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings result that showed a 20% rise in revenue, demonstrating that the company's expansion plans have begun to work. The Quarter That Was For the quarter that ended March, the nation's second-largest drugstore chain reported a first-quarter net income of $1.15 billion, or $1.04 per share, down 6% year-over-year mainly due to higher acquisition-related costs and store expansion. On an adjusted basis, when taking out one-time gains and costs, earnings came to $1.18 per share, which was 2 cents better than analysts' forecasts. (See also: CVS Health Earnings: What to Expect.) During the quarter, the Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based company posted revenue of $43.22 billion, marking a 19% rise year-over-year, also exceeding Wall Street forecasts. Revenue for the company's bread-and-butter pharmacy business segment surged 20.5% year-over-year to $28.8 billion, helping the company offset its higher costs. CVS, which also reported $1.8 billion of free cash during the quarter, said the strong revenue total was driven by a boost in claim volume and specialty drug sales. "We posted solid results this quarter and are off to a strong start in 2016," said CEO Larry Merlo in a statement. Specialty drugs are the type of drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C and certain forms of cancer, among other treatments. While they tend to represent breakthroughs in treatment, they're also often more expensive than regular prescriptions. Meanwhile, the 22.6% rise in claim volume comes primarily from new business CVS gained from its year-ago acquisition of Omnicare. It also got a boost from pharmacy expansion, becoming the clinic operator of retail giant Target Corp.