On Thursday, UnitedHealth Group UNH reported the fourth-quarter 2024 earnings and reaffirmed 2025 guidance.The company reported adjusted EPS of $6.81, up from $6.16 a year ago, beating the consensus of $6.72. Revenues increased 6.8% year over year to $100.8 billion, missing the consensus of $101.76 billion.Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings from operations of $8.3 billion exclude the cyberattack direct response costs and South American impacts.The full-year medical care ratio was 85.5% compared to 83.2% in 20 ...

About this content About Oliver Haill Oliver has been writing about companies and markets since the early 2000s, cutting his teeth as a financial journalist at Growth Company Investor with a focusing on AIM companies and small caps, before a few years later becoming a section editor and then head of research. He joined Proactive after a couple of years freelancing, where he worked for the Financial Times Group, ITV, Press Association, Reuters sports desk, the London Olympic News Service, Rugby World Cup ...

UnitedHealth Group Thursday reported $14.4 billion in 2024 profits including $5.5 billion in the ... [+] fourth quarter as its portfolio of health insurance and provider services overcame rising medical expenses and an historic cyberattack on its businesses. In this photo is a general view outside the United Healthcare corporate headquarters on December 4, 2024 in Minnetonka, Minnesota on December 4, 2024, the same day United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on the street in New York City before ...

UnitedHealth Group Reports 2024 Results (January 16, 2025) UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) reported full year and fourth quarter 2024 results reflecting diversified growth in serving people more extensively at Optum and UnitedHealthcare. "The people of UnitedHealth Group remain focused on making high-quality, affordable health care more available to more people while making the health system easier to navigate for patients and providers, positioning us well for growth in 2025," said Andrew Witty, chief execu ...

UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH is gearing up to release its fourth quarter earnings report, and investors are watching closely. Stephanie Link, CIO at Hightower Advisors LLC, has dubbed the managed care giant the “number one company on sale” despite potential near-term earnings pressure.‘They’re Probably Gonna Miss’ Q4 Earnings Expectations With estimated earnings per share (EPS) of $6.73 and revenue projections around $101.75 billion according to Benzinga Pro data, UnitedHealth faces scrutiny over high utiliz ...

Change Healthcare, the UnitedHealth-owned healthtech company that lost more than 100 million people’s sensitive health data in a ransomware attack last year, said on Tuesday that the company has “substantially” completed notifying affected individuals about the massive data breach.The February 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, one of the biggest processors of patient billing in the United States, resulted in months-long outages that disrupted care across the U.S. healthcare system. The data breac ...

Healthcare Integration Models - Kaiser Permanente operates as a vertically integrated healthcare system, combining hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, and insurance under one entity, enabling coordinated care with a focus on health maintenance [1] - The organization includes Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and Permanente Medical Groups, serving over 12.5 million members with 220,000 employees, including 24,600 doctors and 73,600 nurses across nine states and Washington D.C. [1] - Kaiser Permanente evolved from a necessity in the 1940s to provide healthcare for construction workers during the Hoover Dam project, collaborating with Dr. Sidney Garfield to develop a prepaid healthcare model emphasizing preventative care [6][3] Financial Performance and Metrics - Kaiser Permanente reported operating revenues of $85.4 billion and operating income of $1.2 billion for the first nine months of 2024, with net income rising to $845 million from $249 million in the year-ago period [10] - The company maintains a medical loss ratio (MLR) of 85% and a medical claim denial rate of just 6%, making it one of the most efficient and profitable non-profit healthcare systems [10] - UnitedHealth Group reported Q3 2024 operating income of $4.2 billion on revenue of $100.82 billion, with a medical care ratio (MCR) of 85.2% and a claim denial rate of 33% [11] Medicare Advantage and Utilization Rates - Medicare Advantage (MA) utilization rates are a key driver of rising MCR/MLRs, with CVS having 4.2 million MA plan members and Kaiser Permanente having 1.5 million MA members [2] - CVS reported a surge in MCR to 95.2%, up from 85.7% in the year-ago period, due to increased utilization rates and medical costs for its Medicare Advantage plan members [4] Industry Consolidation and Market Dynamics - UnitedHealth Group exemplifies consolidation in the healthcare sector, having acquired over 20 companies, including regional insurers like Mid-Atlantic Medical Services and Oxford Health Plans, to become the largest health insurance company in the U.S. [9] - HCA Healthcare completed over 20 acquisitions of hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, and medical centers, becoming the largest for-profit hospital operator in the country [13] Challenges in Integrated Healthcare Models - CVS Health's attempt to create an integrated healthcare model through the $69 billion acquisition of Aetna has failed to meet expectations, with the company missing earnings reports and experiencing a 24% stock price drop [4][14] - The debate over whether healthcare should be a for-profit business continues, with critics arguing that it conflicts with the Hippocratic oath and the principle of healthcare as a right [12] Profitability and Incentives - UnitedHealth Group, as a for-profit entity, has a fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder profits, which contrasts with Kaiser Permanente's non-profit model, resulting in a 33% claim denial rate for UnitedHealth compared to Kaiser's 6% [15] - The difference in claim denial rates highlights the incentivized disparity between for-profit and non-profit healthcare models, with for-profit entities prioritizing profitability over member care [15]

Earnings and Analyst Sentiment - UnitedHealth Group is set to report fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens Thursday [1][3] - All 17 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha have a "buy" or equivalent rating on the company [1][3] - The consensus price target is nearly $642, representing an 18% premium to UnitedHealth's Monday close around $541 [1] - The consensus price target suggests a close to 10% rise in the shares is expected [3] Financial Performance and Outlook - Wall Street expects the company to report fourth-quarter revenue of $101.68 billion, up 8% year-over-year [2] - Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to be $5.84 billion, or $6.30 per share, compared to $5.46 billion, or $5.83 per share, a year earlier [2] - The company shared its financial outlook for 2025, forecasting revenue of $450 billion to $455 billion and adjusted net income of $29.50 per share to $30 per share [2] Recent Events and Market Reaction - The results will be the company's first quarterly report since the CEO of its UnitedHealthcare unit, Brian Thompson, was fatally shot on Dec. 4 [3] - The company's shares have fallen more than 10% in the weeks since the incident [3] - UnitedHealth shares rose nearly 4% on Monday as broader markets finished mixed [3]

Health insurance stock UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) is up 4.4% to trade at $543.83 at last check, after the U.S. government proposed raising Medicare Advantage payment plans in 2026. This comes ahead of the company's fourth-quarter and full-year results, due out before the open on Thursday, Jan. 16. This will also be the first time executives speak publicly since the assassination of CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4. Prior to an extended slide after the events of early December, the stock hit a Nov. 11 rec ...

In its upcoming report, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is predicted by Wall Street analysts to post quarterly earnings of $6.72 per share, reflecting an increase of 9.1% compared to the same period last year. Revenues are forecasted to be $102.25 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 8.3%.The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has undergone a downward revision of 0.7% in the past 30 days, bringing it to its present level. This represents how the covering analysts, as a whole, have reassessed thei ...