UnitedHealth tops estimates but the stock is down

World’s largest healthcare company, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH), reported fourth quarter and 2023 full-year financial results on Friday.

The company achieved revenue of $94.427 billion for Q4 of 2023 (up by 14% vs. Q4 2022) vs. $92.126 billion expected.

Earnings per share (EPS) reported at $6.16 per share vs. estimate of $5.985 per share.

Full-year revenue reached $371.6 billion, up by 15% vs. 2022.

EPS reported at $25.12 per share, up by 13.2% year-over-year.

Company’s medical costs rose by 16.1% from $53.591 billion to $62.231 billion.

Company overview

• Founded: 1977
• Headquarters: Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States
• Number of employees: 440,000 (2023)
• Industry: Managed healthcare, insurance
• Key people: Stephen J. Hemsley (Chair), Andrew Witty (CEO), Dirk McMahon (President, COO), John Rex (CFO)

CEO commentary

“UnitedHealth Group enters 2024 well prepared to build on our efforts to improve patient care and consumer experiences broadly, and to continue delivering strong and balanced growth,” Andrew Witty, CEO of the company highlighted on what the company is focusing on in the year ahead.

Stock reaction

Shares of UnitedHealth were down by around 3% on Friday despite beating analyst estimates for the quarter due to rising operating costs.

Stock performance

• 5 day: -3.16%
• 1 month: -2.02%
• 3 months: -3.52%
• Year-to-date: -1.15%
• 1 year: +6.30%

UnitedHealth stock price targets

• HSBC: $480
• Stephens: $585
• Truist Financial: $610
• Royal Bank of Canada: $596
• Jefferies Financial Group: $503
• Morgan Stanley: $579
• Piper Sandler: $584
• UBS Group: $640
• Deutsche Bank: $555
• TD Cowen: $555
• JP Morgan: $532
• Wells Fargo: $561
• Mizuho: 549

UnitedHealth Group Inc. is the 15th largest company in the world with a market cap of $481.23 billion.

You can trade UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD on the MetaTrader 5 platform. To find out more, go to ”Trading” then select ”Share CFDs”.

GO Markets offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs.

Why trade during extended hours?

• Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours
• Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day
• Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities

Sources: UnitedHealth Group Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, MarketBeat, CompaniesMarketCap