United Healthcare currently down ~23% today after missing earnings and slashing future forecasts, total loss of ~$100b in market cap
I don't think there has ever been this large of a drop in any of the top 10 companies in the F500 in a single trading day? From what I found on Google - the largest was Apple's \~10% drops, and Meta's \~15% drop. Crazy this is happening to the largest healthcare stock.
United Healthcare has 400k employees and is the 4th largest revenue earner among F500 companies after Walmart, Apple, and Amazon. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune\_500)
**Comments**
"Peer stocks were collateral damage on Thursday. [CVS Health](https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/cvs?mod=article_chiclet), [Elevance Health](https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/elv?mod=article_chiclet), and [Humana](https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/hum?mod=article_chiclet) fell 6%, 6.2%, and 6.9%, respectively."
"The change was partially driven by “heightened care activity indications within UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage business,” as utilization rates of physician and outpatient services were higher than expected in the quarter, the company said."
"UnitedHealth also cited the “greater-than-expected impact” of ongoing Medicare funding reductions enacted during the Biden administration."
"CEO Andrew Witty said the company had grown to serve more people more comprehensively “but did not perform up to our expectations” during the quarter. Still, the company considers headwinds related to Medicare to be “highly addressable” over the course of the year and into 2026."
**Earnings miss today is**
$111.6 billion analyst expectation vs. $109.6 billion reported
$7.29 earnings per share analyst expectation vs. $7.20 earnings per share reported
**Future guidance cut**
They were previously expecting $29.50-$30 earnings/share, and have reduced it to $26-$26.50
[https://www.barrons.com/articles/united-health-unh-earnings-stock-price-b66e5659](https://www.barrons.com/articles/united-health-unh-earnings-stock-price-b66e5659)
