UnitedHealth shares rise on "arguably best print in a couple years"

Investing.com -- UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that surpassed analyst expectations, sending shares higher, as the health care giant also issued a full-year profit outlook above analyst forecasts.

The company’s shares jumped more than 6.8% in premarket trading by 06:50 ET. Mizuho’s Jared Holz called it "arguably best print in a couple years."

The company posted adjusted earnings of $7.23 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $6.59, on revenue of $111.7 billion, ahead of the $109.44 billion analysts had expected.

Looking ahead, UnitedHealth said it expects full-year 2026 adjusted earnings of at least $18.25 per share, topping the consensus estimate of $17.87.

It also expects to repurchase at least $2 billion of common stock by the end of the second quarter.

Among its Optum units, results were mixed. Optum Rx, the pharmacy benefits arm, posted revenues of $35.7 billion, up 2% year-over-year, driven by specialty pharmacy growth, though partially offset by membership attrition at UnitedHealthcare.

Optum Insight revenues were roughly flat at $5.1 billion. Optum Health, the value-based care business, saw revenues decline 3% to $24.1 billion, reflecting a reduction in value-based care members.

Net margin came in at 5.6% for the quarter, slightly below the 5.7% recorded in the year-ago quarter. Cash flows from operations were $8.9 billion, or 1.4 times net income, with a debt-to-capital ratio of 42.9% as of March 31.

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