Health and Healthcare

What to Watch For in UnitedHealth Earnings

Chris Lange

Published: July 16, 2018 1:35 pm

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 8:57 pm

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is scheduled to report its second-quarter financial results before the markets open on Tuesday. Thomson Reuters consensus estimates call for $3.04 in earnings per share (EPS) and $56.09 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $2.46 and $50.05 billion in revenue.

In its guidance from the most recent earnings report, UnitedHealth projected that it would have EPS in the range of $12.40 to $12.65 for the year. The consensus estimates call for $12.62 per share on $225.5 billion in revenue.

David S. Wichmann, CEO of UnitedHealth, commented in the latest report:

Through the intense focus our 285,000 colleagues bring to helping people live healthier lives and helping make the health system work better for everyone, we have grown to serve more people in more ways than ever, including through innovative uses of advanced technologies, data analytics, and modern clinical approaches that improve quality, lower cost and advance consumer and care provider satisfaction.

Over the past 52 weeks, United Health has outperformed the broad markets, with its stock up about 40%. In 2018 alone, the stock is up about 17%.

A few analysts weighed in on UnitedHealth ahead of the earnings report:

• Cantor Fitzgerald has a Buy rating with a $300 price target.
• BMO Capital Markets has a Positive rating with a $300 target.
• SunTrust Banks has a Buy rating and a $300 price target.
• Piper Jaffray has a Buy rating with a $270 price target.
• Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a $270 target price.
• Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating with a $276 target.

Shares of UnitedHealth were last seen at $257.21, with a consensus analyst price target of $280.33 and a 52-week trading range of $183.86 to $258.45.