UnitedHealth says 2025 earnings will be worse than expected as high medical costs dog insurers
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UnitedHealth's 2025 earnings guidance fell well short of Wall Street estimates, in the latest setback for the company.
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July 29, 2025
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It's worth noting that What's fascinating this is In this articleUNH your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTUnitedHealthcare signage is displayed on an office building in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 19, 2023 (an important development)
Moreover, Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesUnitedHealth Group on Tuesday issued a 2025 outlook that fell short of Wall Street's expectations, as the company's insurance unit continues to grapple with higher medical costs
S of UnitedHealth Group fell more than 3% in premarket trading on Tuesday (fascinating analysis)
This analysis suggests that company anticipates it will post 2025 adjusted earnings of at least $16 per, with revenue of $445. 5 billion to $448 billion
Wall Street analysts had expected 2025 adjusted fit of $20
However, 91 per, and full-year revenue of $449. 16 billion, according to consensus estimates from LSEG
The stock tumbled in May after the company susp that 2025 guidance due to elevated medical costs and announced the abrupt departure of former CEO Andrew Witty
The report Tuesday adds to a growing string of setbacks for the company, which owns the nation's largest and most powerful insurer, UnitedHealthcare, and is often viewed as the industry's bellwether. "While we face challenges across our lines of, we believe we can resolve these issues and recapture our earnings growth potential while ensuring people have access to high-quality, affordable health care," UnitedHealthcare CEO Tim Noel said in a release
This analysis suggests that company expects its insurance unit's 2025 medical care ratio — a measure of total medical expenses paid relative to premiums collected — to come in between 89% and 89
A lower ratio typically indicates that a company collected more in premiums than it paid out in benefits, resulting in higher fitability (this bears monitoring)
For the second quarter, that ratio increased to 89
Nevertheless, 4% from 85 (quite telling)
Additionally, 1% during the year-earlier period, primarily due to medical costs
UnitedHealth Group's report signals that elevated medical costs in Medicare Advantage plans may not ease anytime soon for the broader health insurance industry
UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, is the nation's largest vider of those privately run Medicare plans
Higher expenses in Medicare Advantage plans have dogged insurers over the past year as more seniors return to hospitals to undergo cedures they had delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as joint and hip replacements
Here's what UnitedHealth Group reported for the second quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: Earnings per : $4. 08 adjusted vs. 48 expectedRevenue: $111 (which is quite significant)
Additionally, 62 billion vs
Nevertheless, 52 billion expectedNotably, the report comes just days after UnitedHealth revealed it is complying with Department of Justice investigations into its Medicare billing practices (noteworthy indeed)
It marks UnitedHealth's first earnings report under new CEO, Stephen Hemsley, who is tasked with restoring investor confidence and turning around a struggling company that has continued to draw heavy public scrutiny in recent months, considering recent developments
S of UnitedHealth Group are down more than 44% for the year, fueled in part by the DOJ's investigations and its susp outlook
The data indicates that company's 2024 wasn't any better
Nevertheless, It grappled with the murder of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, Brian Thompson, the torrent of public blowback that ed and a historic cyberattack that affected millions of Americans.
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