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A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Centene (CNC). Shares have added about 9% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Centene due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at its latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for Centene Corporation before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. Centene Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Rising Premiums, 2026 View Up Centene reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.37, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 80.2%. Moreover, the bottom line climbed 16.2% year over year. Revenues totaled $49.9 billion, which rose 7.1% year over year. The top line surpassed the consensus mark by 5.2%. The strong quarterly results benefited from solid revenue growth, driven by strong premium revenues in Medicaid and Medicare businesses, particularly from increased premiums and membership in the PDP business. However, the upside was partly offset by a decline in total membership and an increase in medical costs. Revenues from Medicaid advanced 6% year over year to $23.6 billion, while Medicare revenues of $10.3 billion rose 18% in the quarter under review. Meanwhile, commercial revenues came in at $9.6 billion, down 6% year over year. Centene's premium of $43.9 billion grew 5.2% year over year on the back of higher premiums, membership in the PDP business and strength in the Medicaid rate hikes. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $42.6 billion. Service revenues slid 1.2% year over year to $768 million in the first quarter, but surpassed the consensus mark of $693.4 million. Investment and other income of $407 million improved 6.5% year over year and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $349.3 million. Total membership was 26.3 million as of March 31, 2026, which decreased 6% year over year due to membership declines in the Medicaid, Marketplace and Medicare businesses. However, the metric beat the consensus mark of 25.9 million. Centene’s health benefits ratio improved 20 basis points year over year to 87.3% in the quarter under review. Operating expenses totaled $48.1 billion, which increased 6.6% year over year due to higher medical costs, selling, general and administrative expenses, and premium tax expen...

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Molina (MOH). Shares have added about 3.8% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Molina due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent drivers for Molina Healthcare, Inc before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. MOH Q1 EPS Tops Estimates on Lower Medical Costs, Membership DeclinesMolina Healthcare reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.35, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57. The bottom line declined 61.3% from the year-ago period's level. Revenues amounted to $10.8 billion, which decreased 3.1% year over year. The top line marginally missed the consensus mark by 0.2%.The first-quarter performance was supported by lower medical care costs, partially offset by declining premiums, membership and investment income. Premium revenues of $10.2 billion decreased 4.3% year over year in the quarter under review and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.2%. The decline was due to reduced memberships, reflecting product and pricing decisions. As of March 31, 2026, total membership decreased 12.5% year over year to around 5 million and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%. The health insurer witnessed a year-over-year decrease in customers across all segments, especially in Marketplace and Other.Investment income fell 9.3% year over year to $98 million. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $100.8 million.Total operating expenses were $10.71 billion, flat year over year and slightly below our model estimate of $10.72 billion, driven by lower medical care costs. The adjusted general and administrative expense ratio increased to 6.9% in the first quarter from 6.3% a year ago. Interest expenses of $54 million rose from $43 million in the prior year.The consolidated medical care ratio (medical costs as a percentage of premium revenues), or MCR, was 91.1% in the reported quarter. It rose from 89.2% a year ago but was below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 91.5%.Molina Healthcare’s adjusted net income decreased 64% year over year to $120 million. Molina Healthcare exited the first quarter with cash and cash equiv...

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for UnitedHealth Group (UNH). Shares have added about 8.4% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is UnitedHealth due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. UnitedHealth Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates on Rising Premiums UnitedHealth reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $7.23, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.46. The bottom line rose 0.4% year over year. Revenues rose 2% year over year to $111.7 billion. The top line beat the consensus mark by 2.1%. The strong quarterly results were aided by growth in commercial fee-based membership and the strength witnessed in Optum Rx. However, weakness in Optum Health and declining risk-based membership partially offset the positives. UnitedHealth’s first-quarter premium of $87.6 billion increased from $86.5 billion a year ago and beat the consensus mark of $86.1 billion. UNH’s adjusted medical care ratio (MCR) was 83.9% in the first quarter, which improved 90 bps from the year-ago period. The metric was lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 85.7%. MCR witnessed a decrease due to solid medical cost management and favorable reserve development. Medical costs of $73.5 billion rose from $73.4 billion a year ago. First-quarter total operating costs of $102.7 billion increased 2.3% year over year due to higher medical costs and operating costs. The figure came higher than our model estimate of $101.5 billion. The first-quarter 2026 operating cost ratio deteriorated to 13.8% from 12.4% a year ago. UnitedHealth’s adjusted operating earnings declined 1.7% year over year to $9 billion in the first quarter. Revenues of the health benefits business of UnitedHealth, UnitedHealthcare, rose 1.9% year over year to $86.3 billion in the first quarter. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $85.1 billion and our estimate of $84.4 billion. The UnitedHealthcare business catered to 49.1 million people as of March 31, 2026, which fell 2.1% year over year. However, the figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48.1 million. Adjusted earnings from operations amounted to $5.7 billion, up from $...

The benchmark US stock measures were tracking in the red before the opening bell Monday as investors

Latitude Investment Management, an investment management firm, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The letter emphasizes a long-term, fundamentals-driven investment philosophy, arguing that while stock prices can be volatile in the short run, they ultimately follow underlying earnings growth—illustrated through the “dog and owner” analogy. The portfolio delivered strong results in 2025, with earnings growing over 15% and returns of 21%, largely driven by consistent fundamental growth rather than valuation changes. The manager highlights a diversified portfolio of high-quality, cash-generative companies with solid market positions, low investment needs, and attractive shareholder returns through dividends and buybacks. The letter notes selective portfolio shifts toward more defensive, attractively valued names while maintaining double-digit growth potential. Looking ahead, the outlook remains positive, with expectations for continued earnings growth, improving opportunities from market dispersion, and attractive valuations providing a margin of safety despite limited exposure to crowded themes like AI. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025. In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Latitude Investment Management highlighted stocks like UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH). UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is a diversified healthcare company providing insurance and healthcare services through its UnitedHealthcare and Optum segments. The one-month return of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was 21.75% while its shares traded between $234.60 and $405.15 over the last 52 weeks. On May 15, 2026, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) stock closed at approximately $393.85 per share, with a market capitalization of about $357.67 billion. Latitude Investment Management stated the following regarding UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in its Q4 2025 investor letter: 15 States with the Best Healthcare in the US UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is in 14th position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. As per our database, 145 hedge fund portfolios held UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) at the end of the fourth quarter, which was 140 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) as an investment, our convic...

June S&P 500 E-Mini futures (ESM26) are down -0.41%, and June Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures (NQM26) are down -0.30% this morning, pointing to a lower open on Wall Street as oil prices continue to rise amid the stalemate between the U.S. and Iran. The price of WTI crude rose over +1% on Monday amid prospects of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday on his social media platform that “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.” The remarks heightened concerns that the conflict could shift back into a more active military phase, delaying any normalization of traffic through the waterway. Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the Defense Ministry spokesman as saying the Iranian Armed Forces are “fully prepared to confront any new potential attack by the U.S. and the Israeli regime against the country.” Meanwhile, a drone ignited a fire in a power station at the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear plant on Sunday, while Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted three drones. Nokia Shares Jumped After Cisco’s Strong Quarterly Results. NOK Could Be the Next Networking Winner. Dear Dell Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for May 28 NVDA Earnings, Alphabet Conference and Other Can't Miss Items this Week Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! The 10-year T-note yield rose one basis point to 4.61% on Monday as higher oil prices fueled inflation concerns. Investors now see a 70% chance of a 25 basis point Fed rate hike by year-end and are fully pricing in a move by March 2027. Investor focus this week is on an earnings report from chip giant Nvidia, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, and a fresh batch of U.S. economic data. In Friday’s trading session, Wall Street’s major equity averages closed sharply lower. Chip stocks sank, with Arm Holdings (ARM) slumping over -8% to lead losers in the Nasdaq 100, and Micron Technology (MU) sliding more than -6%. Also, cryptocurrency-exposed stocks slid after Bitcoin dropped more than -2%, with Coinbase Global (COIN) falling over -7% and MARA Holdings (MARA) declining more than -6%. In addition, travel stocks fell as oil prices climbed, with United Airlines (UAL)...

Warren Buffett’s conglomerate bought $16 billion of stocks and sold $24 billion in the first quarter, a regulatory filing reveals.

Berkshire Hathaway bought a sizable stake in Delta Air Lines in Greg Abel’s first quarter at the helm since succeeding Warren Buffett, returning to a stock the conglomerate previously invested in several years ago. Abel took over as CEO in January. In his first letter to shareholders in February, Abel made clear there are positions he considers “core,” such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Moody’s, and wrote that Berkshire would continue its “concentrated approach” to stock investing.

Berkshire Hathaway purchased new stakes in Delta and Macy's during Greg Abel's first quarter as CEO of the conglomerate, a filing Friday showed. The company also cut its stakes in Amazon, Mastercard, UnitedHealth, Visa and several others. Berkshire Hathaway is shaking up its portfolio after getting a new CEO. The conglomerate added new stakes in Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Macy's (M) during Greg Abel's first quarter as CEO, a regulatory filing Friday showed. Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO at the end of last year after six decades at the helm, though he has said he is still involved in investment decisions. Shares of Delta added 3% in extended trading Friday following the news, after losing 2% during the regular session on a down day for broader markets. Macy's stock jumped more than 5% in the after-hours session. Investors have been eager to see how Berkshire's investment strategy could change under CEO Greg Abel, who replaced legendary investor Warren Buffett in the position earlier this year. Berkshire's (BRK.A, BRK.B) new stake in Delta totaled 39.8 million shares at the end of the first quarter, while it held roughly 3 million shares of Macy's, making both far smaller stakes than Berkshire's largest holdings. Shares of Delta, which have taken a hit recently amid worries about rising fuel prices as the war in Iran drags on, have added just 1% since the start of the year, while Macy's stock has lost nearly 17%. Meanwhile, Berkshire more than tripled its stake in Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) to close to 58 million shares from 17.8 million in the fourth quarter. Apple remained its largest holding, with close to 228 million shares—unchanged from the previous quarter, after three straight quarters of cuts. The company also eliminated its stakes in Amazon (AMZN), Mastercard (MA), UnitedHealth (UNH) and Visa (V), among others. UnitedHealth shares dropped more than 4% in after-hours trading, while shares of the other three companies were little-changed. The choices to exit those stocks could potentially point to changes Abel's made to offload the picks of Todd Combs, who left Berkshire for JPMorgan at the end of 2025. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway have lost about 4% since the start of the year, compared to the S&P 500's roughly 8% gain, amid some uncertainty about Abel's leadership and the loss of a "Buffett premium." Read the original article on Investopedia

Berkshire Hathaway boosted its stake in Alphabet to nearly 58 million shares on March 31 from almost 18 million shares at year-end.

Track your investments for FREE with Simply Wall St, the portfolio command center trusted by over 7 million individual investors worldwide. UnitedHealth Group (UNH) has been in focus after first quarter 2026 earnings, a higher full year earnings outlook, and plans to cut prior authorization requirements, while analysts highlighted the stock following these updates. See our latest analysis for UnitedHealth Group. The stock has reacted strongly to the first quarter earnings update and guidance lift, with a 30 day share price return of 20.15% and 90 day share price return of 33.65%. However, the 1 year total shareholder return is slightly negative, suggesting recent momentum is rebuilding from a weaker multi year period. If UnitedHealth's rebound has you rethinking opportunities in healthcare and technology, it could be worth scanning for other potential beneficiaries in this space through our 35 healthcare AI stocks. With UNH up more than 20% in 30 days and trading only about 5% below the average analyst price target, the key question is whether recent strength still leaves value on the table or if the market is already pricing in future growth. UnitedHealth Group's most followed valuation narrative pegs fair value at $486.86 per share, comfortably above the recent $369.74 close. This is described as a bullish valuation gap according to WallStreetWontons. Read the complete narrative. Want to see what kind of revenue build and profit margin profile is baked into that fair value, and how Optum and UnitedHealthcare each pull their weight? According to WallStreetWontons, the narrative describes a discounted cash flow style view that relies on steady premium revenue, a broad service mix across Optum and UnitedHealthcare, and profitability anchored around mid single digit margins, all evaluated at a 6.06% discount rate and a future P/E of 25x. Result: Fair Value of $486.86 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, this hinges on regulatory outcomes and competitive pressure, either of which could compress margins or disrupt the premium and Optum driven assumptions in that valuation. Find out about the key risks to this UnitedHealth Group narrative. If this mix of optimism and concern around UnitedHealth feels familiar, consider using it as a prompt to act quickly and test the assumptions yourself using the...

The 2026 Q1 earnings season continues to roll along, with a wide variety of companies revealing results in the coming days. The cycle has overall been strong, with growth remaining solid and a decent number of companies exceeding quarterly expectations. And concerning those exceeding quarterly expectations, UnitedHealth Group UNH, Quanta Services PWR, and Quest Diagnostics DGX both raised their outlooks, with each also seeing a nice pop following their results. UnitedHealth UnitedHealth posted a double beat relative to our consensus expectations, with both EPS and sales moving modestly higher year-over-year. It reflected the company’s first double-beat in several quarters, helping underpin the favorable reaction shares enjoyed post-earnings. The company’s EPS outlook remains bullish, with estimates drifting higher across all timeframes illustrated below. The favorable revisions are led by a guidance upgrade, with UNH raising its FY26 earnings outlook. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Quest Diagnostics Quest Diagnostics similarly posted a double-beat relative to our consensus expectations, marking the sixth consecutive period in which it exceeded both EPS and sales expectations. Sales grew 9.2% from the year-ago period, whereas EPS grew by a double-digit 13.1% YoY. The company raised both its EPS and sales guidance for its current FY26 amid the favorable results, with DGX seeing favorable revisions following the release. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Quanta Services Quanta Services yet again delivered another set of robust quarterly results, with both EPS and sales results beating Zacks Consensus Estimates. Adjusted EPS of $2.68 grew by a sizable 50% YoY and reflected a 31.4% surprise, whereas sales of $7.9 billion saw a double-digit 26.3% YoY climb. Importantly, the backlog reached a record $48.5 billion, helping underpin its broader business momentum for a long time to come. Quanta Services raised guidance across many metrics, driven by a favorable demand environment, further adding to the positivity. The broad guidance hike is very bullish from a share momentum standpoint, a big driver behind the stock’s surge after it reported. EPS revisions remain bullish nearly across the board. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Bottom Line Guidance upgrades are generally among the most bullish announcements a company can make, signaling that the...